Top literary prize goes to Colombian-born writer

Author Fernando Vallejo has won the 150,000-dollar Romantic Language Literary Prize (formerly Juan Rulfo Prize) awarded by the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL).

“La Virgen de los sicarios” (Our Lady of the Assassins) is the only novel by Fernando Vallejo that is available in English. It is a fictionalized account of his return to Medellin, and his relationships with two teenagers caught in the local cycle of violence. It was made into an unsuccessful feature film 11 years ago. Described by the seven-man jury as a “truly original character of Spanish-language literature,” the Colombian-born, Mexican naturalized author will be presented with the prize on November 26, the opening day of the 25th fair, which runs until December 4.

The jury comprised of famous critics, writers and academics chose to honor the author of “El río del tiempo,” “La Virgen de los sicarios” (Our Lady of the Assassins) and “El desbarrancadero,” for being a writer who expresses “his emotions through the voice of an artist who embodies the reality of a strange world and imagination.”

Born in Medellin in 1942, Vallejo, who is also an accomplished film director and screenwriter, has lived in Mexico since 1971 and officially became a Mexican citizen in 2007.

In press conference and by phone from Mexico City, Fernando Vallejo simply said: “I am very grateful. I have never expected awards. I think they are too much for me. I will destine them to a noble cause.”

The Los Angeles Times called “Our Lady of the Assassins” – the only of his novels to be translated into English – “a courageous picture about the pathology of indifference, set against the backdrop of the narco-violence of the murder capital of South America.”

Vallejo studied philosophy and arts in Bogota, before spending a year studying film in Rome. He abandoned Colombia after the government censored his first film and wrote his novels in Mexico, although, ironically, all are set in Colombia.