Nobel Prize Week--Literature

Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa has won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat."

In his novels, Llosa explores the theme of power in Latin America, especially the effect of political power (and corruption) on the lives of ordinary people.  And he certainly hasn't avoided controversy.  In fact, his first published novel (La ciudad y los perros, published in English as The Time of the Hero) was publicly burned in Lima.   

Llosa's fiction has long been acclaimed, and he's a popular writer both in Spanish and in translation. (Take a look at the congratulations from readers around the world.)

Read more about Llosa here.  And stand by for some well deserved media attention for a great writer.  NPR is already offering commentary on what's bound to be a very popular choice for the Prize.

Update:  Hear Llosa's response to the Prize here.