Ruben Varona is a Colombian author and literary critic specialized in crime and historical fiction.
Born in Popayán (1980), he teaches Latin American Literature at Lycoming College. He has a Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature from Texas Tech University (2018) and a bilingual M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso (2012). He is the co-founder of the Revista Cultural La Mandrágora in Popayán. His deep interest in crime fiction has gained him recognition, being elected Vice-President for (2008-2016).
Rubén VaronaâÂÂs writing explores social conflicts and the potential for individual resistance. His literary and academic work reveal structural problems in fictional societies raising awareness of conflicting perspectives of social justice. For example, in his most recent novel, La viuda del molino (2023), he represents the cruelty of the independence movement in Colombia at the beginning of the 19th Century with a juxtaposition of voices, some of them well represented in history and others that have been marginalized and ignore to reflect on the challenges of social reconciliation today. Or in La secta de los asesinos(2016), coauthored with Carlos Bermeo, he approaches todayâÂÂs terrorism from a historical perspective that humanizes the political and religious tensions between East and West. This work was a finalist for the Premio Planeta-Casa de América award (2012). The media credited it for anticipating the foundation of the Islamic State. https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/cultura/letras/2016/05/3/una-novela-profetizo-la-existencia-del-estado-islamico
Regarding Rubén VaronaâÂÂs writing style, critics have said that he uses brutality, obscenity, and crime to expose reality's dark skeleton and reveal the horror implicit in our canon of beauty. For example, about his novel La hora del cheesecake (2015), the critic has highlighted the âÂÂintensity of language that forces the reader to place themselves in different planes and levels for the reconfiguration of both time and discourse,â and how it masterfully mixes the high and low culture, as well as the thriller and the corrosive satire without using the Anglo-Saxon models.
He has been chosen for several collections and anthologies of short stories: "La maldición del Garabato" en AntologÃÂa Olfato de gol: nuevos cuentos de fútbol (Ed. Reino de Cordelia 2022), âÂÂHospital psiquiátricoâ en Desierto en escarlata: cuentos criminales de Ciudad Juárez. (Ed. Colectivo Zurdo Medieta, 2018), âÂÂMeninas Clubâ en Short Story anthology: Latein-Amerika (Ed. Beatrix Kramlovsky and Sylvia Unterrander. Trans. Eva Srna, 2014), âÂÂPunto Negroâ en Céfiro: Enlace Hispano Cultural y Literario (2013), âÂÂDer Lackierte Spazierstockâ en Crime fiction anthology: Zurich, Ausfahrt Mord. Switzerland. (Ed. Paul Ott. Trans. Susanna Mende, 2011), âÂÂEl olor de los jazminesâ en Rio Grande Review (2010), âÂÂUn vuelo de algo con alas de polvo.â Señales de Ruta. AntologÃÂa del cuento colombiano. (Ed. Juan Pablo Plata, 2008), âÂÂLos restos del patriarcaâ en El Fungible. Especial de relatos para España y América Latina. (Ed. Ayuntamiento de Alcobendas 2008), and âÂÂCábala en re menorâ in the anthology Al filo de las palabras (Ed. Carlos Muñoz, 2001).