Alberto Barrera Tyszka (1960- )

Biography

Alberto Barrera Tyszka was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 18 February 1960. He is of Polish descent on his mother’s side and of Spanish-Algerian on his father’s (Quintanilla Muñoz n.p.). He went to a seminary to become a Jesuit priest but dropped out after two years before taking his vows (Quintanilla Muñoz n.p.). He attended Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, earning a BA in Philosophy and Literature in 2003. In the `80s, he participated in the literary collectives Guaire and Tráfico. In addition to his narrative and poetic writings, Barrera Tyszka also pens a successful column for El Nacional, one of Venezuela’s most prestigious independent newspapers. He has also worked as a soap-opera writer in Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, and México. Currently, he teaches literature at Universidad Central de Venezuela.

In 2006, he won the Herralde Prize for his novel La enfermedad (The Sickeness). The novel has been described by several critics as “an inflection point in contemporary Venezuelan narrative” and “a fine piece of craftsmanship” (Bravo 63). His novel Patria o Muerte (Homeland or Death) won the XI Tusquets Editores Prize for Novel in November 2015.

His Biography Hugo Chávez sin uniforme: una historia personal (Madrid: Debate, 2005), co-authored with Cristina Marcano, is considered one of the most authoritative introductions to the life of the late controversial Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.

Critical Reception

• Alemán, Fátima. “Deseo y destino en la enfermedad.” MEDPAL, Interdisciplina y domicilio 3 (2011).
• Books and Arts: Man and Superman; Latin America. 384 Vol. London: The Economist Intelligence Unit N.A., Incorporated, 2007.
• Bada, Ricardo. “Hablar desde los huesos.” Revista de libros 131 (2007): 58.
• Beauregard, Paulette Silva. “La política y la” enfermedad”.” Foro hispánico: revista hispánica de Flandes y Holanda 47 (2013): 55-71.
• Dalrymple, Theodore. “The Beauty in Browsing.” BMJ: British Medical Journal 341.7776 (2010): 783.
• Foer, Franklin. The Talented Mr. Chavez: A Castro-Loving, Bolivar-Worshipping, Onetime Baseball-Player Wannabe, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is perhaps the World’s most Openly Anti-American Head of State. with Latin America in the Midst of a Leftward Swing, how Dangerous is He?. 297 Vol. Atlantic Media, Inc, 2006.
• Gomes, Miguel. “La persistencia de la nación: el país como signo en la nueva narrativa venezolana.” Revista de Estudios Hispánicos 46.1 (2012): 115-133.
• Lambrichs, Louise L., Chantal Marazia, and Luis Montiel. “The Place of the Unknown in the Medical Humanities.” Critical reviews in oncology/hematology 84 Suppl 2 (2012): S25.
• Lecuna, Vicente. “Narrativa y paranoia en Venezuela.” Voz y Escritura. Revista de estudios literarios 20 (2012): 151-161.
• Lozada, Carolina. “El abismo del silencio en Alberto Barrera Tyszka.” Quimera: Revista de literatura 307 (2009): 46.
• Martínez, Ibsen. “Romancing the Globe.” Foreign Policy 151 (2005): 48-56.
• Montiel, Luis. Alquimia del dolor: Estudios sobre medicina y literatura. Vol. 16. Publicacions Universitat Rovira I Virgili, 2014.
• Moynihan, Michael C. The Caudillo in His Labyrinth. 39 Vol. Los Angeles: Reason Foundation, 2007.
• Ortega, Antonio López. “Nueva cuentística venezolana: Breve inmersión.” Hispamerica (2004): 55-57.
• Ratliff, William. Hurricane Hugo. 13 Vol. Washington: Weekly Standard, 2007.
• Shifter, Michael. “What to Read on Venezuela.” Rev. of Hugo Chávez: The Definitive Biography of Venezuela’s Controversial President, By Cristina Marcano and Alberto Barrera Tyszka, Random House, 2007. Foreign Affairs. Council on Foreign Relations, 01 June 2011. Web. 05 June 2015.
• Simón Pérez, José Rafael. “Algunas consideraciones a partir de la lectura de la novela La enfermedad Alberto Barrera Tyszka Caracas: Editorial Anagrama (2006); 168 págs.” Letras 50.77 (Dec 2008): 193-207.
• Wilson, Catherine E. “The Bolivarian Revolution According to Hugo Chávez.” Orbis 52.3 (2008): 523-537.

