91Èȱ¬

Santiago Roncagliolo grew up during a turbulent period in Peruvian history.

At age 30 he became the youngest ever winner of the Alfaguara Prize, one of the most prestigious to be awarded to a previously unpublished Spanish-language novel.

His award winning novel, Red April, is set in Peru in 2000 and explores the philosophical and psychological repercussions of the Fujimori regime's campaign against a Maoist insurgency known as Shining Path.

As the book is translated in to English, he tells Bidisha about how a stint as a bureaucrat helped him relate to his central character.