Project Description

Dublin Award 2017José Eduardo Agualusa

Angola

José Eduardo Agualusa was born in Huambo in 1960 and is considered one of Africa’s most important writers. He studied in Lisbon and currently lives in Portugal, Angola and Mozambique. Both as a novelist and a reporter Agualusa has become an important voice of his country. He has a weekly column in the prestigious Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

In 2007, Agualusa was awarded the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and in 2013 the Fernando Namora Prize and a translation grant of the English PEN in 2014. 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 Agualusa 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”. Agualusa also won the Portuguese PEN Prize in 2021 for The Living and the Rest.

 His books have been published in over 30 languages.

»Angolan-born Agualusa, together with Mozambique writer Mia Couto, are among the most inventive writers at work in lusophone Africa.«
The National

José Eduardo Agualusa© Rosa Cunha

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The Lives and Deaths of Abel Chivukuvuku. A Biography of Angola

The Lives and Deaths of Abel Chivukuvuku. A Biography of Angola (“Vidas e Mortes de Abel Chivukuvuku. Uma Biografia de Angola”) is the story of a man whose name, Chivukuvuku, means bravery. A man married to a woman called Victória, and with three children: Pedro, Mário and Celma. A man born on 11 November (the date of Angola’s independence), who dedicated his entire life to fighting for the democratisation of his country. Abel Epalanga Chivukuvuku survived two plane crashes during the civil war, an assassination, and a terrible lynching attempt, without ever losing the joy of life and the ability to forgive, to listen to others and to enter into dialogue. His story is also the story of Angola, as seen from Bailundo, at the heart of the Ovimbundo nation.
The book is a major contribution to Angolan history and highly recommended for anyone who wants to better understand contemporary Angolan history, especially its ambiguities.

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The Living and the Rest

The Living and the Rest (“Os Vivos e os Outros”) follows the story of Agualusa‘s previous novel The Society of Reluctant Dreamers: Daniel has been living with the artist Moira in her native Mozambique for three years now, on the coastal Ilha de Moçambique.

They are awaiting the birth of their child, and at the same time they are organizing the island’s first literary festival. The small town with colonial charm is somewhat run down after years of civil war, but still constitutes a hub of African, Arab and European culture. As soon as the first festival-goers arrive, the coast is hit by a cyclone.

The island is spared, but the mainland sinks under rain and mud. The bridge to the mainland becomes impassable, and telephone and internet connections are down. The islanders, and with them the writers who have been invited to the festival, are cut off from the outside world and left to their own devices. The authors talk, eat and drink, get closer to each other, hear ghostly voices and meet characters from their own books. Some believe themselves to be in an intermediate realm, a kind of limbo, and some begin to write. The boundaries between reality and fiction, between past and future, between life and death become blurred. After five days everything goes back to normal, but the world has become a different place.

Where do we go when it’s all over? Perhaps to a small island. As one of the characters in this novel says, „after the world ends, it will start again on the islands“. This is a novel about the nature of life and of time, and the extraordinary power of imagination and the written word, capable of creating anything and regenerating everything.

Quotes

The Living and the Rest

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The Most Beautiful End of the World

Between 2018 and 2021, what changed in our lives, what transformed – for better and for worse – our world? In this book, José Eduardo Agualusa brings together short stories, newspaper columns and diary entries written (and published in the Brazilian and Portuguese press) during this period. They are texts that reflect the strange, convulsive and somewhat mysterious times we have been living through, while trying to shed some light on days that are still to come. Tiptoeing between fiction and essays, without too much concern for respecting borders (on the contrary, exploring the no man’s land that lies between borders), The Most Beautiful End of the World (“O Mais Belo Fim do Mundo”) is divided between journalism, short stories and texts where we hover above that dividing line between present and future, between the past and the time at we reflect upon it.
Thus, there is the memory of books that awaken our recollections, along with interstellar journeys, shepherds in the desert, trees, films and music, the lives of writers, memories of Covid, cities that cannot be forgotten, generals who don’t like war, cats, the presence of people whose lives could make a novel, journeys that are already impossible, hippopotamuses in the sea, fears that flutter like ghosts. An idea about how, despite tragedies, the world does not end.

