Mark G. Sanchez

Dr Mark G. Sanchez is a Gibraltarian writer and academic based in the United Kingdom. Dr Sanchez took BA, MA and PhD degrees at the University of Leeds, completing his studies in 2004 with a thesis exploring perceptions of ‘hispanicity’ in Elizabethan and Jacobean literature. He is the author of over a dozen fiction and non-fiction books, including six novels and several works of autobiography. Writing about his 2020 novel Gooseman, two-time Booker Prize and former president of English PEN Alastair Niven described Sanchez as “one of the most underrated novelists writing in English [today],” arguing that his work “shows us that a micro-territory such as Gibraltar can produce a writer with as much to say about colonial history, mental health issues and the often destructive nature of social convention as any of his peers in larger spaces.” His latest novel Marlboro Man (2022) - about crossborder smuggling in the 80s and 90s - appeared in two editions: one aimed at anglophone readers and other at bilingual English-Gibraltarian Spanish readers. Sanchez has spoken about his writings in a number of academic settings, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Barcelona, the University of Basel, the University of Turin, the University of Lisbon and the University of Strasbourg among many others. He has also taken part in various literary festivals – including the 2017 and 2018 Gibraltar International Literary Festivals and the 2023 Malta Book Festival, and featured in radio programmes such as the BBC World Service's 'The Cultural Frontline' and ABC Australia's 'Late Night Live'. In November 2020 he was awarded the title of Cultural Ambassador at the Gibraltar Government's annual culture awards. He is a founder member of the Gibraltar National Book Council and also an honorary member of the Associazione Italiana Studi Culture e Letterature di Lingua Inglese.