(Lima, 1939) A Law graduate with a doctorate in Literature from the San Marcos National University in Lima. He lived for decades in Europe and has worked at a number of universities around the world, including the Sorbonne and Yale. His literary career began with the publication of the short story collection Huerto cerrado (1968, special mention in the Casa de las Américas de Cuba Competition). In 1970 he wrote A World for Julius, a book that established his international profile. He is also the author of the novels: Tantas veces Pedro (1974), La vida exagerada de Martín Romaña (1981), El hombre que hablaba de Octavia de Cádiz (1985), La última mudanza de Felipe Carrillo (1988), Dos señoras conversan (1990), No me esperen en abril (1995) and Reo de nocturnidad (1998 National Fiction Award). His short stories have been collected in Cuentos Completos (1995). He has published a selection of his newspaper articles in Crónicas personales (1988) and A trancas y barranca (1996). He has received numerous awards, including the 2002 Planeta Prize for El huerto de mi amada and the Spanish National Fiction Award for Reo de nocturnidad. He is also the author of two volumes of anti-memoir: Permiso para vivir (1993) and Permiso para sentir (2005). His recent works include Dándole pena a la tristeza (2012) and Historias del country Club y el barrio Marconi (2016).
Photo: © Daniel Mordzinski