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The Elegant Terrorist (And Other Stories)

The Elegant Terrorist (And Other Stories) (“O Terrorista Elegante e Outras Histórias”) is made up of three stories based on theatre plays written jointly by José Eduardo Agualusa and Mia Couto, commissioned by the theatre groups A Barraca, from Lisbon, and Trigo Limpo – Teatro ACERT, from Tondela in Northern Portugal.

In The Elegant Terrorist, which gives its title to the book, an Angolan is arrested in Portugal for his alleged participation in acts of terrorism. The man claims to be able to fly and talks to a bird in prison, which seems to give him the necessary guidance to fulfil his mission. – „I come here to kill.“ This is how the protagonist of It Rains Love in the Street of the Killer (“Chovem Amores na Rua do Matador”), the second story, finally tries to make peace with his past: by killing the three women in his life. The city night plunges into chaos and, as the conflict unfolds in the dark streets, a masked stranger looks for someone to kill. In Black Box (“A Caixa Preta”), generations of the same family are forced to face their best-kept secrets. Three delicious short novellas, full of humourand suspense, by two of the most popular and renowned fiction authors in Portuguese.

Quotes

The Elegant Terrorist (and other stories)

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The Society of Reluctant Dreamers

The Angolan journalist Daniel Benchimol dreams of people he does not know. Moira Fernandes, a Mozambican artist based in Cape Town, stages and photographs her own dreams. Hélio de Castro, Brazilian neuroscientist, films them. Hossi Kaley, a hotelier and former guerrilla with a dark and violent past, has a very different and even more mysterious relationship with his dreams. Dreams bring these four characters together in a dramatic sequence of events, in a country dominated by a totalitarian regime on the verge of complete breakdown.

The Society of Reluctant Dreamers (“A Sociedade dos Sonhadores Involuntários”) is a political, satirical and entertaining fable that challenges and questions the nature of reality, while advocating the rehabilitation of the dream as an instrument of consciousness and transformation.

Quotes

The Society of Reluctant Dreamers

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Queen N’jinga

José Eduardo Agualusa’s long-awaited novel Queen N’jinga (“A Rainha Ginga”) tells the life of one of the most fascinating historical personalities of Angola.

Africa, early 17th century: Father Francisco comes to assist N’jinga in her duties as ambassador of her brother the king, at a time of great historical turbulence. Accompanying N’jinga in her rise to power, Francisco discovers a completely new world and questions everything he believes in, even his Catholic faith, when he falls in love with one of the women of N’jinga‘s court.

An African account of the colonization of Angola that sheds new light on the roles of slavery, religion, inquisition and the complex network of relationships between Europe, Africa and the New World. A great adventure story by one of Angola’s most important voices. The novel has already sold over 30,000 copies in Portugal!

Quotes

Queen N’jinga

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A General Theory of Oblivion

A General Theory of Oblivion (“Teoria geral do esquecimento”) tells the true story of Ludo, a Portuguese woman who, horrified by the ongoing events of the Angolan War of Independence in 1975, bricks herself into her apartment in Luanda for almost thirty years. Interlinking Ludo’s tale with the moving stories of other characters and writing with a subtle irony that emphasizes the amazing coincidences of life, Agualusa creates a convincing and charming whole.

Quotes

A General Theory of Oblivion

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Life in the Sky

José Eduardo Agualusa’s juvenile novel Life in the Sky (“A Vida no Céu”) tells the extraordinary story of 16-year-old Carlos, who was born in the skies and goes looking for his father.

When the earth becomes too hot to live on after excessive global warming, people start building whole balloon cities in the sky. Carlos himself was born in a floating colony called Luanda. When his father disappears after a tragic balloon accident, Carlos is certain he survived. Travelling on his own in his family’s balloon, he discovers a floating Paris full of unknown wonders, makes friends and falls in love for the first time. But will he also find his father?

