José Eduardo Agualusa

A writer and journalist, he is regarded as one of the most original African writers in recent decades. His literary work, which has been translated into more than twenty-five languages, has been recognised with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize of the British daily The Independent and the Arts Council England, and also the International Dublin Literary Award in 2017. He has received many prestigious literary grants to further his career from, among other institutions, the Centro Nacional da Cultura, the Fundação Oriente, and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. Notable among his novels are The Book of Chameleons (in Spanish, El vendedor de pasados, Edhasa, 2019), O Rainha Ginga (Queen Ginga – in Spanish, La reina Ginga, Edhasa, 2019), A General Theory of Oblivion (in Catalan, Teoria general de l’oblit, Periscopi / Edhasa, 2017), a finalist for the Man Booker International and 2018 Llibreter prizes, and The Society of Reluctant Dreamers (in Catalan, La societat dels somiadors involuntaris, Periscopi / Edhasa, 2019). His work, which is outstanding for its captivating storytelling that is full of surprises, is a kind of compilation of collective memories that are bound to the imaginaries and history of the land of his birth, Angola. He is co-founder of the Brazilian publishing house Língua Geral and works with several Portuguese media outlets, where he speaks about African poetry and music.