José Ribamar Ferreira was born on September 10, 1930, in São Luís, Maranhão, Northeast Brazil and died on December 4, 2016.
He was known by his pen name Ferreira Gullar.
He was a a Brazilian poet, playwright, essayist, art critic, and television writer.
During 1959, Gullar was instrumental in the formation of the Neo-Concrete Movement.
Ferreira Gullar was exiled by the Brazilian dictatorship that lasted from 1964 to 1985.
During 1975, while living in Chile, Gullar wrote his best-known work, “Poema Sujo” (“Dirty Poem” in English), in which he attributes his decision to stop writing poetry to the increasing persecution of exiles, many of whom were found dead, and to hypothetical thoughts about his own death.
Ferreira Gullar spent months writing the more than 2,000 verses that constitute the poem.
One piece written was “Dirty Poem” draws on his memories of childhood and adolescence in São Luís, Maranhão, and his anguish at being far from his homeland.
He read the poem at Augusto Boal’s house in Buenos Aires during a meeting organized by Vinicius de Moraes.
He died due pneumonia.
Ferreira Gullar passed away at 86 years old.