Graciliano Ramos was a Brazilian 20th century novelist, chronicler, storyteller, journalist, politician and memoirist, author of “Vidas Secas” (Dry Lives), who lived his early years in several cities in the Northeast of Brazil. Having conclude high school in Maceió, he went to Rio de Janeiro, where spent some time working as a journalist. He returned to the Northeast in September 1915, remaining with his father, who was a merchant in Palmeira dos Índios, Alagoas. In this same year, he married Maria Augusta de Barros, who died in 1920, leaving him with four sons.
Source: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graciliano_Ramos