Javier Cercas

Born in Ibahernando, Cáceres, in 1962, Javier Cercas has a PhD in Hispanic Philology, has worked at the University of Illinois and is currently lecturer in Spanish literature at the University of Girona and a columnist at El País. He is the author of the novels El inquilino (1989), El vientre de la ballena (1997), Soldados de Salamina (2001); El móvil (2003); La velocidad de la luz (The Speed of Light, 2005, Book of the Year of La Vanguardia and Qué Leer, and winner of the Arzobispo Juan de San Clemente, the Cartelera Turia and the Athens Literature prizes) and El impostor (2014). He has also written books of articles, narrative and essays: Una buena temporada (1998); Relatos reales (2000); La obra literaria de Gonzalo Suárez (1994) and La verdad de Agamenón (2006), and is author, jointly with David Trueba, of Diálogos de Salamina (2003), a book of conversations between the author of a novel adapted for the cinema and the director who adapted it.

His hugely successful Soldados de Salamina garnered the applause of readers (Qué Leer and Crisol prizes), booksellers (Premi Llibreter 2001, Premio Librería Cálamo), writers (Salambô prize) and critics (Ciutat de Barcelona, Ciudad de Cartagena and Extremadura prizes), and the recognition of overseas publics and critics (Chilean Critics Prize, Grinzane Cavour Prize 2003).