Luiz Fernando Ruffato de Souza (born February 1961 in Cataguases) is a contemporary Brazilian writer.

[1] An alumnus of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, Ruffato worked as a journalist in São Paulo and published several fiction books, including História dos Remorsos e Rancores (1998) and Eles eram muitos cavalos (They were many horses) (2001).

The novel's title is an allusion to a poem by the Brazilian poet Cecília Meirelles, Dos Cavalos da Inconfidência.

[7] In 2005, Ruffato started—with the novel Mamma, Son Tanto Felice—a series called "Temporary Hell", made up of five volumes.

In 2012, Luiz Ruffato was distinguished as a Brazilian Writer in Residence at the Center for Latin American Studies at UC Berkeley.