(1) Federico Garcia Lorca was 20th-century Spain's most famous poet and playwright. (2) Lorca was born on June 5, 1898 in a small town a few miles west of Granada, in southern Spain. (3) Lorca was the oldest son of a wealthy landowner. (4) He studied literature and law at the University of Granada before turning to writing full-time. (5) In 1928 he published the most famous of all his poems, Gypsy Ballads which used the rhythms of the traditional Spanish ballad to describe the Gypsies of southern Spain. (6) Gypsy Ballads was largely responsible for making Lorca famous throughout the Spanish-speaking world within a few years. (7) In June 1929, at a time when most young writers and painters dreamed of living in Paris, Federico Lorca broke with tradition and sailed for New York. (8) His nine months in New York changed his vision of poetry and the social role of the artist. (9) Lorca also travelled to Havana, Cuba. (10) Lorca came to New York with the goal of learning English. (11) He spent most of his time writing poems in Spanish instead of studying English. (12) In 1936, Lorca left a collection of these poems, called Poet in New York, on the desk of his Madrid publisher with a note saying he would be back tomorrow, probably to discuss final details. (13) He never returned. (14) Sadly, at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Lorca was killed by political opponents in Granada. (15) Poet in New York was finally published in 1940.