“Mario Vargas Llosa” became a worldwide Twitter trending topic on October 7, as Latin Americans woke up to the news that the Peruvian author had received the Nobel Prize in Literature. The announcement was mostly welcomed as a triumph for Latin American literature and the Spanish language. Voice of America titled their article, “Peruvian Writer Says His Nobel is Tribute [to] Latin American Literature.” Latin Americans shared their different views on the announcement through blogs and Twitter.
In Mexico, Alfredo Guzman (@ideasdelmaza) thought it was an insult that Vargas Llosa had won the Nobel, and Humberto García Neri (@hacheoficial) tweeted:
¿Celebrar a Vargas Llosa? Mejor celebren a los Incas y la belleza de su pueblo. Perú es hermoso.
On the other hand, Mexican writer Alberto Chimal (@albertochimal) said he was glad that Vargas Llosa had received the prize. Tryno Maldonado (@tryno), a writer from Oaxaca, Mexico, referred to another long-time candidate for the prize, 81-year-old Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes:
Sólo una persona en el mundo ambicionaba más ese premio. Carlos Fuentes debe estar retorciéndose en su tumba. Momento. ¿O sigue vivo?

Mario Vargas Llosa. Photo by Flickr user Daniele Devoti, dadevoti, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
As the day progressed, bloggers from all over Latin America began to publish posts dedicated to the Peruvian author.
Argentinean blogger Juan Carlos Lynch [es] says that he found out about the news through Twitter. He explains that he has a “direct relationship” with Mario Vargas Llosa's son Álvaro, and that as a result, he has crossed paths and exchanged greetings with the Nobel Laureate several times. Juan Carlos describes Mario Vargas Llosa as,
un gran señor. Un hombre alto, de pelo blanco, mirada muy profunda y gesto duro, que está siempre impecablemente vestido. Que inspira respeto. Pero esa imagen esconde a un gran ser humano. No sólo una persona de trato afable y un interesante sentido del humor, sino además un hombre de convicciones firmes, “familiero”, apasionado por todo lo que hace y, sobre todo, sumamente generoso.
Martha Colmenares [es], a Venezuelan writer and analyst, wrote on her blog:
Me da muchísima alegria el Premio Nobel de Literatura 2010 al escritor peruano Mario Vargas Llosa a quien tuve la oportunidad de conocer y entrevistar para mi libro “La otra Piel” junto a la escritora Norka Armand, hace unos años, y aparte de nuestra admiración por su obra, quedamos deslumbradas por su personalidad.
In the blog El Clavo en el Zapato [es], Fadrique Iglesias Mendizábal from Bolivia shared his personal experience with the work of Vargas Llosa:
Fue el primer autor que pude leer con atención en mi adolescencia. […] Se cierra un ciclo de grandes escritores. Ahora quedan los nuevos, sus sucesores aunque es muy aventurado soltar nombres.
Fradrique then recommends two young Latin American authors from the Andean region: Daniel Alarcón and Rodrigo Hasbún.
Mario Cordero, from the blog Diario Paranoico [es] from Guatemala, explains that some of Vargas Llosa's critics who do not agree with his political views think he did not deserve the Nobel Prize:
Sí, Vargas Llosa es de derecha, políticamente hablando. Pero el Nobel no es un premio político (o al menos, no debería ser tomado como esto). Es un premio literario. […] Entonces, habría que resaltar que Vargas Llosa es un excelente escritor, y su premio lo respalda con calidad literaria.
He concludes,
Aprendamos esa lección: separemos al Vargas Llosa escritor, que merece el Nobel, y el Vargas Llosa político, que podría no simpatizar con todos.
6 comments
I guess that means that I am supposed to read him now.
I studied his work in uni. It was tough. I thought I would never hear his name again….until he won the Peace Price in Literature!! Congrats to him!! :)
i was so impressed with his personal life. he has taken his own choice, which may seem strange to his fellow writers in his country ….