Mario Bellatin
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Mario Bellatin (born July 23, 1960,
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, Mexico) is a Mexican
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
.


Early life

Mario Bellatin was born in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
to Peruvian parents. Soon after Mario was born, his parents returned to Lima. He spent two years studying theology at the seminary Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo and graduated from the
University of Lima The University of Lima (; ; ) is a private nonprofit university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1962. The decision to create the University of Lima was made in the early 1960s by a group of university professors, along with commerce and indu ...
. In 1987, Bellatin moved to
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, where he studied screenplay writing at the International Film School Latinoamericana. On his return to Mexico in 1995, he became the director of the area of Literature and Humanities at the
University of the Cloister of Sor Juana The University of the Cloister of Sor Juana () is a private university located in the former San Jerónimo Convent in the historic center of Mexico City. This convent is best known for having been the home of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz for over t ...
and became a member of the National System of Creators of Art from 1999 to 2005. He is currently the director of the Dynamic School of Writers in Mexico City.


Career

Mario Bellatin is celebrated as a leading voice in Spanish fiction for his experimental and fragmented writing, which artfully intertwines reality and creation. His work is known in many parts of the world, with translations into English, German, French and Malayalam. However, while he has participated in writing workshops around the United States, his work is underrepresented in the English-speaking world. As a result of a birth defect that left him missing much of his right arm, a good portion of his fiction concerns characters that are deformed or diseased or with an uncertain sexual identity. Bellatin was quoted in ''The New York Times'' as saying, "To me literature is a game, a search for ways to break through borders. But in my work the rules of the game are always obvious, the guts are exposed, and you can see what is being cooked up."


Awards and recognition

Bellatin is seen as a renewer in
Peruvian literature The term Peruvian literature not only refers to literature produced in the independent Republic of Peru, but also to literature produced in the Viceroyalty of Peru during the country's colonial period, and to oral tradition, oral artistic forms c ...
. Alonso Cueto wrote of him: "''There is a new generation of writers in Peru that wishes to break with the usual form of writing realistic novels.
Iván Thays Iván Thays is a Peruvian author, professor and television host. Life Thays was born on October 21, 1968, in Lima. He studied languages and literature at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. After his study he continued as a professor a ...
and Mario Bellatin are the masters of this group of young writers.''" He has received positive reviews from other writers. For instance
Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (28 March 1936 – 13 April 2025) was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the most significant Latin American novelists and essayists a ...
described him as "''one of the most interesting writers that have arisen in Latin America in recent years.''"
Anagrama Anagrama is a Spanish publisher founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde, later sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. History Anagrama was founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde. In 2010, it was sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. A Catalan l ...

biography
* Premio Xavier Villaurrutia for his novel ''Flores'', 200

*
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
, Latin American and Caribbean Fellow, 200

* Premio Nacional de Literatura for ''El gran vidrio'' (''The Great Glass''), Instituto Municipal de Cultura, Turismo y Arte de Mazatlán, 200

* Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award Honor for ''Beauty Salon'', American Library Association, 201

* Doctor Honoris Causa, 17, Institute of Critical Studies, 2019.


Selected works

* ''Flores'' (
Anagrama Anagrama is a Spanish publisher founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde, later sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. History Anagrama was founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde. In 2010, it was sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. A Catalan l ...
, 2004) * ''The Great Glass'' (Anagrama, 2007) * ''Chinese Checkers'', trans. Cooper Renner (Ravenna Press, 2007) * ''beauty parlor'', trans. Ratheesh (DC Books, 2011) * ''Beauty Salon'', trans. Kurt Hollander (City Lights Publishers, 2009) * ''Shiki Nagaoka: A Nose for Fiction'', trans. David Shook (Phoneme Medi

2013) * '' Jacob the Mutant'', trans. Jacob Steinberg (Phoneme Medi

2015) * ''The Uruguayan Book of the Dead'', trans. David Shook (Phoneme Media, 2019)


See also

* Italian immigration to Mexico, Mexican people of Italian descent


References


External links


Bellatin in ''Molossus''

Review of ''Beauty Salon''




New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, 2009-08-09; retrieved 2011-06-07 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellatin, Mario 1960 births Living people Mexican novelists Writers from Mexico City Peruvian novelists Peruvian male writers Academic staff of the University of the Cloister of Sor Juana Mexican male novelists University of Lima alumni Mexican people of Italian descent Xavier Villaurrutia Award winners