When you attend Spanish school in Lima, you will be exposed to the city’s political and cultural history. One of the most renowned Latin American writers is Mario Vargas Llosa. He is considered to be one of the most important novelists and essayists from Latin America. In fact, he won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature. If you are p
lanning to learn Spanish in Peru, one of your end goals should definitely be to appreciate Llosa’s writing in its native Spanish language.
This author was born in 1936 and grew up in Arequipa, which is a city in Southern Peru. He also lived in Bolivia as a boy. When Llosa was 10, he and his family returned to Peru and lived in Magdalena del Mar, which is a suburb of Lima.
Llosa became famous in the Latin American Boom period of the 1960’s. Some of his most well-known novels include The Time of the Hero, The City and the Dogs, The Green House and Conversation in the Cathedral. These books span a variety of genres including thrillers, mysteries and comedies. In total, Llosa has written more than 30 works, which include fiction, non-fiction and plays.
If you learn Spanish in Peru, you may see Llosa constantly referred to, as his work was influenced by Peruvian society. In fact, you can visit where he went to school, as he attended Lima’s National University of San Marcos. It was at this time that he began writing his short stories. During his literary career, Llosa also lived in various cities including London, Paris and Madrid.
Mario Vargas Llosa always was active politically. He initially supported Fidel Castro and his government in Cuba. This was common amongst intellectuals in Latin America. However, shortly thereafter, Llosa changed his views to be more liberal in nature. In fact, he even ran for President of Peru in 1990, but was defeated by Alberto Fujimori. After he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Llosa was quoted as saying, “It’s very difficult for a Latin American writer to avoid politics. Literature is an expression of life, and you cannot eradicate politics from life.”
This writer continues to make headlines and, as a result, you will likely hear him mentioned when you are in Peru. For example, in April 2011, he endorsed left-wing presidential candidate Ollanta Humala over his opponent Keiko Fujimori. This decision drew a great deal of backlash from commentators. Humala tends to appeal to poor citizens and marginalized groups. However, many Peruvians fear that he will harm the country’s economy.
Once you have attended Spanish school in Lima, you will find that you are well-equipped to read many of the region’s great novels. Mario Vargas Llosa is definitely considered one of the most famous writers, and his work stands strong next to that of other famous authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Luis Borges.