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Fiction and Lies. The Role of the Novel in the World of Post-Truth
In our time of fake news, disinformation, and political manipulation, the difference between truth and lies seems increasingly unclear. Artificial intelligence can distort our perceptions, and social media encloses us in bubbles that destroy the very idea of a shared reality. In this world, what place does fiction occupy—the old craft of telling stories that never happened? Can novels contain more truth than reality as we see it? The Colombian novelist Juan Gabriel Vásquez proposes a conversation about our relationship with invented stories in an increasingly uncertain world.
Dates and times
Saturday, March 28, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Address
Moll de Barcelona, Port Vell (Port of Barcelona). Chill Area
Juan Gabriel Vásquez
Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Bogotá, 1973) is the author of the short story collections The Lovers of All Saints and Songs for the Fire (Colombian Library of Narrative Prize), and of the novels The Informers, The Secret History of Costaguana, The Sound of Things Falling (Alfaguara Prize, Gregor von Rezzori Prize, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award), The Reputations (Royal Spanish Academy Prize, Archbishop Juan de San Clemente Literary Prize, Casa da América Latina Prize in Lisbon), The Shape of the Ruins (Casino da Póvoa Literary Prize), Looking Back (Mario Vargas Llosa Biennial Novel Prize, Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, Casino de Santiago European Novel Prize), and The Names of Feliza.
Vásquez has also published three books of essays—The Art of Distortion, Travels with a Blank Map, and The Translation of the World; two collections of his journalistic writings—The Disagreements of Peace and This Has Happened; and a book of poems, September Notebook. He has translated works by Joseph Conrad and Victor Hugo, among others.
For his body of work he has received the Prix Roger Caillois in France, the Blue Metropolis Prize in Canada, and the Cálamo Extraordinario Prize in Spain. In 2016 he was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic, and in 2018 he received the Order of Isabella the Catholic. In 2022 he was named International Writer by the Royal Society of Literature. His books are published in 30 languages. He is a columnist for El País and a member of the Colombian Academy of Language.
