Octavio Escobar Giraldo was born in Manizales (Colombia) in 1962. Winner of the National Prize for Literature from the Ministry of Culture and the University of Antioquia for his collections of short stories De música ligera (1998) and Hotel en Shangri-Lá (2004), his novels, also prize-winning, include ironic post-modern twists: El último diario de Tony Flowers (1995) and El álbum de Mónica Pont (2003)–, 1851. Folletín de cabo roto (2007), an incredibly original historical recreation, and Cielo parcialmente nublado (2013), a lucid vision of Colombia in recent decades. Editorial Periférica published his crime novels Saide (1995) and Destinos intermedios (2010), which were praised by critics in Spain: 'The rhythm of the prose is excellent. The frankly enviable use of narrative voices enriches the arc of the plot.' (J. Ernesto Ayala-Dip).