The Washington Post Writers Group
Starting May 17th, Alvaro Vargas Llosa will begin writing a weekly column for The Washington Post Writers Group. The column will be available in both English and Spanish and has already caught the attention of publications such as ABC in Madrid, Spain; Listin Diario in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; La Primera in Lima, Peru; Vistazo in Guayaquil, Ecuador; and Diario las Americas in Miami.
Vargas Llosa has traveled the world as a journalist and has watched events unfold firsthand. “My background has taught me that a good deal of the hatred, fear and mistrust that are the sources of conflict and instability in the world come from a lack of awareness of how others live and think,” he explains. “I hope my column can help readers understand international affairs a little more.”
Writers Group Editorial Director Alan Shearer observed that “in reading Alvaro Vargas Llosa's columns over time, I was struck by how much I was learning from him.” Calling Vargas Llosa “an outstanding addition to our lineup of writers,” Shearer added, “With his vast knowledge of world affairs, especially in Latin America where he travels extensively, Vargas Llosa makes complex issues easier to understand.”
Vargas Llosa brings with him an abundance of media experience. His articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Granta magazine, the International Herald Tribune, Time magazine and the BBC World Service. He has been a reporter and commentator for newspapers, radio and TV in Latin America, Europe and the United States and was op-ed page editor at The Miami Herald’s El Nuevo Herald.
“I do not pretend to be neutral,” Vargas Llosa says of his work. “That is not to say I do not make the crucial distinction between fact and opinion. But I do think certain values are much more conducive to peace and prosperity than others. Those values are individual liberty, democracy under the rule of law, free markets, and human rights.”
Vargas Llosa is author or co-author of more than 10 books, including “Liberty for Latin America” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2005) which earned the prestigious Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award given by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. His other books include “The Che Guevera Myth” (The Independent Institute, 2006), “The Madness of Things Peruvian” (Transaction Publishers, 1994) and “Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot” (with Carlos Alberto Montaner and Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, Madison Books, 1996). He is also the recipient of the 2003 Freedom of Expression Award from the Association of Ibero-American Journalists.
Vargas Llosa is a graduate of the London School of Economics and is currently a senior fellow and director of the Center on Global Prosperity at the Independent Institute, an Oakland, Calif.-based think tank, where he began writing a weekly column for the Institute’s Web site. He and his family live in Washington, D.C.
As the syndicate for The Washington Post, The Writers Group develops and markets comics and editorial features to newspapers, magazines and electronic publications worldwide. The Writers Group is host to political columnists such as Pulitzer Prize winners George Will, David Broder, Jim Hoagland, Charles Krauthammer and Ellen Goodman, as well as David Ignatius, Ruben Navarrette Jr. and Eugene Robinson; Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonists Signe Wilkinson and Nick Anderson; advice columnist Carolyn Hax; the comic strips Opus by Berkeley Breathed (also a Pulitzer winner) and Pickles by Brian Crane; and the Newsweek and AmericaEconomia news services.
For rates and availability, call or write:
1150 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20071
800-879-9794/202-334-5375
[email protected]
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