Guest of the ilb 2007
Santiago Roncagliolo was
born in Lima, Peru in 1975. He grew up in Mexico during his family's
political exile. Back in his home country, he studied linguistics and
literature at the Universidad Católica. After graduation he spent three
years working at the national helpdesk for the defence of human rights,
which was beginning to research missing and murdered victims of the war
against terrorism. In 2000 he moved to Spain.
Roncagliolo belongs to the younger generation of Latin American writers
no longer marked by magical realism’s long-standing influence. His
varied work is much more affected by film and the omnipresent media. »I’d like to produce good literature through popular culture (such as thrillers or television). To me they don’t seem incompatible.«
In fact, Roncagliolo explores all narrative possibilities: written or
visual, adult or child-oriented, fiction or non-fiction. His play »Tus
amigos nunca te harían daño« (1999; t: Your friends would never harm
you) has been performed in eight Latin American countries and included
in the anthology »Dramaturgia Peruana«. An adaptation of his original
screenplay »Extraños« (2001; t: The strange) was awarded the Petrobras
Prize and is being filmed in Brazil. He was named »new talent« by the
FNAC for his collection of short stories »Crecer es un oficio triste«
(2003; t: Growing up is a sad affair). His last children book, »Matías
y los imposibles« (2006; t: Matías and the Impossibles) won the
international White Raven Prize from Munich’s Library.
But the interest of readers and critics was especially aroused by the
publication of the novel »Pudor« (2004; t: Prudishness). The story of a
family overwhelmed by their silenced feelings, resulting in the
inevitable spread of torpor and solitude, had five reprints and was made into a film, released in Spain this year.
Roncagliolo’s next novel, »Abril rojo« (2006; t: Red April),
is a serial-killer political thriller. It tells the story of a
law-abiding, hardworking attorney general whose vision of the
boundaries between good and evil becomes blurred while investigating
several murder cases within the stronghold of the »Shining Path«. The
novel was awarded the distinguished Premio Alfaguara in 2006, and it is
being translated into more than twelve languages. Roncagliolo started a
blog (http://blogs.elboomeran.com) that became the virtual journal for
the reading tour that was to follow. A selection of these entries was
published, entitled »Jet Lag« (2007).
Along with his literary activities Roncagliolo writes reports and
political commentary for various South American newspapers and for the
Spanish daily »El País«. He has also worked as a translator. He lives
in Barcelona.
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