A year after the death of Peruvian novelist and 2010 Nobel laureate in literature Mario Vargas Llosa (1936-2025), the Cervantes Institute in Cairo, in cooperation with the Embassy of Peru in Egypt, organised a cultural evening celebrating the writer’s enduring literary and intellectual legacy and exploring his lasting influence on contemporary literature.
The event brought together Peruvian Ambassador to Egypt Miguel Alemán Urteaga, members of the diplomatic corps, the Cervantes Institute’s cultural activities officer Miguel Grajales, and a number of academics, researchers and literature enthusiasts.
The literary discussion featured Peruvian novelist Santiago Roncagliolo and professor of Spanish Literature at Kafr El-Sheikh University, Egyptian translator and researcher Mohamed Moaz, who discussed various aspects of Llosa’s creative experience and the transformations taking place in Latin American literature today.
Gregorio Laso Móstoles, the new director of the Cervantes Institute in Cairo, said that Llosa left behind a rich literary and human legacy that continues to resonate with readers around the world, with novels that tell timeless stories about human beings, society and life itself.
Móstoles also expressed his pride in holding the event only days after assuming his new post in Cairo, thanking the Peruvian embassy for its close cooperation and stressing that the institute’s mission is to bring people together through literature and art, fostering intercultural dialogue.
For his part, Ambassador Urteaga praised the Cervantes Institute’s efforts to promote the Spanish language and the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries among Egyptians. He noted that Llosa was granted the Spanish title of Marquis. The ambassador added that the author’s writing tackled universal themes including freedom, power and art, enabling readers around the world to forge deep human connections with it. He also highlighted the importance of translation in bridging cultures and promoting dialogue and understanding.
Speaking of his relationship with Llosa, the Peruvian novelist Santiago Roncagliolo recalled that he first knew him as a prominent cultural and political figure in Latin America, particularly during his presidential bid in Peru in 1990, before discovering the richness and complexity of his literary universe. Roncagliolo said, “one of the greatest surprises of my career came when I learned that Mario Vargas Llosa had read some of my early works, which was a major source of encouragement and inspiration.” He acknowledged that being constantly compared to Llosa represented a challenge for writers from Peru, given Llosa’s immense influence. Nevertheless, he had always sought to develop his own literary voice, shaped by his experiences of living in different countries and cultures.
According to Roncagliolo, Llosa’s legacy goes beyond the power of storytelling and the popularity of a given set of books. It also lies in the renewal of narrative forms and the ability to weave political, cultural and human dimensions into literary works, making him one of the most influential figures in the world of literature. “Llosa’s writings are relevant to all readers all over the world, he had the courage to write about dictatorship, power, sex and death in a way that few writers can.”
Roncagliolo also revealed a more personal side of Llosa, recalling that the author once confessed that receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature had filled him with anxiety rather than relief. “He feared that the prize would become a burden that restricted his creative freedom or imposed expectations that might prevent him from experimenting and making mistakes, which are an essential part of the writing process,” Roncagliolo said. He added that this attitude reflected a defining aspect of Llosa’s character: despite reaching the highest literary distinction, he remained committed to preserving his intellectual curiosity and artistic freedom.
Reflecting on the literary landscape one year after Llosa’s death, Roncagliolo said that literature in Latin America and beyond is undergoing profound changes that mirror wider social transformations. He noted that the literary scene is no longer dominated by towering figures but has become more diverse and open, with new voices emerging from different backgrounds and experiences, pointing to the growing international prominence of women writers. “This diversity does not diminish the stature of major literary icons,” he asserted. “On the contrary, it demonstrates literature’s vitality and its ability to renew itself and embrace multiple human experiences.”
For Egyptian translator Moaz, Llosa’s writing addressed delicate issues such as the figure of the prostitute, not in a conventional way but in a manner that allows us to understand broader political and social ideas related to marginalisation as well as relationships among female relations and the ways they interact with one another. “Here, details are essential. The search for identity is also a central theme in his works. Notably, readers in Egypt have always been particularly interested in questions of identity, realism, realistic writing, magical realism and narratives grounded in knowledge.”
Answering a question about the similarities between Llosa and his Egyptian peer Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, Moaz highlighted the fact that both writers used the novel as a mirror reflecting the political and social transformations taking place within their societies. Moaz drew parallels between Llosa’s The Time of the Hero and Mahfouz’s Cairo 30, arguing that both works examine how authority and historical circumstances shape individuals while raising profound questions about identity, values and social justice.
Moaz also pointed to Llosa’s distinctive treatment of secondary characters who, rather than serving merely as supporting figures, become active agents enriching the narrative and revealing its deeper dimensions. He observed that a similar feature can be found in Mahfouz’s novels, despite the different cultural contexts and literary techniques employed by the two authors. He concluded that while Llosa contributed to renewing narrative forms in Latin American literature through works dealing with dictatorship, violence, power and freedom, Mahfouz focused on documenting the social and intellectual transformations of Egyptian society.
“Each writer developed a unique legacy,” Moaz noted, “yet both shared the ability to transform reality into a profoundly human literature that transcends geographic and cultural boundaries.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 June, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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