Juan Carlos Mendez Guedez

Juan Carlos Méndez Guédez is a Venezuelan writer born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela in 1967. At an early age, he and his family moved to Caracas, where he lived in the popular area of Los Jardines del Valle. He, however, always kept a close connectio with his hometown. He earned a BA from the Central University of Venezuela with a thesis on the poetry groups ""Traffic"" and ""Guaire."" Later he earned a Ph.D. in Hispanic American Literature from the University of Salamanca with a thesis on the Venezuelan writer José Balza.

He has published fifteen books including novels, volumes of short stories and essays. He lives in Spain, the country where he has written and published most of his work. His work has been anthologized in Spanish in Líneas aéreas and Pequeñas resistencias. Some of his other works have been published in Switzerland, France, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovenia and the United States.

In Venezuela, his texts are part of two recent short story anthologies: Las voces secretas, published by Alfaguara, and 21 del XXI, that was commercially released by Ediciones B. He has been invited to several important international literary events such as the International Guadalajara Book Fair, the Fair of Santiago de Chile, the Madrid eñe Festival, and has lectured at universities and institutions in Algeria, Colombia, Croatia, Spain, France, Switzerland, Venezuela, etc. In April 2013 his novel Arena Negra was awarded Book of the Year by booksellers in Venezuela