Juan Gabriel Vásquez has become the first South American author to win the International IMPAC DUBLIN literary Award.
The Colombian writer, whose works include The Informants and The Secret History of Costaguana, has received the €100,000 this year for his novel The Sound of Things Falling, translated by Anne McLean.
Speaking about the award, Vásquez said: “For me, it’s all about the names; the names of writers who have received the award before me and whose work I’ve admired and looked up to, particularly the name of James Joyce”.
He added: “I’ve always felt at home in Dublin and in Irish literature. So in more ways than one, this prize is a sort of homecoming”.
The IMPAC DUBLIN award is organised by the Public Library Service of Dublin City Council and is the world’s largest prize for a single novel published in English.
