Daniel Alarcón

Daniel Alarcón is a Peruvian-American novelist, journalist, and radio producer whose work examines the social, cultural, and linguistic connections among Latin America and Spanish-speaking communities in the Americas. As a contributing writer at The New Yorker covering Latin America, Alarcón also serves as an associate professor of journalism at Columbia University.

Alarcón's literary career began with the publication of his short story "City of Clowns" in The New Yorker, followed by his debut collection, "War by Candlelight," which was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award. His first novel, "Lost City Radio," was named a Best Book of the Year by San Francisco Chronicle and Washington Post and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Its German translation received the International Literature Award. Alarcón's novel "At Night We Walk in Circles" was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and his story collection "The King Is Always Above the People" was longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction.

Alarcón has received recognition including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, and a MacArthur Fellowship. Granta named him a Best Young American Novelist, and The New Yorker included him in its "20 under 40" list of writers.

In audio journalism, Alarcón co-founded Radio Ambulante, a Spanish-language narrative podcast distributed by NPR that features long-form stories from across Latin America. Radio Ambulante has produced more than 200 episodes in over 20 countries and reaches millions of listeners annually, blending investigative journalism, interviews, and storytelling. Alarcón also serves as editorial director of El Hilo, a weekly Spanish-language news and analysis podcast.

Alarcón has hosted "The Good Whale," a podcast from The New York Times and Serial Productions, and co-launched "The Away End" with novelist John Green, a podcast about international football. Through fiction and audio storytelling, Alarcón explores themes such as political violence, the immigrant experience, and the complexities of Latin American identity, contributing to both literature and journalism.