2300 x 3300px All Rights Reserved. Carolina Maria de Jesus was a Brazilian writer, poet, and social critic who rose from extreme poverty to international recognition. Born in 1914, she lived in a São Paulo favela and documented her daily life with raw honesty in her diary, later published as Quarto de Despejo (Child of the Dark). Her work powerfully exposed inequality, hunger, and resilience, giving voice to marginalized communities and leaving a lasting mark on Brazilian and world literature.