Vania Vargas (born January 12, 1978 in

Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is both the seat of the namesake Department and municipality, in Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may ...

, Guatemala) is a Guatemalan poet, narrator, editor, and journalist. Her writings specialize in Guatemalan culture. Her mother, a primary school teacher, assisted Vargas in graduating from school with scholarships financed by private interests and by friends. Vargas took an interest in books early in life because of her uncle's interest and his large library of police and medieval fantasy novels, which would be the first books she read in her life. For this reason, Vargas decided to study literature, but her parents would not allow her to move to

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...

to study literature. Vargas's first work as a journalist came with local newspaper ''El Nuevo Quetzalteco'', later shortened to ''El Quetzalteco'', which covered red notes and tribunes, an experience that gave her much needed journalistic experience. In 2002, Vargas finally moved to the capital to study literature, graduating in 2009 from the

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC, ''University of San Carlos of Guatemala'') is the largest and oldest university of Guatemala; it is also the fourth founded in the Americas. Established in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the Spani ...

. Her first novel, ''Cuentos infantiles'', published by Catafixia Editorial, was part of the ''La malla'' collection, which included books by Maurice Echeverría, Yaxquin Melchi, and René Morales Hernández.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Vania Living people 1978 births Guatemalan women writers Guatemalan writers Guatemalan women journalists Guatemalan journalists People from Quetzaltenango Department