Francisco Buarque de Hollanda was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1944.

Both a singer and composer, he has written the plays Roda viva, Calabar, Gota d’água, and Ópera do malandro, and the novella Fazenda modelo. His novels Turbulence and Benjamim, both published by Companhia das Letras, were translated into English, German, Danish, Spanish, Catalan, Dutch, French, and Italian.

His novel Budapest was published in English in 2004.