Compared to many figures in this section, César Vallejo is relatively unknown. Born in Peru in 1892, he went on to finish very few major pieces of work. However, he is largely considered one of the most innovative poetic writers of all time, and he influenced much of 20th-century literature. It was also said that he had an amazing ability to write ahead of his time, constantly working in literary currents before they actually emerged.
His first work, Los Heraldos Negros, was published in 1919 and is often described as one of the world's truly greatest collections of poems. In 1922, his publication Trilce represented much of what the avant-garde movement of the 1920's and 1930's would be. His techniques are described as surrealist, despite the fact that this creation came ahead of the start of the actual Surrealist movement. His third work, España, aparta de mí este cáliz, came out in 1937; in this collection of poems he confronts the Spanish Civil War. A fourth work, Poemas humanas, was published in 1939 after Vallejo's death.
Along with poetry, he also wrote several plays, novels and non-fiction works.