Full of adventure, mystery and passion, Life in the Sky is a moving book about friendship that addresses pressing sociological and ecological topics in an elegant and intriguing way.

Quotes

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Personal Notebook of Miracles

Personal Notebook of Miracles (“Milagrário pessoal”) is both a beautiful and unusual love story and a journey across the history of the Portuguese language.

One day Iara, a young Portuguese linguist who investigates neologisms, makes an incredible discovery: The Portuguese language is infiltrated with amazingly familiar sounding new words, which are suddenly used all over the country. In an attempt to find out where they come from or who has possibly invented them, she asks her professor, an 80-year-old Angolan anarchist, for help. Together they go looking for a mysterious list of words which, according to a document from the 17th century, were once stolen from the language of the birds. On their journey to Brazil, where they hope to find hints, they steadily get closer. Both have a rather turbulent past: Iara was a model and got robbed by her boyfriend, now distrusting any man. The professor was married to a French girl he got to know in the Spanish Civil War. After only a few years, she was killed in an accident. Their relationship is very easy-going, and in spite of the professor’s age, Iara seeks comfort in his apparent admiration of her. The professor keeps a diary where he notes down events which stand out in his daily routine, as small as they may seem.
Needless to say, Iara’s name appears frequently in his “Milagrário Pessoal”. As they dicover seemingly helpful leads in their search for the strange new words, they delve deeper and deeper into the origins of the Portuguese language. When the professor remembers some letters which might give insight into the language of the birds, they start searching through his library – without success, however, as the professor has known all along: He himself has hidden the one document which might help them, the list of the mysterious words itself. As a descendant of its author, he has used the secret words to get Iara’s attention, deliberately spreading them. Having violated the rules imposed by the ancient keepers of these words, he now has to face the consequences and return to Angola. But he returns content, for he has had all he ever dreamed of: A second chance for love and a night of passion with Iara.

Personal Notebook of Miracles confirms Agualusa as a great writer. This book is a declaration of love to the Portuguese language.

Quotes

Personal Notebook of Miracles

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Tropical Baroque

Tropical Baroque (“Barroco tropical”) tells a passionate love story hurtling inevitably towards an abyss, just like the Angolan society in which it is set. Bartolomeu is a well-known author and filmmaker, his girlfriend Kianda an internationally celebrated singer. When the famous television presenter Núbia de Matos dies a violent death after openly addressing child abuse and drug use among the country’s powerful men, Bartolomeu decides to investigate her murder…

Quotes

Tropical Baroque

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My Father’s Wives

Moving between fiction and reality, in My Father’s Wives (“As mulheres do meu pai”) José Eduardo Agualusa tells the story of the musician Faustino Manso, who, at his death, left eight widows and eighteen children in different cities and countries across Africa. Laurentina is a film director who lives in Lisbon. When her mother dies, she leaves a letter telling how Laurentina was adopted in Angola and that her real father was Faustino Manso. Laurentina decides to go to Africa to find out more about the father she never knew, and to make a documentary about the life of the late musician.

Together with a group made up of her boyfriend Mandume, her newfound nephew Bartolomeu, her photographer Jordi and the driver of their ancient vehicle, Pouca Sorte, they set out from Luanda, the Angolan capital, heading for Mozambique, via Namibia and South Africa. The narration through the eyes of the different characters and their different perspectives leads the reader on a journey across modern-day Africa and into its historical roots, through times of political struggle and a still-present sense of mysticism. The idea of the African Male is deconstructed as the narration progresses, in a very human manner, bringing to light the power held by African women.

Laurentina returns to Lisbon at the end of the long journey, pregnant and certain that Faustino Manso was sterile. My Father’s Wives is a journey that takes the reader to Africa in its music, cooking, passions and landscapes. Through his depiction of the harsh reality of an Africa that is still suffering from the wounds of its difficult past, Agualusa brings out simply the richness of these countries and their inhabitants, making a refreshing change from the gloomy news of the international media.

