Juan Villoro (born 24 September 1956, in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

) is a Mexican writer and journalist and the son of philosopher

Luis Villoro Luis Villoro Toranzo (3 November 1922 – 5 March 2014) was a Spanish–Mexicans, Mexican philosopher, researcher, university professor, diplomat, academic and writer. He published more than ten books between 1950 and 2007. Villoro was bor ...

. He has been well known among intellectual circles in Mexico, Latin America and Spain for years, but his success among a wider readership has grown since receiving the Herralde Prize for his novel ''El testigo''.

Biography

Juan Villoro received his bachelor's degree in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

from the

Metropolitan Autonomous University Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Iztapalapa Iztapalapa () is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City, located on the east side of the entity. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa, which is officially called Iztapalapa ...

campus. He was also part of a short story workshop conducted by Guatemalan writer

Augusto Monterroso Augusto Monterroso Bonilla (December 21, 1921 - February 7, 2003) was a Honduran writer who adopted Guatemalan nationality, known for the ironical and humorous style of his short stories. He is considered an important figure in the Latin Americ ...

. As a

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

fan, he was the DJ for the radio program "El lado oscuro de la luna" (the Spanish translation of ''

The Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...

'' by Pink Floyd) from 1977 until 1981. He was then made the cultural attaché to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in the then

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

. For three decades, Villoro has produced a steady output of articles for various Mexican periodicals, concentrating in such areas as sports, rock, cinema, literature and travel. ''Palmeras de la brisa rapida: un viaje a Yucatán'' ("Palm Trees of the Rapid Breeze: A Journey to Yucatan") 1989 is an account of his travels in a part of Mexico known for its

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

culture. His first novel was ''El disparo de argón'' ("The Shot of Argon"), published in 1991. ''Los once de la tribu'' ("The Eleven of the Tribe"), published in 1995, collects many of his best short, non-fiction essays and interviews. The title refers to the number of people on an international football team. He covers a wide range of topics, including

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, the television series ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'', the absurdities of publishing children's literature in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and an interview with Jane Fonda. In 2011, Villoro appeared in the film production '' Guerrero 12'', a feature-length documentary examining soccer fandom passion. The film is directed by

Miguel A. Reina Miguel Alejandro Reina Gómez Maganda (; born 11 August 1980) is a Mexican filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer. Some of his works include ''Un aliado en el tiempo'', ''Mi vida en frenesí'', ''Trazos mágicos de Oaxaca'' and ''El hombre que ...

, who was also responsible for the Sundance film ''Un aliado en el tiempo''. In 2018 he received Chile's

Manuel Rojas Ibero-American Narrative Award The Manuel Rojas Ibero-American Narrative Award ( es, Premio Iberoamericano de Narrativa Manuel Rojas, links=no) is an annual award given in honor of the author of ''Hijo de ladrón'' by the National Council of Culture and the Arts of Chile. It ...

Interests

Since he was a child, Villoro has been fond of soccer. He is a fan of Barcelona, influenced by the fact that his father is from the region. Villoro played in the lower divisions Pumas of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, but left the team when he was 16. When he began writing about soccer, he described himself as being a fan of being a fan. He has consistently written chronicles, a genre that he defines as the platypus of prose, due to the large number of varying influences that chronicles can require. He began writing theater when he was 50 years old. As a rock music fan, Villoro collaborated with Mexican band

Café Tacuba Café Tacvba (Pronounced ''kaˈfe taˈkuβa'') is a band from Ciudad Satélite, Mexico. The group gained popularity in the early 1990s. They were founded in 1989, before they had the current lineup of Rubén Isaac Albarrán Ortega (lead vocals, ...

on the songs "Sashimi (Corte fino)" and "Laberinto" for the film Vivir mata, directed by

Nicolás Echevarría Nicolás Echevarría (born 8 August 1947) is a Mexican film director and cinematographer. He has directed over 20 films since 1973. His 1991 film ''Cabeza de Vaca'' was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival. Echevarría dra ...

."Listo, soundtrack de Vivir mata", ''El Universal'', 29.12.2001; acceso 11.12.2013. Villoro is also a professor at the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation for New Iberoamerican Journalism and was a member of the dean's council for the Gabriel García Márquez Prize for Journalism, which meets annually in Medellín.

Works

Novels

*''El disparo de argón'' (1991) *''Materia dispuesta'' (1997) *''El testigo'' (2004) *''Llamadas de Ámsterdam'' (2007) *''Arrecife'' (2012) *''La utilidad del deseo (2017)''

Short stories

*''La noche navegable'' (1980) *''La alcoba dormida'' (1992) *''Albercas'' (1985) *''La casa pierde'' (1999) *''Los culpables'' (2007) *"Orden suspendido," in ''Manuel Felguérez Obra Reciente 2002-2005'' (2005) *"Palmeras de la brisa rápida" (2009) *''Forward: Kioto'' (2010) *''Espejo Retrovisor (2013)''

Children's Books

*''Las golosinas secretas'' (1985) *''El profesor Zíper y la fabulosa guitarra eléctrica'' (1992) *''Autopista sanguijuela'' (1998) *''El té de tornillo del profesor Zíper'' (2000) *''Cazadores de croquetas'' (2007) *''El libro salvaje'' (2008) *''El taxi de los peluches'' (2008) *''La cuchara del señor Zíper'' (2015)

Essays, Chronicles, and Non-Fiction

*''Tiempo transcurrido (Crónicas imaginarias)'' (1986) *''Palmeras de la brisa rápida: Un viaje a

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

'' (chronicle, 1989) *''Los once de la tribu'' (football chronicles, 1995) *''Efectos personales'' (essay, 2000) *''Safari accidental'' (chronicle, 2005) *''Dios es redondo'' (essays and chronicles on football, 2006) *''Funerales preventivos: Fábulas y retratos'' (political essays, with drawings by Rogelio Naranjo, 2006) *''De eso se trata'' (literary essays, 2008) *''Manuel Felguérez el límite de una secuencia'' (1997) *''La máquina desnuda'' (essay, 2009) *''8.8: Miedo en el espejo'' (chronicle,2010) *''¿Hay vida en la Tierra?'' (articles, 2012) *''El Ojo en la Nuca ( Stavans, ilan / Villoro, Juan, 2014)'' *''El vértigo horizontal'' (Barcelona: Anagrama, 2019. English translation: Horizontal Vertigo: A City Called Mexico, Knopf, 2021)

References

External links

Juan Villoro's page
at n+1
Juan Villoro recorded for the literary archive in the Hispanic Division at the Library of Congress on September 14, 2015.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villoro, Juan Villoro,Juan Villoro,Juan Villoro,Juan Living people 1956 births Cultural attachés