(Bogota, 1965) Colombian writer. He studied Literature at the Xaverian University of Bogota. He travelled to Spain and graduated in Hispanic Philology at the Complutense University of Madrid. He then moved to Paris, where he studied Cuban Literature at the Sorbonne. He made his debut as a novelist with Páginas de vuelta (1995), a work which established him as one of the most innovative voices of new Colombian fiction; later he wrote Perder es cuestión de método (1997), which was internationally acclaimed, and has been translated into Italian, French, Greek, Portuguese, Czech and German. It was made into a film in 2005. In 2000, he published Vida feliz de un joven llamado Esteban (2000), a novel which has added to his international prestige. He is also the author of the travel book Octubre en Pekín (2001). The French version of his novel El síndrome de Ulises, published in 2007, was shortlisted for the Medicis Prize for foreign fiction and the Portuguese edition was shortlisted for the Casino de Povoa Prize in 2008. His latest books include Plegarias nocturnas (2012), Océanos de arena (2013), La guerra y la paz (2014), Volver al oscuro valle (2016), Ciudades al final de la noche (2017) and Será larga la noche (2019). As a journalist, he has been a contributor to the Latin American Service of Radio France International in Paris, a correspondent for Bogota’s El Tiempo, and columnist on the magazine Cromos and he currently writes for El Espectador and Reforma newspaper. He also served as a diplomat in the Permanent Delegation of Colombia to UNESCO between 2006 and 2010 and at the Colombian Embassy in India.
Photo: © Daniel Mordzinski