José Eduardo Agualusa
Encyclopedia
José Eduardo Agualusa (born December 13, 1960, in Huambo
, Angola
—then called Nova Lisboa, Overseas Province of Angola) is an Angola
n journalist and writer. He studied agronomy
and silviculture
in Lisbon
, Portugal
. He currently spends most of his time in Portugal, Angola and Brazil
, working as a writer and journalist. His books have been translated into twenty languages. He writes monthly for the Portuguese magazine LER and weekly for the Angolan newspaper A Capital. 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.
:
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) 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, 2006): An excerpt of The Book of Chameleons appeared in Gods and Soldiers: The Penguin
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 about Lidia do Carmo Ferreira, the Angolan poet and historian who disappeared mysteriously in Luanda
in 1992.
, India
, for three months which resulted in Um estranho em Goa; the third, in 2001, was prestiged by the German
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. Thanks to that grant, he lived one year in Berlin
, where he wrote O Ano em que Zumbi Tomou o Rio. In 2009, he was invited by the Dutch
Residency for Writers in Amsterdam
, where he wrote Barroco Tropical.
Nação Crioula (1997) was awarded the RTP
Great Literary Prize.
The Book of Chameleons (2006) won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
in 2007. He is the first African writer to win the award since its inception in 1990.
Huambo
Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa , is the capital of Huambo province in Angola. The city is located about 220 km E from Benguela and 600 km SE from Luanda. The city's last known population count was 225,268...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
—then called Nova Lisboa, Overseas Province of Angola) is an Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
n journalist and writer. He studied agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
and silviculture
Silviculture
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values. The name comes from the Latin silvi- + culture...
in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. He currently spends most of his time in Portugal, Angola and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, working as a writer and journalist. His books have been translated into twenty languages. He writes monthly for the Portuguese magazine LER and weekly for the Angolan newspaper A Capital. He hosts the radio program A Hora das Cigarras, about African music and poetry, on the channel RDP África
RDP África
RDP África is a terrestrial radio station owned by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal for the Lusophone African countries with programming of songs of Lusophone African music, as well as of Portuguese music and Brazilian music, with update reports from Lusophone African recording world.The station...
. In 2006, he launched, with Conceição Lopes and Fatima Otero, the Brazilian publisher Língua Geral, dedicated exclusively to Portuguese-language authors.
Translated Works
These novels were all translated into English by Daniel HahnDaniel Hahn
Daniel Hahn is a British writer and translator.He is the author of the history book The Tower Menagerie and the translator of Pelé's autobiography...
:
Creole (Nação Crioula—novel, 2002): Tells the story of a secret love between the fictional Portuguese adventurer Carlos Fradique Mendes
Fradique Mendes
Carlos Fradique Mendes is a fictional Portuguese adventurer. He was a youthful invention of the 19th century Portuguese realist novelist Eça de Queiroz and his literary allies . Fradique Mendes made an early appearance in print in the novel O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra , written jointly by Eça...
(a creation of the 19th century Portuguese novelist Eça de Queiroz) 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, 2006): An excerpt of The Book of Chameleons appeared in Gods and Soldiers: The Penguin
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
Anthology of Contemporary African Writing in 2009.
My Father's Wives
My Father's Wives
My Father's Wives is a novel by the Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa published in 2008 by Arcadia Books . It was translated by Daniel Hahn from Portuguese: As Mulheres do Meu Pai, published in 2007 by Editora Língua Geral and Publicações Dom Quixote .Upon his death, the famous Angolan composer...
(As Mulheres de Meu Pai—novel, 2008)
Rainy Season (Estação das Chuvas—novel, 2009): A biographical novel about Lidia do Carmo Ferreira, the Angolan poet and historian who disappeared mysteriously in Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
in 1992.
Awards
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 GoaGoa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, for three months which resulted in Um estranho em Goa; the third, in 2001, was prestiged by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. Thanks to that grant, he lived one year in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he wrote O Ano em que Zumbi Tomou o Rio. In 2009, he was invited by the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Residency for Writers in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, where he wrote Barroco Tropical.
Nação Crioula (1997) was awarded the RTP
Rádio e Televisão de Portugal
Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, S.A.,commonly known as RTP, is Portugal's public service broadcasting organization. It operates four terrestrial television channels and three national radio channels, as well as several satellite and cable offerings....
Great Literary Prize.
The Book of Chameleons (2006) won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was inaugurated by British newspaper The Independent to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched in 1990 and ran for five years before falling into abeyance. It was revived in 2001 with the financial support...
in 2007. He is the first African writer to win the award since its inception in 1990.
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."Further reading
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 Agualusa (in Portuguese, English, German, French, Dutch & Luxembourgian)
- Biography from the international literature festival berlin
- "Out of Africa: Prize-winning author Eduardo Agualusa" The Independent, 3 May 2007
- "Angolan author wins fiction prize" BBC News, 1 May 2007
- "An Interview with José Eduardo Agualusa"