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Remembering Mario Vargas Llosa — Winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade 1996
April 11, 2023, Madrid, Spain: Author Mario Vargas Llosa seen during the conference 'El fuego de la imaginación' or 'The fire of imagination' at the Instituto Cervantes, in Madrid., © SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire
The world has lost one of its great literary voices. Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian writer, Nobel laureate, and public intellectual, passed away in Lima at the age of 89.
Over the course of nearly nine decades, Vargas Llosa moved between literature and politics, between storytelling and public life — earning some of the highest honors in both.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010 and received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels) in 1996 for his unwavering advocacy of literature, freedom of expression, and democratic values. From 1976 to 1979, he served as president of International PEN, and in 1990, he ran for the presidency of Peru, narrowly losing in a runoff.
Born in 1936 in Arequipa, Peru, Vargas Llosa published his first novel before the age of 30. Unlike other famous Latin American writers of his generation — such as Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, or Pablo Neruda — Vargas Llosa distanced himself from his early Marxist ideals. During his years in Thatcher-era London, he became a committed advocate of economic liberalism. This ideological shift caused a lasting rift with his old friend García Márquez.
In his final years, Vargas Llosa stirred controversy by supporting populist leaders like Jair Bolsonaro and Javier Milei, while focusing his literary work on cultural essays and conservative reflections. Yet despite — or perhaps because of — these complexities, he remains one of the most original and versatile voices in Latin American literature.
While Vargas Llosa is best known for major novels like The Time of the Hero, Conversation in the Cathedral, and The Feast of the Goat, it’s worth looking beyond these classics. Two of his crime novels featuring Officer Lituma open a different, more intimate window into his literary world:
- “Who Killed Palomino Molero?” (¿Quién mató a Palomino Molero?)
A murder mystery set in 1950s Peru, revealing the social hierarchies and hidden tensions of a small coastal town. - “Death in the Andes” (Lituma en los Andes)
A dark and atmospheric story unfolding in a remote Andean village, where political violence and ancient beliefs intertwine.
Mario Vargas Llosa will be remembered as one of the most influential and complex authors of the last century.