Fernando Vallejo Rendón (born 1942 in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

) is a Colombian-born novelist, filmmaker and essayist. He obtained Mexican nationality in 2007.

Biography

Vallejo was born and raised in Medellín, though he left his hometown early in life. He started studies in Philosophy at

Universidad Nacional de Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, C ...

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, but after one year he abandoned the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Soon after he began new studies on biology at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, which he finished. Then he spent one year in Italy at the film academy Cinecittà, where he obtained basic notions on cinema. Vallejo then returned to Colombia with the project of filmmaking. Yet after difficulties with the Colombian Government in producing and, after he produced it, in presenting his first film (it was censored), he decided to leave his country. In Mexico he produced and distributed three films about the violence in Colombia. He also wrote an award-winning children's theater script, "El reino misterioso o Tomás y las abejas." He has been living in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

since 1971, where he not only produced his cinematographic pieces, but also the whole of his literary work. Despite time spent in other locales, mainly Europe and the United States, most of his

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s take place in Colombia. Some of his themes are grammar, biology, philosophy, physics,

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

pederasty Pederasty or paederasty () is a sexual relationship between an adult man and an adolescent boy. It was a socially acknowledged practice in Ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the world, such as Pre-Meiji Japan. In most countries today, ...

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

and politics, mostly related to places such as Antioquia and

; yet his main theme is his life. His books are written in first person, in an autobiographical style, although he manipulates the conventions of autobiography such that the line between autobiography and fiction becomes significantly blurred. His best-known novel, '' La virgen de los sicarios'', has been translated into English as '' Our Lady of the Assassins''. It deals with his fictionalized return to Medellín, and his relationships with two teenagers caught in the local cycle of violence. The autobiographical/fiction ''La virgen de los sicarios'' was made into a full feature film in 2000 and released in the United States as '' Our Lady of the Assassins''. In 2003, Colombian filmmaker Luis Ospina made a feature-length documentary about him: "La desazón suprema: retrato incesante de Fernando Vallejo ("The Supreme Uneasiness: Incessant Portrait of Fernando Vallejo"). In April 2007, Vallejo obtained Mexican citizenship and published a letter in which he publicly renounced his Colombian nationality. The letter presents the reasons for his decision by mentioning several incidents during his career, among them the recent reelection of President

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...

, that eventually led him to this decision. Vallejo is openly gay and lives with his partner, scenographist David Antón. He is known as an animal rights defender and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

, and because of his antinatalist views, he has no children. He is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and fiercely critical of religion.

Selected works

* "El reino misterioso o Tomás y las abejas" - he Mysterious Kingdom, or, Thomas and the Bees(1975). In ''Pilo Tamirano Luca: 2o. Concurso Nacional de Obras de Teatro''. México, DF: IMSS. * Logoi: una gramática del lenguaje literario (1983) * Barba Jacob, el mensajero (1984) * The Blue Days - ''Los días azules'' (1985) * The Secret Fire - ''El fuego secreto'' (1987) * The Roads to Rome - ''Los caminos a Roma'' (1988) * Years of Indulgence - ''Años de indulgencia'' (1989) * El mensajero (1991) * Among ghosts - ''Entre fantasmas'' (1993) * La virgen de los sicarios - ur Lady of the Assassins1994) * Chapolas negras (1995) * The Darwinist Tautology - ''La tautología darwinista'' (1998) * The Precipice - ''El desbarrancadero'' (2001) * Rambla Paralela - "La rambla paralela" (2002) * My Brother the Mayor - ''Mi hermano el alcalde'' (2003) * Brief Handbook of Impostorology in Physics - "Manualito de imposturología física" (2005) * The Whore of Babylon - "La puta de Babilonia" (2007) * White Crow - "Cuervo Blanco" (2012) He received the

Rómulo Gallegos Prize The Rómulo Gallegos International Novel Prize () was created on 6 August 1964 by a presidential decree enacted by Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, c ...

in 2003, one of the most prestigious prizes for

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

in the Spanish language for ''El desbarrancadero'' and, protesting the political climate in Venezuela, donated the cash from the award to Caracas's dogs. In 2024, ''The Abyss'', the English translation by Yvette Siegert, was longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature in the United States.

Interviews

"La sinceridad puede ser demoledora" Ciberletras, 13. Lehman University

References

External links

*"10 Most Influential Ibero American Intellectuals" of the year 2012. Foreign Policy magazin

*
Revista Semana; A su estilo, con humor negro, el escritor Fernando Vallejo renuncia a la nacionalidad colombiana
*Acceptance speech at the Rómulo Gallegos prize, in Spanish

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallejo, Fernando 1942 births Colombian biologists Colombian emigrants to Mexico Colombian film directors 20th-century Colombian novelists 21st-century Colombian novelists Colombian male novelists Mexican biologists Mexican film directors Mexican novelists Mexican male screenwriters Living people People from Medellín Gay novelists Gay screenwriters Colombian gay writers Colombian LGBTQ novelists Colombian LGBTQ screenwriters Mexican gay writers Mexican LGBTQ novelists Mexican LGBTQ screenwriters Anti-natalists Critics of religions Colombian atheists Mexican atheists Colombian children's writers Mexican LGBTQ film directors National University of Colombia alumni

Biography

Selected works

Interviews

See also

References

External links