By Ingrid Bachmann
Peruvian writer and failed presidential candidate Mario Vargas Llosa has won the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature for his "cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individuals' resistance, revolt and defeat," reported the Christian Science Monitor and Los Angeles Times.
In addition to writing fiction, Vargas Llosa also has worked as a journalist and has received various international prizes, including the Maria Moors Cabot prize for his journalistic work in Latin America. With such journalistic experience under his belt, Vargas Llosa has characterized journalism as influencing his literary work.
Four years ago, when he won the Cabot prize, the writer said journalism in the best tool society has for discovering its faults and fighting for democracy and freedom of expression.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.