José Balza

José Balza (Orinoco Delta, Venezuela, 1939) is a novelist praised by Julio Cortázar and Ernesto Pérez Zúñiga (Setecientas palmeras plantadas en el mismo lugar). Cátedra de Madrid press is now preparing a critical edition of his famous novel Percusión. His work seeks to expand the philosophic, erotic borders of the human in the present and toward the future. He has practiced the essay, the short story, the aphorism, and criticism, and has elaborated the elements of a true literary theory. He has received Venezuela’s Premio Nacional de Literatura and doctorates honoris causa from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and the Universidad del Zulia, and is a member of the Academia Venezolana de la Lengua. He has given conference talks and taught courses at countless universities in America, Europe, and Asia. His fiction has been published by Fondo de Cultura (Mexico), Seix-Barral, Páginas de Espuma, and Ediciones La Palma (Spain), and Gallimard (France) and has been translated to many languages. His translators include Norman Thomas di Giovanni (English), Martha Canfield (Italian), Claude Fell (French), Pedro Martínez (Warao), and Oded Sverdlik (Hebrew). His recent publications include Afinaciones (exercises and essays), Ensayos simultáneos, and Ciudad en ciudades (narrative exercises). He collaborates with Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, Letras Libres, and Prodavinci.