João Guimarães Rosa (Portuguese: [ˈʒwɐ̃w ɡimaˈɾɐ̃js ˈʁɔzɐ]; 27 June 1908 – 19 November 1967) was a Brazilian novelist, short story writer and diplomat.Rosa published four books of short story in his lifetime, all of them revolving around the life in the sertão, but addressing themes of universal literature and of existential nature. Rosa only wrote one novel, Grande Sertão: Veredas (known in English as The Devil to Pay in the Backlands), a revolutionary text for its blend of archaic and colloquial prose and frequent use of neologisms, taking inspiration from the spoken language of the Brazilian backlands. For its profoundly philosophical themes, the critic Antonio Candido described the books as a "metaphysical novel". It is often considered to be the Brazilian equivalent of James Joyce's Ulysses.
In a 2002 poll by the Bokklubben World Library, "Grande Sertão: Veredas" was named among the best 100 books of all time.