Interviews, Debates, Interventions

• “Alberto-Barrera Tyszka: Cómo morir de amor.” Perf. Alberto Barrera Tyszka. YouTube. CasaAmérica, 25 Jan. 2011. Web. 05 June 2015.
• Fariñas, Julio A. “Las víctimas de la violencia no tienen adjetivos, sólo son víctimas.” La Voz De Galicia [Vigo] 2 Nov. 2009, Política Internacional: 4.
• Krauze, Daniel. “Pasado, presente y futuro de la telenovela.” Letras Libres, Feb. 2014. Web. 05 June 2015.
• Quintanilla Muñoz, Lorena. “Aunque no parezca, soy tímido.” El Impulso, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 05 June 2015.

Works

Fiction

• También el corazón es un descuido (Mexico: Plaza & Janés, 2001)

• La enfermedad (Barcelona: Anagrama, 2006) (Premio Herralde de novela, 2006, Best Foreign Language Novel in Spanish Award, China) [NCSU]

• The Sickness (London: Quercus, 2010) [NCSU]

• Rating ( Barcelona: Anagrama, 2011)

• Patria o Muerte (Barcelona: Tusquets, 2015)

Journalism

• Articles in El Nacional
• Articles in Letras Libres

Non-Fiction

• Hugo Chávez sin uniforme: una historia personal (Madrid: Debate, 2005), co-authored with Cristina Marcano
  — Hugo Chávez. The Definitive Biography of Venezuela’s Controversial President (New York: Random House, 2007)  [NCSU]
• Alta Traición (Caracas: Debate, 2008)
• Un país a la semana (Caracas: El Nacional Books, 2013)

Poetry

• Amor que por demás (1985)
• Coyote de ventanas (Caracas: Monte Ávila Editores, 1993)
• Tal vez el frío (Caracas: Pequeña Venecia, 2000)
• La inquietud. Anthology (1985-2012) (Caracas: Lugar Común, 2013)

Short stories

• Edición de lujo (Caracas: Fundarte, 1990)
• Perros (Camelia Ediciones, 2006)
• Crímenes (Barcelona: Anagrama, 2009)

TV

• Amanda Sabater. Radio Caracas Televisión, 1989.
• Déjate querer. Argentina, 1993.
• Géminis Co-estrellas. Colombia, 1995.
• Nada Personal. México, 1996.
• Demasiado Corazón. México, 1998.
• La Calle de las novias. México, 2000.
• Mirada de mujer (El regreso). México, 2003.
• Aunque mal paguen. Venezuela, 2007.
• Los misterios del amor. Venevisión, Venezuela, 2009.
• El árbol de Gabriel. Venevisión, Venezuela, 2011.
• Secretos de familia. México, 2013.

Scholarship

• Barrera Tyszka, Alberto. “Hablar con un papel.” Akademos 10.2 (2008): 7-17. Web. 5 Jun. 2015.
• Barrera Tyszka, Alberto. “Ficción-Perros.” Hispamerica 33.97 (2004): 58-62.
• Barrera Tyszka, Alberto. “Nosotros los delincuentes.” Lateral: Revista de Cultura 113 (2004): 10.

References

• Bravo, Víctor. Diccionario general de la literatura venezolana. Caracas: Monte Ávila Editores, 2013.
• Quintanilla Muñoz, Lorena. “Aunque no parezca, soy tímido.” El Impulso, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 05 June 2015.
• Wikipedia contributors. “Alberto Barrera Tyszka.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Jun. 2015.