Mario Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian author, politician, journalist, and literary critic. He is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010. His works include novels such as 'The Time of the Hero' and 'The War of the End of the World'. He is also known for his political activism, having run unsuccessfully for the Peruvian presidency in 1990.