Daniel Alarcón (born March 5, 1977, in

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

) is a Peruvian-American novelist, journalist and radio producer. He is co-founder, host and executive producer of '' Radio Ambulante'', an award-winning

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

podcast distributed by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. Currently, he is an assistant professor of

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

at the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

and writes about

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

.'' He began his career writing fiction, publishing stories in magazines like ''The New Yorker'', ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'', ''

Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussio ...

'' and elsewhere, and his short stories have been widely anthologized. He served as Associate Editor of the Peruvian magazine '' Etiqueta Negra'' until 2015. He is a former

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, and a 2011 Artist in Residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts. His novel '' At Night We Walk in Circles'' was published by

Riverhead Books Riverhead Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) founded in 1994 by Susan Petersen Kennedy. Writers published by Riverhead include Ali Sethi, Marlon James, Junot Díaz, George Saunders, Khaled Hosseini, Nick Hornby, Anne Lamott, Carl ...

in October 2013. His most recent story collection, ''The King is Always Above the People'', was long-listed for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

in 2018, and won the 2019 Clarke Prize in Fiction. He received the MacArthur 'Genius Grant' in 2021.

Biography

Alarcón, a native of

, was raised from the age of 3, in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and is an alumnus of

Indian Springs School Indian Springs School is a rural private school for grades eight through twelve, near Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It has both boarding and day students, and is located in Indian Springs Village, Shelby County, Alabama. History Indian ...

. As a high schooler, he attended the Telluride Association Summer Program. He earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1999 and a

master of fine arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree in fiction from the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

in 2004. He has studied in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and been a public school teacher in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was a high school classmate of novelist

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is one of the List of best-selling books#Bet ...

. His first book, ''War by Candlelight'', was a finalist for the 2006 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award. In 2008, he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, a Lannan Fellowship, named a "Best Young American Novelist" by ''

'' magazine, and one of 39 under 39 Latin American Novelists. In 2010, he was also recognized by ''The'' ''New Yorker'' as one of 20 promising writers under 40. Alarcón's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, '' Lost City Radio'', was published 2007, and has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Greek, Italian, Serbian, Turkish, and Japanese. The German translation of ''Lost City Radio'' by Friedericke Meltendorf received the

International Literature Award International Literature Award (''German'': Internationaler Literaturpreis – Haus der Kulturen der Welt) is a German literary award for international prose translated into German for the first time.Haus der Kulturen der Welt The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), in English House of World Cultures, in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and societi ...

. In 2009, he published a collection of short stories, ''El rey está siempre por encima del pueblo'' (''The king is always above the people''), and the following year, "Ciudad de payasos", a graphic novel adapted from his 2003 story ''City of Clowns'', with illustrations by Peruvian artist Sheila Alvarado. In 2011, he co-founded Radio Ambulante with his wife Carolina Guerrero, along with Camila Segura, Martina Castro and Annie Correal. In 2013, his second novel, '' At Night We Walk in Circles'', was published to critical acclaim. Alarcón resides in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, and works at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

as a Distinguished Visiting Writer. Alarcón is the host of ''The Good Whale'', a podcast from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and '' Serial'' about the orca Keiko who portrayed Willy in the film ''

Free Willy ''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American Adventure film, adventure Drama (film and television), drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by ...

''.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' Lost City Radio'' (2007) * '' At Night We Walk in Circles'' (Riverhead Books, 2013)

Short fiction

;Collections * ''War by Candlelight: Stories'' (2005) * ''The King Is Always Above the People'' (2017) * ''El Rey siempre está por encima del pueblo'' Editorial Sexto Piso, Mexico City, Mexico, 2009 ;Anthologies (edited) * ''Zoetrope All Story: The Latin American Issue''. A compilation of stories by Latin American writers. Co-edited with Diego Trelles Paz. Spring 2009 ;Stories * "Lima, Peru, July 28, 1979", ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' * "The King Is Always Above the People", ''Granta'' * * "The Provincials", ''Granta'' * The Composer, ''Virginia Quarterly Review''

Graphic novels

* ''City of Clowns''. Illustrated by Sheila Alvarado.

. 2015. ISBN 978-1-59463-333-1. (Graphic novel adaptation of short story)

Non-fiction

* "What kind of Latino am I?". ''Salon''. May 24, 2005. * "Let's go, country: The new Latin left comes to Peru". Harper's. September 2006. * "Lost in Translation". ''Granta''. January 23, 2009. * "The Inauguration". ''Granta''. January 27, 2009. * "Life Among the Pirates". ''Granta'' (109: Work). Winter 2009. * * "The Ground Floor". ''Granta'' (117: Horror). Autumn 2011. (Subscription Required) * "A Peruvian Soccer Fan in Exile". ''The New Yorker''. November 13, 2017 *

Awards

* Recipient of a

Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, ...

in 2004 for fiction * Recipient of a

2007 * One of 21 Young American Novelists

, UK, 2007 * One of 39 under 39 Latino American Novelists (Hay Festival, Bogota, Colombia, 2007) * One of 7 finalists for the Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, Mercantile Library For Fiction, 2007 * Recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship in 2007 * One of 37 under 36 selected by the ''

Smithsonian Magazine ''Smithsonian'' is a magazine covering science, history, art, popular culture and innovation. The first issue was published in 1970. History The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' magazine ...

'' (Fall Special Issue, 2007) as Young American Innovators in the Arts and Sciences * ''Lost City Radio'' has made the lists of best fiction for 2007 of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'', ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'', ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' (London). * Alabama Library Association Award for Fiction, Birmingham, Alabama, 2008 * 2008 Pen USA award for Lost City Radio, Los Angeles, CA * 2009

International Literature Award International Literature Award (''German'': Internationaler Literaturpreis – Haus der Kulturen der Welt) is a German literary award for international prose translated into German for the first time.Story Prize The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first ...

. *2021

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

References

External links

Daniel Alarcón
website
Daniel Alarcón
recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division's audio literary archive on May 9, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Alarcon, Daniel Living people 1977 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American male novelists American male short story writers Columbia College (New York) alumni Hispanic and Latino American novelists Indian Springs School alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni The New Yorker people Novelists from Alabama PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners Peruvian emigrants to the United States Writers from Birmingham, Alabama Journalists from Birmingham, Alabama MacArthur Fellows