We’re a bit behind on this update, dear readers, but we nevertheless are delight to announce that José Eduardo Agualusa is the winner of the 2017 International Dublin Literary award for his novel A General Theory of Oblivion.
As we discussed back in May, the International Dublin Literary Award is funded entirely by the City of Dublin, Ireland, and is awarded each year for a novel written in English or translated into English. It’s among the richest literary prizes in the world–and it also one of our favorites, because all the books are nominated by Libraries from around the world! The diversity of reading habits, culture, and geography makes this award a genuinely unpredictable, eclectic, and rewarding one, and so it was with great excitement that we received the news about Mr. Agualusa’s win for A General Theory of Oblivion, along with Daniel Hahn, who translated the work into English.
Agualusa’s novel recounts the story of an Ludo, a Portuguese woman living in Angola, who locks herself into her apartment during the Angolan War of Independence, just before independence from Portugal. She attempts to cut herself off from the external world, growing vegetables in her apartment and luring in pigeons. Her only knowledge of the outside world comes from the snippets of conversation she overhears from her neighbors and the radio. Three decades pass this way, until until she meets a young boy who informs her of the radical changes which have occurred in the country in the intervening years.
Critics praised Agualusa for his subject matter, with The Scotsman stating that he was responsible for opening up “the world of Portuguese-speaking Africa to the English-speaking community.” He attracted further critical praise for the manner in which he condensed a cryptic and complicated conflict into something that everyday readers can digest, understand, and feel. His work has also drawn comparisons to Emma Donoghue’s Room because it so deftly creates an entire world in a tiny, confined space.
You can read Agualusa’s acceptance speech here, via the Dublin Literary Award website, but I would like to point out a specific excerpt from the speech here, because it warmed the cockles of my Library-loving heart:
I was glad to learn that a book of mine was chosen for this prize for many reasons, but particularly because of the selection process – because the books are chosen by public libraries – and because the whole award process is run by Dublin City Public Libraries. I became a writer in public libraries. Not only because if I hadn’t had access to books in some of these libraries, as a child, I never would have started writing, but because to a great extent my first book was actually written in a public library.
If literature develops our empathy muscles, makes us better people, then you might think of public libraries as weapons of massive construction: powerful tools for personal development and the development of societies.
According to The Guardian, Agualusa plans to use his winnings to build a library in his adopted home on the Island of Mozambique. From the article:
“What we really need is a public library, because people don’t have access to books, so if I can do something to help that, it will be great,” Agualusa says. “We have already found a place and I can put my own personal library in there and open it to the people of the island. It’s been a dream for a long time.”
From Libraries, back to Libraries–so congratulations, and Thank You to José Eduardo Agualusa!
If you’d like to read A General Theory of Oblivion, come in or call, and talk to a member of your friendly Reference Staff, who can order you a copy through the Commonwealth Catalog!