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JUAN GABRIEL VÁSQUEZ

Recognized by critics as one of the great novelists of Latin America

  • Author of numerous international best-sellers, including The Informers, The Sound of Things Falling, and The Shape of the Ruins
  • His latest novel, Look Back, won the prestigious Mario Vargas Llosa Biennial Nobel Prize, he was described by the Peruvian Nobel laureate as "one of the great novels of our language."
  • Awarded the Prix Roger-Caillois (2012), previously given to writers such as Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes
  • Recipient of the Alfaguara Prize, the International Dublin Literary Award (IMPAC), and the Royal Spanish Academy Award
  • His work has been reviewed in publications such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, and Huffington Post
  • In 2016, Juan Gabriel Vásquez received the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic and, in 2018, the Order of Isabella the Catholic, presented by the King of Spain

Juan Gabriel Vásquez is currently the most internationally renowned Latin American writer. Winner of the Alfaguara Prize in 2011 and the Prix Roger Caillois in 2012, among other prestigious recognitions.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Bogotá, 1973) is the author of two short story collections: The Lovers of All Saints and Songs for the Fire, and several novels including: The Informers, selected by Semana magazine as one of the most important novels published in Colombia since 1982; The Secret History of Costaguana, winner of the Qwerty Prize in Barcelona and the Libros & Letras Foundation Prize in Bogotá; The Sound of Things Falling, winner of the Alfaguara Prize in 2011 and a finalist for the Femina Étranger and Médicis awards; Reputations, and The Shape of the Ruins.

He recently published his latest novel: Look Back, which won the prestigious Mario Vargas Llosa Biennial Novel Prize. Peruvian Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa described it as “one of the great novels of our language.”

He has also published a brief biography of Joseph Conrad, The Man from Nowhere, and two collections of literary essays: The Art of Distortion and Journeys with a Blank Map. He has translated works by John Hersey, John Dos Passos, Victor Hugo, and E.M. Forster, among others.

His books have received numerous international accolades and have been published in 28 languages and over 30 countries, achieving great success with both critics and readers. He has twice won the Simón Bolívar National Journalism Award, and his opinion pieces currently appear in various media outlets in Spain (El País) and Colombia (El Espectador). In 2012, he won the prestigious Prix Roger Caillois in Paris, previously awarded to writers such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Fuentes, and Roberto Bolaño. In 2016, he was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic, among numerous other distinctions. He has also been awarded the Archbishop Juan de San Clemente Prize and the Póvoa Literary Prize.

Juan Gabriel tailors each presentation to the needs of his audience and is not limited to the topics mentioned below. Please contact us on any topic that interests you:

  • Literature
  • Storytelling
  • Politics and literature
  • Reflections on ethics

The Power of Stories

Humans are made of stories. The stories we tell ourselves help us understand who we are and who others are. But stories are also dangerous: they can manipulate, lie, and confuse, even threatening our lives. How do the stories that shape our experiences work? How can we use them to lead more fulfilling lives?

What Do We Talk About When We Talk About the Boom?

During the 1960s, a group of Latin American writers forever transformed Spanish-language literature. Some of them became great influences on world literature. What exactly was the so-called Latin American Boom, and how did it happen? What are its origins and significance? Why do we continue to read these authors, and how should we approach their works?

Politics and Literature

Politics and literature have always gone hand in hand, although their relationship has never been easy. It is rather a story of disagreements, tensions, violence, and difficulties. Writers have found a thousand ways to write about the great political events of their time, and sometimes they have suffered for it. How has literature shaped the world of power? How has politics been reflected in literary fiction?

The Story Behind the Story: Writing The Sound of Things Falling

The novel that won the 2011 Alfaguara Prize is one of the most read and praised books in recent Colombian literature. Nearly 200,000 copies sold worldwide, translated into over fifteen languages, international awards... What lies behind The Sound of Things Falling? How was the process of its creation and writing? This is the secret story of a novel.
 

The Art of Being Human: Why We Read (and Write) Novels

Humans are storytelling animals. The narratives that make up what we call literature have helped us for centuries to understand others and ourselves; in fact, they have helped define us as a species. Today, this mysterious activity—the reading of fiction—does not seem to hold the central place it once did. What consequences could this have? What have centuries of reading about people who don’t exist left us with? What happens to us when we read fiction, and how do we use it to interpret the world?
 

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