Quotes

My Father’s Wives

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A Practical Guide to Levitation

On the sands of Itamaracá, an old fisherman dreams of fish: shad in the morning, when the water’s smooth and silvery, the Atlantic tarpon after it rains, and a jack when the sea goes blue. Elsewhere, Borges sulks away in a plantation of neverending banana tree, and the president of the United States wakes from a coma speaking only Portuguese. Vividly translated by long-time Agualusa collaborator Daniel Hahn, the jewel-like tales gathered in this collection are an exuberant celebration of story-telling in all its various forms. With A Practical Guide to Levitation (“Manual Prático de Levitação”), Agualusa offers a sly wink to the fictional quality inherent in all narratives, whether they’re fishermen’s tales, national histories, or the stories we tell ourselves.

Quotes

A Practical Guide to Levitation

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The Book of Chameleons

The novel The Book of Chameleons (“O vendedor de passados”) has been drawing a lot of attention since its publication and has been reprinted several times. The albino Félix Ventura lives in Luanda in a big house full of books and earns his living by offering an altogether unusual service: he invents pasts. After decades of war, Angola is undergoing rapid change. It is home to many people with absolutely unimaginablecareers, but their pasts are not always quite presentable if they want to have a promising future. So Félix Ventura invents acceptable pasts for several people – they all receive a family register with family photographs and the necessary documents. The omniscient narrator tells the story from a rather intriguing perspective: that of a lizard. In the fiction of reconstructed pasts much turns out to be real. With ironic nudges and winks, Agualusa holds up a mirror to his country and stages a complex confusion in which truth and lies, reality and fiction lead to a surprising end.

Quotes

The Book of Chameleons

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The Conspiracy // Creole Nation // The Queen of Absurdities // The Giraffe That Ate Stars // Oddballs and Oddities

His first book The Conspiracy (“A conjura”) is a historical novel set in Angola in the period between 1880 and 1911. As in his later novel, Creole Nation (“A nação crioula”), Agualusa paints a fascinating portrait of a society marked by opposites, in which only those who adapt have a chance of succeeding. The necessary process of adaptation corresponds to that of creolization. By this Agualusa not only means mixing black and white, but above all, mixing different cultures, a theme on which this author, himself a Creole, focuses again and again in his subsequent works.

Apart from his novels, Agualusa has also published poems, short stories and childrens’ books, which won several prizes for the text and the illustrations.

The Queen of Absurdities (“A rainha dos estapafúrdios”) tells the adventures of Ana, a restless and curious young partridge in search of clothes more colourful than the ones that nature gave her. Alone, she deceives a hungry hyena, faces a ferocious lion and becomes queen of the savannah. How does she achieve all this? Discover these and many other adventures of the Queen of Absurdities in the colourful and magical pages of this book. This is a book to live every day of our lives.

Once upon a time there was a giraffe called Olímpia, who always walked with her head in the clouds, trying to see angels and eating stars, and Dona Margarida, a chicken from the bush with her head full of old sayings. They meet and become friends. They want to solve the problem of the drought that was ravaging their land. Would they succeed? With humour, mastery and simplicity, José Eduardo Agualusa and Henrique Cayatte tell us in The Giraffe That Ate Stars (“A girafa que comia estrelas”), a beautiful history of friendship and wit.

An inventor of impossible things: mechanical ants, steam-powered birds, flying shoes, sneezing devices, Oddballs and Oddities (“Estranhões & Bizarrocos”) and much else besides. Wise camels, a teddy girl, the queen of butterflies. A country where everything happens in reverse, rivers run from sea to source, and cats are the size of oxen. The birth of the first firefly in the world… These are stories to sleep angels.

