(Medellin, 1964) Studied Film Direction and Production at The London International Film School, in the United Kingdom and he has studied Literature at Xaverian University. His short story book Maldito amor (1996) won the Pedro Gómez Valderrama National Narrative Competition and with his novel Mala noche (1997) he won first prize in the 14th annual City of Pereira National Novel Competition, a work which was also shortlisted for the Colcutura National Novel Award. His novel Rosario Tijeras (1999) won the Ministry of Culture National Novel Award; was honoured in Gijon (Spain) with the International Hammett Prize in 2000; has been translated into more than 15 languages and adapted to film and television. Paraiso Travel (2001) has been translated into a dozen languages, was also adapted into film and became one of the films with best box office performance in the history of Colombian film. His novels Melodrama (2006) and Santa suerte (2010) have been #1 bestsellers in Colombia and have been edited in other Spanish speaking countries and translated to other languages. El mundo de afuera won the Alfaguara Novel Prize in 2014. El cielo a tiros (2018) is his latest novel. Jorge Franco has published stories and articles in multiple national and international magazines, and was invited by Gabriel García Márquez to teach the workshop How to tell a tale along his side at the Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños, in Cuba.
Photo: © Daniel Santiago