Alberto Fuguet

Alberto Fuguet de Goyeneche (born 1964) is a popular Chilean writer, playwright, journalist and film director who rose to critical prominence in the 1990s as part of the movement known as the New Chilean Narrative. Although he was born in Santiago, he passed his first 13 years of life in Encino, California. He was among the 50 Latin American leaders selected by Time Magazine and CNN in 1999 and he appeared in the frontpage of the Newsweek Magazine in 2002. [cite web |url=http://www.tematika.com/detalle/biografias.jsp?idArticulo=434517&idAutor=31276 |title=Cortos - Alberto Fuguet |accessdate=2008-06-28 |work= |publisher=Tematika.com |date=July 2006]

Biography

Fuguet was born in Santiago, Chile, but his family moved to Encino, California until he was 13. He is a graduate of the Universidad de Chile's School of Journalism.

In 1999 "Time" called Fuguet one of the 50 most important Latin Americans for the next millennium. In 2003, he was featured on the cover of the international edition of "Newsweek" magazine to represent a new generation of Latino writers.

Fuguet currently heads the program in Contemporary Audiovisual Culture at the Universidad Alberto Hurtado's School of Journalism in Santiago. He also writes for the newspaper "El Mercurio" and is at work on two new projects: the film "Perdidos" and the book "Missing".

Writing

Fuguet's work is characterized by a United States/Chilean hybridity, with constant cross-references to the popular cultures of the two nations. In 1996 he co-edited (with Sergio Gómez) the anthology "McOndo", whose title combined McDonalds with Macondo, the fictional town created by Gabriel García Márquez. McOndo represented popular culture while largely rejecting the use of magical realism in contemporary Latin American fiction.

Fuguet's other books are the short story collections "Sobredosis" and "Cortos"; the novels "Mala onda", "Por favor, rebobinar", "Tinta roja" and "Las películas de mi vida"; and the non-fiction collection "Primera parte". "Mala onda", which narrates a week in the life of a Santiago teenager in 1980, has received wide acclaim. "Tinta roja" has been made into a film. "Las películas de mi vida" is a semi-autobiographical novel about a Chilean seismologist who grew up in California and later returned to Chile. Its protagonist recounts his life with references to movies he has watched. Some of Fuguet's work, including "Mala onda" and "Las películas de mi vida", has been translated into English and published in the United States.

2007 saw the release of "Road Story", a graphic novel illustrated by Gonzalo Martínez based on one of the stories in "Cortos". Under the Alfaguara imprint, the book is claimed by Fuguet and by his sometime-collaborator Francisco Ortega to be the first Chilean graphic novel issued by a major publisher.

Novels

* "Mala onda"
* "Tinta roja"
* "Por favor rebobinar"
* "Las películas de mi vida" (2002)

hort stories

* "Sobredosis"
* "Cortos"

Graphic novel

* "Road Story"

Film

In 2005 Fuguet directed the film "Se Arrienda" which he co-wrote with Francisco Ortega. He also wrote the script for "En un lugar de la noche" (Martín Rodríguez, 2000).

References

Bibliography

* Fuguet, Alberto. "Magical Neoliberalism". "Foreign Policy" Jul-Aug 2001: 66-73.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.searriendalapelicula.cl/ Se Arrienda] - "Se Arrienda" official site
* [http://www.letras.s5.com/archivofuguet.htm Archive of articles by Alberto Fuguet]
* [http://www.letrasdechile.cl/fuguet2.htm "Hijos, un cuento en dos actos"] - a short story by Alberto Fuguet
* [http://www.newtranslations.org/NT1/FUGUET.htm "Love on Wheels] (story) in [http://www.newtranslations.org/index.htm New Translations] (English)