Juan Gabriel Vásquez

A writer and translator, Juan Gabriel Vásquez is one of the leading Latin American novelists of his generation. His work is set amid the history of violence in contemporary Colombia, Vásquez’s native country, and explores the issues of memory, roots and identity. His books have been translated into twenty-eight languages. Notable examples include The Sound of Things Falling (Riverhead Books, 2014) and The Informers (Bloomsbury, 2008), both awarded the Alfaguara Prize, as well as Reputations (Riverhead Books, 2016), one of the best books of the year according to the New York Times. His latest novel Los nombres de Feliza [Feliza’s Names] (Alfaguara, 2025) delves into family legacy, political violence and historical memory, common themes in the author’s work. Juan Gabriel Vásquez was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 2016, and in 2018 he became a member of Spain’s Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic.