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Juan Gabriel Vásquez

フアン・ガブリエル・バスケス

Juan Gabriel Vasquez

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1973-01-01 （Bogotá, Colombia）
Nationality
Colombian, Spanish
Languages
Spanish
Residence History
Paris, France → Ardennes, Belgium → Barcelona, Spain → Bogotá, Colombia

Career

Occupations
Writer, Translator, Journalist
Active Years
1990-
Influenced By
Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Joseph Conrad, Roberto Bolaño, Mario Vargas Llosa

Education

Universidad del Rosario
Faculty of Law / Law
Degree: Law degree
Period: 1990–1996
Year of Graduation: 1996
Country: Colombia
Thesis titled 'Revenge as a legal prototype in the Iliad'
University of Paris (La Sorbonne)
Postgraduate studies in Latin American literature (unfinished) / Latin American Literature
Period: 1996–1998
Country: France
Did not complete thesis; left to focus on fiction

Awards

Alfaguara Prize
2011
Work: The Sound of Things Falling
Organization: Alfaguara (publisher)
Result: winner
Prix Roger Caillois
2012
Organization: Prix Roger Caillois
Result: winner
Premio Gregor von Rezzori
2013
Work: The Sound of Things Falling (Italian translation)
Organization: Premio Gregor von Rezzori
Result: winner
International Dublin Literary Award
2014
Work: The Sound of Things Falling
Organization: Dublin City Public Libraries & Archive
Result: winner
Royal Spanish Academy Award
2014
Work: Reputations
Organization: Royal Spanish Academy
Result: winner
Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
2016
Organization: French Ministry of Culture
Result: honor
Order of Isabella the Catholic (Officer's Cross)
2018
Organization: Kingdom of Spain
Result: honor
Prémio Literário Casino da Póvoa
2018
Work: The Shape of the Ruins
Organization: Casino da Póvoa (Portugal)
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Persona

1997 Novel

A short early novel set in Florence; Vásquez later expressed dissatisfaction with this apprentice work.

early experimentationinterior life

Alina suplicante

1999 Novel

An early short novel; Vásquez later regarded his first two books as apprentice works and refused to reissue them.

youthful stylistic experiments

The Informers

2004 Novel

The novel that established Vásquez's international reputation; praised by prominent critics and translated widely.

memoryviolencehistory and the individual

The Secret History of Costaguana

2007 Historical fiction

A novel that dialogues with Joseph Conrad's life and work and with 19th-century Colombian history, especially the Panama Canal.

reconsideration of historyliterary dialoguenational identity

The Sound of Things Falling

2011 Novel

A novel that sensitively explores violence in Colombia and personal loss; winner of the Alfaguara Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award among others.

impact of violencememory and lossnarratives of trauma
Translations
  • English translation
  • French translation
  • Italian translation

Reputations

2013 Short novel/Novella

A short novel that mixes satire and social themes; it received awards in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries.

reputation and truthmedia and politics

The Shape of the Ruins

2015 Historical / Crime elements

A challenging novel mixing autobiography, history and crime elements to explore murders that marked Colombian history.

crime and historysearch for truthuncertainty of memory

Retrospective

2020 Essay / Retrospective

A collection reflecting on the author's work and thoughts (English title 'Retrospective').

retrospectionon writing

Bibliography

  • Persona (1997)
  • Alina suplicante (1999)
  • The Informers (2004)
  • The Secret History of Costaguana (2007)
  • The Sound of Things Falling (2011)
  • Reputations (2013)
  • The Shape of the Ruins (2015)
  • Retrospective (2020)

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (2016)

Translations of Works

  • The Sound of Things Falling — translated into English, French, Italian and many other languages
  • The Secret History of Costaguana — translated into English and other languages

Style & Themes

Literary Style
realist, restrained proseinterweaving history and personal memoryprecise and controlled description
Recurring Motifs
memory and forgettingaftereffects of violenceexile and migrationrelationship between history and the individual

Legacy

Recognized as one of contemporary Colombia's leading writers; his works on history and personal memory have been translated widely and have won numerous international literary prizes.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)

In Popular Culture

  • Widespread translations following international awards; subject of academic studies and criticism

Quotes

  • 'One Hundred Years of Solitude is a book that can be admired infinitely, but whose teachings are hardly applicable... no Colombian writer with a minimum of ambition would dare to follow through the paths already explored by García Márquez.'
    Source: El Espectador (article by Juan Gabriel Vásquez), 2014 (2014)

Trivia

  • The Sound of Things Falling won the Alfaguara Prize (2011) and the International Dublin Literary Award (2014).
  • His novels have been published in more than 28 languages.