Mario Vargas Wins 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to renown Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa.

[Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary, Swedish Academy]:
“The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2010 is Mario Vargas Llosa for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt and defeat.”

Swedish Academy Permanent Secretary Peter Englund tells us how Mario Vargas is a true man of letters as well as a man of action.

[Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary, Swedish Academy]:
“He is not an author that contains delivering light entertainment for the masses. He is sort of an old letter man, man of letters and a man of action at the same time.  He really believes in fiction and he believes in the power of fiction to change the world”

Mario Vargas is presently in United States, lecturing at Princeton University. Vargas was pleasantly surprised when he received the news from the Swedish Academy.

[Mario Vargas Llosa, 2010 Literature Nobel Prize Laureate]:
„I received a call from Stockholm from a gentleman who told me that he was the Secretary General of the Swedish Academy and that he wanted to inform me that I had received the Nobel Prize of literature and that in 40 minutes this will be public. So I still have not recovered from the surprise. It was a fantastic surprise but I am feeling very happy of course.“

Mario Vargas was born in Peru where he studied law and literature. He and his wife moved to Paris in the 60’s where he had his first breakthrough with his novel ‚The Time of the Hero‘. The story is based on his early experiences as a student in a Peruvian military school.  It proved then to be very controversial in his homeland where a thousand copies of the novel were burned by the military school officials. Vargas has since authored more than thirty novels, plays and essays.

Mario Vargas will be attending the Nobel Prize ceremony due in Stockholm on the 10th of December.

NTD News, Stockholm, Sweden

Foto: NTDTV