Alejandro Varela (born 1979) is an American fiction writer. His novel The Town of Babylon was a finalist for a National Book Award in 2022.[1]
Alejandro Varela | |
|---|---|
 Alejandro Varela at a book reading at P&T Knitwear, April 2023 | |
| Born | 1979 (age 44–45) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author |
| Notable work | The Town of Babylon (2022) |
| Website | alejandrovarela |
Career
editVarela graduated from Cornell with a Bachelor of Arts and the University of Washington with a Masters in Public Health.[2][3] After graduating, he worked on an HIV study for the New York City Blood Center and managed cancer screening studies at Mount Sinai in Manhattan.[2] Varela taught graduate-level public health policy and advocacy at Long Island University before beginning to write full time. He has published short stories in The Yale Review, Georgia Review, and Harper's Magazine.[4][5]
Varela was working in a skyscraper two blocks way from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He detailed his experience on that day to Nicole Chung in The Atlantic, "I don’t know when the nightmares started, but after that, it was a long time before I could fly again."[6]
Varela's debut novel, The Town of Babylon, was published in 2022, and shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction.[7] The judges for the award said, "With this urgent, vivid novel, Varela has given us a modern classic and an indelible portrait of our times."[8][9]
His second book, The People Who Report More Stress, a short story collection, was published in 2023. The New York Times called it "a master class in analyzing the unspoken... Varela illuminates our society’s Gordian knots with a seemingly effortless wit and empathy."[10][11] The book was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize.[12]
Personal
editVarela is queer and lives in New York City.[13] His parents are from Colombia and El Salvador.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Soto, Christopher (16 March 2023). "How the Salvadoran diaspora became a literary juggernaut". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ a b "How Alejandro Varela became a public health storyteller". sph.washington.edu. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ "Fireside Chat with Alejandro Varela '01 and Ernesto Quiñonez". Cornell University. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ "Alejandro Varela: "Grand Openings"". The Yale Review. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ "Carlitos in Charge, by Alejandro Varela". Harper's Magazine. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ "Alejandro Varela on the Reality of Being an Anxious Writer". I Have Notes. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ Pao, Maureen (4 October 2022). "Here are the finalists for the 2022 National Book Awards". NPR. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "The Town of Babylon". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ "Three Questions for Alejandro Varela Regarding His Debut Novel, The Town of Babylon By Daniel A. Olivas". LATINO BOOK REVIEW. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ Kirby, Gwen E. (28 April 2023). "In These Stories, Society Lets Individuals Down Again and Again". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ Cheuk, Leland (6 April 2023). "National Book Award finalist Alejandro Varela renders the neurotic complexity of cosmopolitan life with humor and pathos in 'The People Who Report More Stress'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ "2024 Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist". Aspen Words. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- ^ "These Stories Explore the Complex Stress of Being Queer and Latinx in New York City". Them. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.