Juan Antonio Villoro Ruiz (born 24 September 1956, in
Mexico City) is a Mexican writer and journalist and the son of philosopher
Luis Villoro. He has been well known among intellectual circles in Mexico, Latin America and Spain for years, but his success among a wider readership has grown since receiving the
Herralde Prize for his novel El testigo.
For three decades, Villoro has produced a steady output of articles for various Mexican periodicals, concentrating in such areas as sports, rock, cinema, literature and travel. Palmeras de la brisa rapida: un viaje a Yucatán ("Palm Trees of the Rapid Breeze: A Journey to Yucatan") 1989 is an account of his travels in a part of Mexico known for its
Mayan culture.[3] His first novel was El disparo de argón ("The Shot of Argon"), published in 1991. Los once de la tribu ("The Eleven of the Tribe"), published in 1995, collects many of his best short, non-fiction essays and interviews.[4] The title refers to the number of people on an
international football team. He covers a wide range of topics, including
Andy Warhol,
the Rolling Stones, the television series Dallas, the absurdities of publishing children's literature in the
United States and an interview with
Jane Fonda.
In 2011, Villoro appeared in the film production Guerrero 12, a feature-length documentary examining football fandom passion. The film is directed by
Miguel A. Reina, who was also responsible for the Sundance film Un aliado en el tiempo.[5]
Since he was a child, Villoro has been fond of football. He is a fan of Barcelona, influenced by the fact that his father is from the region. Villoro played in the lower divisions
Pumas of the
National Autonomous University of Mexico, but left the team when he was 16.[7] When he began writing about football, he described himself as being a fan of being a fan.[8]
He has consistently written chronicles, a genre that he defines as the platypus of prose, due to the large number of varying influences that chronicles can require.[9]
He began writing theater when he was 50 years old.[10]
As a rock music fan, Villoro collaborated with Mexican band
Café Tacuba on the songs "Sashimi (Corte fino)" and "Laberinto" for the film
Vivir mata, directed by
Nicolás Echevarría.[11]
^Yohan Uribe Jiménez. Juan Villoro, considera el futbol reflejo de una sociedad. El Siglo de Torreón, 03.07.2011; acceso 10.12.2013.
^“La crónica es un animal cuyo equilibrio biológico depende de no ser como los siete animales distintos que podría ser”, extracto de Safari Accidental de Juan Villoro (Joaquín Mortiz, 2005), publicado en La Nación, 22.01.2006; acceso 10.12.2013.
^Juan Villoro, "Voy a tener una vejez teatral", Informador, 07.03.2012; acceso 11.12.2013.
^"Listo, soundtrack de Vivir mata", El Universal, 29.12.2001; acceso 11.12.2013.