Hello
Gentle Reader
The Angolan writer, José Eduardo
Agualusa, has won the International Literary Dublin Award (formerly known as
the Impac Prize), for his novel: “A General Theory of Oblivion.” The novel
recounts the life of a reclusive woman who holes herself up in her apartment on
the eve of Angola gaining its independence for twenty-eight years. Her only
contact with the outside world is through snippets of conversation she hears
from her neighbours and a radio. She refines her life, philosophy, perspective
and thoughts into her diary and then eventually, the walls of her apartment.
In using the prize money, José Eduardo
Agualusa had commented that he planned on using it to build a library, in his
adoptive country of Mozambique. The irony is not lost on him; that he would use
the money from a prize governed by librarians and libraries to create a
library. Despite this comical twist, Agualusa explained there was a lack of infrastructure
and accessibility for the populace to reach literature and information in
Mozambique. A charitable act, by one of the greatest Portuguese language writers
current at work.
Congratulations José Eduardo Agualusa!
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
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