Daniel Alarcon

Writing a novel is not at all like riding a bike. Writing a novel is like having to redesign a bike, based on laws of physics that you don't understand, in a new universe. So having written one novel does nothing for you when you have to write the second one. ”

I began visiting Lima's prisons back in 2007, when my first novel, 'Lost City Radio,' was published in Peru. ”

As a boy, I wanted to be the Peruvian Diego Maradona. Sadly, Peru hasn't made the World Cup since 1982, so I guess I did well to choose something different. ”

I love the novel because it's like a love affair. You can just fall into it and keep going, and you never know where it's going to take you. ”

At the most basic level, I appreciate writers who have something to say. ”

I love to walk through the streets of Jesus Maria and Pueblo Libre. The Spanish colonial buildings are in bright colors, two stories high, with these intricate wooden, windowed balconies. ”

I do feel fortunate to have some knowledge of the great Latin American writers, including some that are probably not that well known in English. I'm thinking of Jose Maria Arguedas, whom I read when I was living in Lima, and who really impacted the way I viewed my country. ”

Publication in 'The New Yorker' meant everything, and it's no exaggeration to say that it changed my life. ”

Peru is a country where more than half the people would emigrate if given the chance. That's half the population that is willing to abandon everything they know for the uncertainty of a life in a foreign land, in another language. ”

It's true that there are people who live the idea of being an artist, as opposed to the idea of making art. ”