RIGHTS

NOVELS
The Living and the Rest (“Os Vivos e os Outros”)
Lisbon: Quetzal, 2020, 254 p.
Film rights under option
Portuguese PEN Prize 2021
Argentina:
Edhasa (Latin America) 2022 · Brazil: Tusquets (Planeta) 2020 ·  China: Horizon 2022 · France: Métailié 2023 · Spain: Edhasa 2023 · Turkey: Timas 2022 · UK: MacLehose Press 2023 · USA: Archipelago

The Society of Reluctant Dreamers (“A Sociedade dos Sonhadores Involuntários”)
Lisbon: Quetzal 2017, 278 p.
Selected among the Books of the Year 2019: Fiction in translation, by the Financial Times
Argentina:
Edhasa 2018 (Latin America) · Azerbaijan: Strauss Press 2023 · Brazil: Tusquets (Planeta) 2017 · Catalan: Periscopi 2019 · France: Métailié 2019 · Germany: C.H. Beck 2019 · The Netherlands: Koppernik 2018 · Norway: Bokvennen 2018 · Spain: Edhasa 2019 · Sweden: Bokförlaget Tranan 2020 · UK: Harvill Secker 2019 · USA: Archipelago 2020

Queen N’jinga (”A Rainha Ginga“)
Lisbon: Quetzal 2014; Rio de Janeiro: FOZ 2015, 340 p.
Over 30,000 copies sold in Portugal
Argentina:
Edhasa 2018 (Latin America) · Brazil: FOZ 2015, Tusquets (Planeta) · France: Métailié 2017 · Italy: Lindau 2016 · Russia: Book Centre Rudomino 2017 · Spain: Edhasa 2019

A General Theory of Oblivion (”Teoria Geral do Esquecimento“)
Lisbon:
Dom Quixote 2012, 237 p., Quetzal 2018; Rio de Janeiro: FOZ 2012, 241 p.
Film rights sold to Incognito Films S.A.R.L., France
Berlinale Co-Production Market Award 2021
Premi Llibreter 2018

International Dublin Literary Award 2017
Shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2016
Winner of the English PEN Award 2014
Fernando Namora Prize 2013
Argentina: Edhasa 2016, 2017 (Latin America) · Azerbaijan: “La Fabula” 2019 · Brazil: Tusquets (Planeta) 2023 ·  Catalan: Periscopi 2018 · China: Horizon 2019, pb 2023 · Croatia: Meandar 2016 · Czech: Nakladatelství dybbuk 2021 · Denmark: Batzer & Co 2018 · Finland: Aporia · France: Métailié 2013, 2018 · Germany: C.H. Beck 2017, btb (PRH) · Greece: Opera 2018 · Italy: Neri Pozza 2017 · Japan: Hakusuisha Publishing House Co. 2020 · Korea: Kuhminsa 2018 · Kuwait: Alsurra (Arabic) 2019 · Lithuania: Vox Rara 2020 · Mexico: Almadía · The Netherlands: Koppernik 2015 · Norway: Bokvennen 2016 · Romania: Polirom 2018 · Russia: Phantom 2018 · Slovakia: Slovart 2019 · Spain: Edhasa 2017 · Sweden: Leopard 2017 · Taiwan: Unitas · Turkey: Timas 2019 · UK: Harvill/Secker 2015 · Uruguay: Banda Oriental 2017 · USA: Archipelago 2015

Personal Notebook of Miracles (“Milagrário Pessoal”)
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2010, 184 p.
Brazil: Língua Geral 2010 · USA: Archipelago

Tropical Baroque (“Barroco Tropical”)
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2009, Quetzal 2018, 372 p.
Brazil: Companhia das Letras 2009 · Croatia: Meandar 2011 · France: Métailié 2011 · German: A1 Verlag 2011, Unionsverlag pb 2021 · Italy: Nuova Frontiera 2012 · Mexico: Almadía 2014 · The Netherlands: Meulenhoff 2010

