Carlos Fonseca Suárez (born 1987, in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital city, capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Costa Rican Central Valley, Central Valley, wi ...

) is a Costa Rican-Puerto Rican writer and academic. He is the author of the novels ''Colonel Lágrimas'', ''Museo animal'', and ''Austral'. ''In 2016, he was selected by the Guadalajara International Book Fair as one of the top twenty Latin American authors born in the eighties.'' ''In 2017, he was selected by the Hay Festival as one of the top thirty-nine Latin American authors under forty. In 2021, he was selected by Granta Magazine as one of their Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists. He was also chosen by Encyclopædia Britannica as part of their Young Shapers of the Future 20 Under 40 Initiative, as one of the top twenty young international authors.

Biography

Fonseca Suárez was born in San José, Costa Rica in 1987. Born to a Costa Rican father and a Puerto Rican mother, he spent most of his adolescence in Puerto Rico. After attending high school at Colegio San Ignacio in Puerto Rico, he attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

where in 2009 he graduated with a degree in Comparative Literature. He then attended Princeton University where he obtained a PhD. He is currently Assistant Professor in Postcolonial Latin American Literature and Culture at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, as well as Fellow of Trinity College. He lives in Cambridge, United Kingdom with his family.

Works

''Colonel Lágrimas'' His first novel, ''Colonel Lágrimas'', published in Spain and Latin America by

Anagrama Anagrama is a Spanish publisher founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde, later sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. History Anagrama was founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde. In 2010, it was sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. A Catalan l ...

and in English by Restless Books, received critical acclaim and was praised by ''The Guardian'' as a “dazzling debut” and by Valerie Miles, in ''The New York Times Book Review'' as a “gorgeous opera prima” Loosely based on the life story of the eccentric mathematician

Alexander Grothendieck Alexander Grothendieck, later Alexandre Grothendieck in French (; ; ; 28 March 1928 – 13 November 2014), was a German-born French mathematician who became the leading figure in the creation of modern algebraic geometry. His research ext ...

, it tells the story of a man attempting to compose a total encyclopaedia. ''Natural History'' His second novel was published in Spain and Latin America by Anagrama as ''Museo animal'', and in English (translated by Megan McDowell) by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The New York Times, writing about the novel, said that “its plotting and Delphic aura suggest the paranoiac glitter of Don DeLillo, the cosmopolitan dread of Roberto Bolaño and the imaginative elasticity of Ricardo Piglia.” Kirkus Reviews, in a Starred review, described it as "an elegant meditation on art, inconstancy, and hiding, with a deftly woven subtext of camouflage that emerges as the narrative progresses." ''Austral'' His third novel was published in Spain and Latin America by Anagrama as ''Austral'', and in English (translated by Megan McDowell) by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (US) and MacLehose Press (UK). It was described by the Spanish Newspaper El Mundo as “a brilliant inquiry in the archive of memory.” ''La Lucidez del Miope'' He is also the author of a book of essays, where he writes about the works of writers that have inspired him like Ricardo Piglia, W.G. Sebald, Roberto Bolaño,

Marta Aponte Alsina Marta Aponte Alsina (22 November 1945 Cayey, Puerto Rico) is a storyteller, novelist and literary critic. Life Her parents were Ismael Aponte Meléndez and Ana María Alsina Díaz. She studied Comparative Literature at the University of Puerto R ...

, and Enrique Vila-Matas. This book won the Premio Nacional Aquileo J. Echevarría, Costa Rica’s National Prize of Literature, in the Essay Category.

Awards

• Premio Nacional Aquileo J. Echevarría for La Lucidez del Miope • Granta Magazine’s Best Spanish-Language Novelists, 2021 • Hay Festival’s Bogotá 39 Selection, 2017 • Encyclopædia Britannica’s Young Shapers of the Future, 2020

Bibliography

• ''Coronel Lágrimas'' (Anagrama, 2015). Translated by Megan McDowell as ''Colonel Lágrimas'' (Restless Books, 2016) • ''Museo animal'' (Anagrama, 2017). Translated by Megan McDowell as ''Natural History'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020) • ''La Lucidez del Miope'' (Editorial Germinal, 2017) • ''Austral'' (Anagrama, 2022). Translated by Megan McDowell as ''Austral'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023 and MacLehose Press, 2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca Suarez, Carlos Living people 1987 births Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola alumni Puerto Rican writers Costa Rican writers Princeton University alumni Stanford University alumni Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge

Biography

Works

Awards

Bibliography

See also

References