José Eduardo Agualusa Alves da Cunha (born December 13, 1960) is an
Angolan journalist and writer of
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and
Brazilian descent. He studied
agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...
and
silviculture
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production.
The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests and wo ...
in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. Currently he resides in the
Island of Mozambique
The Island of Mozambique ( pt, Ilha de Moçambique) lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its ric ...
, working as a writer and journalist. He also has been working to establish a
public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants.
There are ...
on the island.
Agualusa writes predominantly in his native language,
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
.
His books have been translated into twenty-five languages, most notably into
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
by translator
Daniel Hahn
Daniel Hahn (born 26 November 1973) is a British writer, editor and translator.
He is the author of a number of works of non-fiction, including the history book ''The Tower Menagerie'', and one of the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide, a ser ...
, a frequent collaborator of his. Much of his writing focuses on the
history of Angola
Angola is a country in southwestern Africa. The country's name derives from the Kimbundu word for king. Angola was first settled by San hunter-gatherer societies before the northern domains came under the rule of Bantu states such as Kongo an ...
.
He has seen some success in English-speaking literary circles, most notably for ''
A General Theory of Oblivion
''A General Theory of Oblivion'' ( pt, Teoria Geral do Esquecimento) is a 2012 novel by Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa.
The novel recounts the story of a Portuguese woman who locks herself into her apartment in Angola on the brink of in ...
''. That novel, written in 2012 and translated in 2015, was shortlisted for the 2016
Man Booker International Prize
The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announced ...
, and was the recipient of the 2017
International Dublin Literary Award
The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...
.
Bibliography
* ''A Conjura'' (novel, 1989)
* ''D. Nicolau Água-Rosada e outras estórias verdadeiras e inverosímeis'' (short stories, 1990)
* ''O coração dos bosques'' (poetry, 1991)
* ''A feira dos assombrados'' (novella, 1992)
* ''Estação das Chuvas'' (novel, 1996)
* ''Nação Crioula'' (novel, 1997)
* ''Fronteiras Perdidas, contos para viajar'' (short stories, 1999)
* ''Um estranho em Goa'' (novel, 2000)
* ''Estranhões e Bizarrocos'' (juvenile literature, 2000)
* ''A Substância do Amor e Outras Crónicas'' (chronicles, 2000)
* ''O Homem que Parecia um Domingo'' (short stories, 2002)
* ''Catálogo de Sombras'' (short stories, 2003)
* ''O Ano em que Zumbi Tomou o Rio'' (novel, 2003)
* ''O Vendedor de Passados'' (novel, 2004)
* ''Manual Prático de Levitação'' (short stories, 2005)
* ''As Mulheres de Meu Pai'' (novel, 2007)
* ''Na rota das especiarias'' (guide, 2008)
* ''Barroco tropical'' (novel, 2009)
* ''Milagrário Pessoal'' (novel, 2010)
* ''
Teoria Geral do Esquecimento'' (novel, 2012)
* ''A educação sentimental dos pássaros'' (novel, 2012)
* ''A Vida no Céu'' (novel, 2013)
* ''A Rainha Ginga'' (novel, 2014)
* ''O Livro dos Camaleões'' (short stories, 2015)
* ''A sociedade dos sonhadores involuntários'' (2017) ''The Society of Reluctant Dreamers'', trans. Daniel Hahn (2019).
* ''Os Vivos e os Outros'' (novel, 2020)
He has also published, in collaboration with fellow journalist Fernando Semedo and photographer Elza Rocha, a work of investigative reporting on the African community of Lisbon, entitled ''Lisboa Africana'' (1993). Agualusa's play ''Aquela Mulher'' was performed by
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian actress
Marília Gabriela
Marília Gabriela Baston de Toledo (born 31 May 1948), best known as Marília Gabriela or just Gabi, is a Brazilian journalist, TV host, actress, writer, and former singer.
Biography
Marília began her journalist career in 1969, as an intern ...
(directed by
Antônio Fagundes
Antônio José da Silva Fagundes Filho (born 18 April 1949) is a Brazilian actor, playwright, voice actor, and producer. Renowned for his several performances in stage, film and television, where he frequently works in telenovelas.
Biography
Fa ...
) in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
, Brazil, in 2008 and
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil, in 2009. He co-wrote the play ''Chovem amores na Rua do Matador'' with
Mozambican writer
Mia Couto
António Emílio Leite Couto, better known as Mia Couto (born 5 July 1955), is a Mozambican writer. He won the Camões Prize in 2013, the most important literary award in the Portuguese language, and the Neustadt International Prize for Liter ...
.
Translated works
These novels were all translated into English by
Daniel Hahn
Daniel Hahn (born 26 November 1973) is a British writer, editor and translator.
He is the author of a number of works of non-fiction, including the history book ''The Tower Menagerie'', and one of the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide, a ser ...
:
* ''Creole'' (''Nação Crioula''—novel, 2002): Tells the story of a secret love between the fictional Portuguese adventurer
Carlos Fradique Mendes (a creation of the 19th-century Portuguese novelist
Eça de Queiroz
José Maria de Eça de Queiroz (; 25 November 1845 – 16 August 1900) is generally considered to have been the greatest Portuguese writer in the realist style. Zola considered him to be far greater than Flaubert. In the London ''Observer'', Jo ...
