Background
José Agustín Ramírez Gómez was born on August 19, 1944, in Acapulco, Mexico, to the family of Gomez Maganda and Augusto Ramírez Altamirano.
José Agustín studied at the National University of Mexico
José Agustín Ramírez Gómez was born on August 19, 1944, in Acapulco, Mexico, to the family of Gomez Maganda and Augusto Ramírez Altamirano.
Agustín studied classic writing, directing, acting and dramatic composition. He attended National University of Mexico and the Institute of Fine Arts.
Agustin traveled to Cuba in the early 1960s. While in that communist country, the teen-aged Agustin worked for Fidel Castro, head of Cuba’s new revolutionary government. Agustin returned to Mexico in the mid-1960s and pursued a career in writing for the theater and movies. He also was a permanent professor at the University of Denver, USA, and participated in the International Letter Program of the University of Iowa, E.U.A.
He worked as a conductor and producer of cultural radio and television programs. Also, he was a coordinator of various literary workshops.
Mexican literature was undergoing significant change in the mid-1960s. Most of the pioneering was being done by a group of authors called “The Wave,” of which Agustin was a part. Agustin’s first novel, La tumba (“The Tomb”), published in 1964, is considered emblematic of the Wave, with its rejection of middle-class values in favor of nonconformity and rebellion.
He was a research associate at the Center for Mexican Writers from 1966 to 1967 and the Guggenheim Foundation in 1978.
He has collaborated in publications such as Rolling Stone, Pop, Cinema Advance, Eclipse, Caballero, Claudia, El Cuento, Diálogos, El Plume Emplumado, Quimera (editorial board), Mexico in Culture, El Día, El Heraldo de México and Excelsior.
Agustin’s literary works are studded with social commentary.
Raised in a middle-class family, Agustin is a scathing critic of that segment of society.
José Agustín's first wife was Margarita Dalton. Then, he married Margarita Bermúdez. Agustín has three children: José Agustín, Jesús y Andrés Ramírez.