My Father’s Wives (“As Mulheres do Meu Pai”)
Lisbon:
Dom Quixote 2007, Quetzal 2017, 413 p.; Rio de Janeiro: Língua Geral 2007; São Paulo: Tusquets (Planeta)
Film rights sold to BRO, LDA, Portugal
Croatia: Meandar 2010 · France: Métailié 2009 · German: A1 Verlag 2010, Unionsverlag pb 2020 · Italy: Nuova Frontiera 2010 · The Netherlands: Meulenhoff 2008 · Poland: Znak 2012 · Serbia: Dereta 2010 · UK: Arcadia 2008

The Book of Chameleon (“O Vendedor de Passados”)
Lisbon:
Dom Quixote 2004, Quetzal 2017; Rio de Janeiro: Gryphus 2004, 2011, 2015; São Paulo: Tusquets (Planeta), 2018, 148 p.
Feature film directed by Lula Buarque de Hollanda, 2015
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2007
Argentina: Edhasa 2017 · Azerbaijan: “La Fabula”2022 · Bulgaria: Prozoretz · Catalan: Periscopi · China: Hunan 2015, Horizon Media · Croatia: Sysprint 2008 · Czech Republic: Triáda 2020 · Estonia: Varrak 2011 · Finland: Kampus Kustannus 2015 · France: Metáilié 2006 · German: A1 Verlag 2008, 2015, Unionsverlag pb 2018 · Greece: Opera 2019 · Israel: Kinneret 2012 · Italy: Nuova Frontiera 2008 · Japan: Hakusuisha 2023 · Korea: Joongang Books 2010 · Lithuania: Rara Publishing · The Netherlands: Meulenhoff 2007 · Poland: Kairos 2016 · Romania: Corint 2009 · Russia: Ripol 2013 · Serbia: Dereta 2008 · Slovakia: Slovart 2008 · Spain: Destino 2009, Edhasa 2018 · Taiwan: Ye-Ren 2013 · Turkey: Pegasus 2009, Timas · UK: Arcadia 2006, 2014, Arcadia Fiction (Quercus) 2022 · United Arab Emirates: Noon Publishing 2016 · Uruguay: Banda Oriental 2016 · USA: Simon & Schuster 2008

The Year in Which Zumbi Took Rio de Janeiro (“O Ano em que Zumbi tomou o Rio”)
Lisbon:
Dom Quixote 2002, Quetzal 2017, 306 p.
Brazil: Gryphus 2002 · France: Métailié 2007 · Italy: Nuova Frontiera 2004 · Spain: El Cobre Ediciones 2004

The Creole Nation (“A Nação Crioula”)
Lisbon:
Dom Quixote 1997, Quetzal 2017, 165 p.
Bangladesh: Sandesh · Brazil: Gryphus 1999, Língua Geral 2011, FOZ · China: Horizon Media· Croatia: Meandar 2013 · Germany: dtv 1999 · The Netherlands: Meulenhoff 2003 · Spain: Alianza 1999, Magrana (Catalan) 1999 · UK: Arcadia 2002

Rainy Season (“Estação das Chuvas”)
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 1996, Quetzal 2017, 267 p.
Brazil: Gryphus 2001, Língua Geral 2010 · France: Gallimard 2003 · The Netherlands: Koppernik 2022 · Poland: Kairos · Spain: Bronce 2002 (avail.) · UK: Arcadia 2009

The Conspiracy  (“A Conjura”)
Lisbon: Caminho 1989, Quetzal 2017, 181 p.
Brazil: Gryphus 2009

STORIES AND OTHER TEXTS
The Most Beautiful End of the World (“O Mais Belo Fim do Mundo”)

Lisbon: Quetzal 2021, 440 p.
Grand Prize for Chronicles and Literary Disperses 2022
Semifinalist of the Oceanos Prize 2022
Argentina: Edhasa

O Terrorista Elegante (E Outras Histórias)
together with Mia Couto (illustr. by Alex Cerveny)
São Paulo: Tusquets (Planeta) 2019, 176 p.; Lisbon: Quetzal (Bertrand) 2019
Bulgaria:
Ergo Publishing · China: Citic 2023 · Slovakia: Portugalsky 2022 · Sweden: Panta Rei 2022

A Black Box (“A Caixa Preta”)
(in: O Terrorista Elegante e outras histórias, together with Mia Couto)
Film rights sold to Filmes da Praça, Portugal, under the title Nayola, directed by: José Miguel Ribeiro

O Livro dos Camaleões
Lisbon: Quetzal 2015, 120 p.

