Hilst, Hilda

Hilda de Almeida Prado Hilst (21 April 1930 – 4 February 2004) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, and playwright. Her work touches on the themes of mysticism, insanity, the body, eroticism, and female sexual liberation. Hilst greatly revered the work of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, and the influence of their styles—like stream of consciousness and fractured reality—is evident in her own work. Born in Jaú, São Paulo, Hilst graduated from the University of São Paulo in 1952. While studying there, she published her first book of poems, Omen (Presságio), in 1950. After a brief trip to Europe, Hilst was influenced by Nikos Kazantzakis' Report to Greco to move away from the São Paulo scene, and she secluded herself in an estate near the outskirts of Campinas. Deciding to devote her life to her literary creations, she constructed the House of the Sun (Casa do Sol), where she would invite several artists and intellectuals to live. Writing forty works over her lifetime, she was one of the most prolific writers of her generation. Her works were mostly not well known outside of her home country until after her death, when several of her books were translated to English.