Clarice Lispector (1920–1977), the greatest Brazilian writer of the twentieth century, has been called "astounding" (Rachel Kushner), "a penetrating genius" (Donna Seaman, Booklist ), and "one of the twentieth century's most mysterious writers" (Orhan Pamuk). Alexis Levitan's translations of Clarice Lispector's stories won the 1984 Van de Bovencamp-Armand G. Erpf International Award, given by the Translation Center, Columbia University.