) and Ana Olímpia de Caminha, a former slave who became one of the wealthiest persons in Angola.
* ''
The Book of Chameleons'' (''O Vendedor de Passados''—novel, 2004): An excerpt appeared in ''Gods and Soldiers: The
Penguin
Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...
Anthology of Contemporary African Writing'' in 2009.
* ''
My Father's Wives'' (''As Mulheres de Meu Pai''—novel, 2008)
* ''Rainy Season'' (''Estação das Chuvas''—novel, 2009): A
biographical novel
The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fiction ...
about Lidia do Carmo Ferreira, the Angolan poet and historian who disappeared mysteriously in
Luanda
Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...
in 1992.
* ''
A General Theory of Oblivion
''A General Theory of Oblivion'' ( pt, Teoria Geral do Esquecimento) is a 2012 novel by Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa.
The novel recounts the story of a Portuguese woman who locks herself into her apartment in Angola on the brink of in ...
'' (''Teoria Geral do Esquecimento''—novel, 2015): Tells the history of Angola from the perspective of a woman named Ludo who barricades herself in her Luandan apartment for three decades—beginning the day before the country's independence.
* ''A Practical Guide to Levitation: Stories'' (forthcoming)
* ''The Living and the Rest'' (forthcoming)
Non-fiction work
Agualusa writes monthly for the Portuguese magazine ''LER'' and weekly for the Brazilian newspaper ''
O Globo
''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate.
Founded by journalist Irineu Marinho, owner of ''A Noite'', it was orig ...
'' and the Angolan portal ''Rede Angola''. He hosts the radio program ''A Hora das Cigarras'', about African music and poetry, on the channel
RDP África. In 2006, he launched, with Conceição Lopes and Fatima Otero, the Brazilian publisher Língua Geral, dedicated exclusively to Portuguese-language authors.
Criticism and interpretation
Agualusa's work was described by Ana Mafalda Leite as sometimes providing "a link between history and fiction, between the account of past events and the description of what might have been possible." The critic continues, "The author tries...to capture the moment in which history becomes literature, to illustrate how literary imagination takes precedence over the historical by means of the fantastic and an oneiric vision of life." Her assessment of the author's skills is as follows: "Agualusa gives evidence not just of solid historical research but also of the literary talent which brings these characters to life."
Awards
In June 2017, Agualusa, alongside
Daniel Hahn
Daniel Hahn (born 26 November 1973) is a British writer, editor and translator.
He is the author of a number of works of non-fiction, including the history book ''The Tower Menagerie'', and one of the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide, a ser ...
, his translator, was awarded the
International Dublin Literary Award
The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...
for his novel ''
A General Theory of Oblivion
''A General Theory of Oblivion'' ( pt, Teoria Geral do Esquecimento) is a 2012 novel by Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa.
The novel recounts the story of a Portuguese woman who locks herself into her apartment in Angola on the brink of in ...
''. Agualusa's work beat a shortlist of ten titles from around the world, including one written by Irish author
Anne Enright
Anne Teresa Enright (born 11 October 1962) is an Irish writer. She has published seven novels, many short stories and a non-fiction work called ''Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood'', about the birth of her two children. Her writing explo ...
, to claim the €100,000 prize. Agualusa was awarded €75,000 personally, as the translator, Daniel Hahn, was entitled to a €25,000 share of the prize money.
''Nação Crioula'' (1997) was awarded the
RTP Great Literary Prize.
''The Book of Chameleons'' (2006) won the
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
The ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize (1990–2015) was a British literary award. It was inaugurated by British newspaper ''The Independent'' to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched i ...
in 2007. He is the first African writer to win the award since its inception in 1990.
Agualusa benefited from three literary grants: the first awarded by the Portuguese Centro Nacional de Cultura in 1997 to write ''Nação Crioula'' (''Creole''); the second given in the year 2000 by the Portuguese Fundação Oriente allowing him to visit
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, for three months which resulted in ''Um estranho em Goa''; the third, in 2001, was prestiged by the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
The German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD (german: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), was founded in 1925 and is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation.
Organisation
''DAAD'' is a ...
. Thanks to that grant, he lived one year in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where he wrote ''O Ano em que Zumbi Tomou o Rio''. In 2009, he was invited by the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
Residency for Writers in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, where he wrote ''Barroco Tropical''.
References
Further reading
* Brookshaw, David. 2002. ''Voices from Lusophone borderlands: the Angolan identities of António Agostinho Neto, Jorge Arrimar and José Eduardo Agualusa.'' Maynooth: National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
* Guterres, Maria. "History and Fiction in José Eduardo Agualusa's Novels." ''Fiction in the Portuguese-Speaking World''. Ed. Charles M. Kelley. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000. pp. 117–38. Print.
External links
Homepage of José Eduardo AgualusaBiographyfrom the international literature festival berlin
"Angolan author wins fiction prize" BBC News, 1 May 2007
"An Interview with José Eduardo Agualusa" ''The Independent'', 2 July 2015
"A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa—Review" ''The Big Issue'', 15 July 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agualusa, Jose Eduardo
1960 births
Living people
People from Huambo
Angolan people of Portuguese descent
Angolan people of Brazilian descent
Angolan writers
Angolan radio presenters
Angolan journalists
Angolan newspaper journalists