Catálogo de Luzes
Rio de Janeiro: Gryphus 2013, 234 p.
Colombia: Tragaluz 2013

O Lugar do Morto
Lisbon: Tinta da China 2011, 157 p.
Italy: Urogallo 2012

A Educação Sentimental dos Pássaros
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2011, 126 p, Quetzal 2018, 124 p.
Italy: Urugallo 2015

Passageiros em Trânsito
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2006, 168 p., Quetzal 2017
Italy: Urugallo 2015

A Practical Guide to Levitation (“Manual Prático de Levitação”)
Rio de Janeiro: Gryphus 2005, 153 p., 2021
USA: Archipelago 2023

Catálogo de Sombras
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2003, Quetzal 2017, 149 p.

Dançar Outra Vez
Luanda: Caxinde 2001, 87 p.

A Substância do Amor
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2000, 196 p., Quetzal 2017

A Foreigner in Goa (“Um Estranho em Goa”)
Lisbon: Cotovia 2000, 168 p., Quetzal 2013
Brazil: Gryphus 2001, 2010 · China: Horizon Media · Italy: Urogallo 2009 · Spain: Villa de Indianos 2023

Fronteiras Perdidas
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 1999, 118 p., Quetzal 2017
Denmark: Ørby 2001 · Italy: Morlacchi 2000

Lisboa Africana
Lisbon: ASA 1993, 158 p.

The Market of the Damned (“A Feira dos Assombrados”)
Lisbon: Vega 1992, Dom Quixote 2001, 147 p., Quetzal 2017

SELECTED STORIES
Sweden: Alma viva 2001 · Italy: Edizioni dell’Urogallo 2009 · USA: Archipelago Books

BIOGRAPHIES
The Lives and Deaths of Abel Chivukuvuku. A Biography of Angola (“Vidas e Mortes de Abel Chivukuvuku. Uma Biografia de Angola”)

Lisboa: Quetzal 2023, 256 p.

CHRONICLES
Paradise and Other Hells (“Paraíso e Outros Infernos”)
Lisbon: Quetzal 2018, 334 p.
Macau/China: Praiagrande 2021 · UK: Flipped Eye (excl. Honkong and Macau)

JUVENILE FICTION
Life in the Sky (“A Vida no Céu”)
Lisbon: Quetzal 2013, São Paulo 2015, 186 p.
Among the winners of IBBY Argentina (ALIJA) 2016
Prize of the Foundation of Children and Youth books (FNLIJ)
German sample translation available
Argentina: Editorial Puerto de Palos (MacMillan) 2015 · Brazil: Melhoramentos 2025 · France: Joie de lire 2018

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
The Queen of Absurdities (“A Rainha dos Estapafúrdios”)
(Ill. by Danuta Wojciechowska)
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2012, 32 p.
Prémio Manuel António Pina
Highly recommended by the Brazilian section of IBBY 2017 (International Board on Books for Young People)
Brazil: Melhoramentos 2016

Nweti e o Mar
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2011, 44 p.
Brazil: Gryphus 2012

The Giraffe That Ate Stars (“A Girafa que Comia Estrelas”)
(Ill. by Henrique Cayatte )
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2005, 25 p. (26th edition)
Brazil: Língua Geral

Oddballs and Oddities (“Estranhões & Bizarrocos”)
(Ill. by Henrique Cayatte)
Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2000, 61 p.
Several awards for text and illustrations
Brazil: Língua Geral

PARTICIPATION IN ANTHOLOGIES
Crónicas lusófonas. Portugiesische Chroniken
(Ed.: Luisa Costa-Hölzl)
(“A Árvore que Engoliu o Tempo”)
Germany: dtv 2022