José Eduardo Agualusa
Angola
José Eduardo (born in 1960) is considered one of Africa’s most important writers. He studied in Lisbon and currently lives in Portugal, Angola and Brazil. Both as a novelist and a reporter, Agualusa has become an important voice of his country. His novel A GENERAL THEORY OF OBLIVION was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2016 and was awarded the International Dublin Literary Award 2017. José Eduardo is the winner of the National Prize for Culture and Arts in Angola 2019 in the area of literature. The jury underlined his contribution “to the emergence of the emancipated reader” and “to the strengthening of citizenship and freedom of expression”.
His books have been published in more than 30 languages.
What you can't miss:
Splitting through the clear waters beside the rainbow hotel, Daniel Benchimol finds a waterproof mango-yellow camera and uncovers the photographed reveries of a famous Mozambican artist, Moira. In this exquisite novel, Agualusa's reader loses all sense of reality.
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On the eve of Angolan independence an agoraphobic woman named Ludo bricks herself into her apartment for 30 years, living off vegetables and the pigeons she lures in with diamonds, burning her furniture and books to stay alive and writing her story on the apartment’s walls.
Almost as if we’re eavesdropping, the history of Angola unfolds through the stories of those she sees from her window.
Reviews:
Set in Angola, Agualusa's tale darts from tormented past to dream-filled present with a lightness that belies the savage history of a country in which many have something to forget - and to hide. A beautifully written and always surprising tale of race, truth, and the transformative power of creativity.
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