Juan Pablo Villalobos (born 1973) is a Mexican author. His debut novel, ''Down the Rabbit Hole'', was published by

And Other Stories And Other Stories is an independent British book publisher founded in 2009, notable for being the first UK publisher of literary fiction to make direct, advance subscriptions a major part of its business model as well as for its use of foreign l ...

in 2011 and was shortlisted for the

Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspap ...

2011. He is also the author of ''Quesadillas'' (2011) and ''I’ll Sell You a Dog'' (2016). His fourth novel, ''I Don’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me'', won the Herralde Prize. He has lived in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and currently resides in Spain with his wife and two children.

Life

Villalobos was born in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Mexico, in 1973. He lived in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain, for eight years, before moving to Brazil. In 2014, he moved back to Barcelona. He studied

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

and

Spanish literature Spanish literature generally refers to literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects wit ...

. He has worked in market research and published travel stories, as well as

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

and

film criticism Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Journalism, journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-m ...

Work

Villalobos's first book, ''Fiesta en la madriguera'', has been translated into Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Romanian, Dutch and English. Its English translation, ''Down the Rabbit Hole'' by Rosalind Harvey, was published in September 2011 by the UK publishing house

. ''Down the Rabbit Hole'' was shortlisted for the 2011

. His second novel
''Quesadillas''
was also translated by Rosalind Harvey and was published by

in 2013. His third novel, ''I’ll Sell You a Dog,'' was published by

in 2016. His fourth novel, ''I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me,'' was published by

in the United Kingdom on 30 April 2020, and in the United States on 5 May 2020.

Influences

Villalobos has said that his first book was inspired by

Nellie Campobello Nellie (or ''Nelly'') Francisca Ernestina Campobello Luna (November 7, 1900 – July 9, 1986) was a Mexican writer, notable for having written one of the few chronicles of the Mexican Revolution from a woman's perspective: '' Cartucho'', which c ...

's '' Cartucho'', a collection of short stories set during the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

Reviews

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Villalobos is recognized as an important representative of the so-called "narco-literature." His book ''Fiesta en la madriguera'' has been called ''"a disillusioned domestic tale from the dark heartland of Latin American machismo"''.

Bibliography

Novels * ''Fiesta en la madriguera.'' Barcelona: Anagrama, 2011. *
''Down the Rabbit Hole''
trans. Rosalind Harvey. London:

, 2011. *''Si viviéramos en un lugar normal'', Barcelona: Anagrama, 2012. *
''Quesadillas''
trans. Rosalind Harvey. London:

, 2013. * ''Te vendo un perro.'' Barcelona: Anagrama, 2015. ** '
'll Sell You a Dog
' trans. Rosalind Harvey. London:

, 2016. * ''No voy a pedirle a nadie que me crea'', Barcelona: Anagrama, 2017. Winner of the 2016

Premio Herralde The Premio Herralde is a Spanish literary prize. It is awarded annually by the publishing house Anagrama Anagrama is a Spanish publisher founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde. In 2010 it was sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. Since 1969, Ana ...

. **
I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me
', trans.

Daniel Hahn Daniel Hahn (born 26 November 1973) is a British writer, editor and translator. He is the author of a number of works of non-fiction, including the history book ''The Tower Menagerie'', and one of the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide, a ser ...

. Sheffield:

, 2020 * ''Yo tuve un sueño: El viaje de los niños centroamericanos a Estados Unidos.'' Barcelona: Anagrama, 2019. ** ''The Other Side'', trans. Rosalind Harvey. New York. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019. * ''La invasion del pueblo del espíritu.'' Barcelona: Anagrama, 2020. ** ''Invasion of the Spirit People'', trans. Rosalind Harvey. London. And Other Stories, forthcoming 2022.

References

External links

Juan Pablo Villalobos
(Editorial Anagrama author page) {{DEFAULTSORT:Villalobos, Juan Pablo 1973 births Living people People from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexican male writers 21st-century Mexican writers Mexican translators Portuguese–Spanish translators