Juan Gabriel Vásquez

Juan Gabriel Vásquez is a Colombian author, journalist, and translator whose books have been translated into 28 languages. His novel The Sound of Things Falling, published in Spanish in 2011, won the Alfaguara Novel Prize and the 2014 International Dublin Literary Award, among other prizes.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez was born in Bogotá to a family of lawyers. His first stories appeared in a school magazine at the age of eight. In his teenage years, he began reading the LatAm writers of the boom generation: Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Carlos Fuentes, among others.

Vásquez studied Law at the Universidad del Rosario. He graduated in 1996 with a thesis Revenge as a legal prototype in the Iliad, later published by his alma mater. By the time he received his degree, he had already decided to pursue a career as a writer.

Later, Vásquez studied Latin American literature at the Sorbonne University in Paris and pursued a doctorate in Hispanic literature at the University of Barcelona.

In 2000, Vásquez worked as an editor at Lateral, an independent Barcelona magazine. He also did the first Spanish-published translation of Hiroshima by John Hersey.

Vásquez debuted with the novel The Informers (Los Informantes) in 2004. Set in Bogotá, the novel delves into the complexities of personal relationships and the shadowy aspects of Colombian society.

The novel was praised by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and Mexican author Carlos Fuentes.

His next novel, The Secret History of Costaguana, is dedicated to his twin daughters, Martina and Carlota. In this novel, the story of Joseph Conrad's Nostromo is reimagined from a Colombian perspective. Vázquez skillfully interweaves history, fiction, and metanarrative, offering a new perspective on Colombia's past and its relationship to world literature.

It was followed by The Sound of Things Falling (El ruido de las cosas al caer, 2011), probably his most notable work. The novel won the prestigious Alfaguara Prize in 2011.

The Sound of Things Falling sets its narrative in the turbulent era of the Colombian drug trade and its aftermath. The book masterfully combines a compelling personal narrative with a broader exploration of the impact of violence on society.

His other works have been translated into many languages, bringing him international recognition and making him one of the most prominent representatives of contemporary Latin American literature.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez currently lives in Bogotá.

Photo credit: Federico Bottia