Description
On Mount Gurugu, overlooking the Spanish enclave of Melilla on the North African coast, desperate migrants gather before attempting to scale the city's walls and gain asylum on European soil. Inspired by firsthand accounts, Juan Tomas Avila Laurel has written an urgent novel, by turns funny and sad, bringing a distinctly African perspective to a major issue of our time.
Shortlisted for the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
About the Author
Juan Tomas Avila Laurel was born in 1966 in Equatorial Guinea, Africa's only Spanish-speaking country. His parents were from the remote Annobon Island, off the African coast. His Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Prize-shortlisted By Night the Mountain Burns is based on his memories of growing up on Annobon. Avila Laurel has been a constant thorn in the side of his country's long-standing dictatorial government. A nurse by profession, for many years he was one of the best known Equatorial Guinean writers not to have opted to live in exile. But, in 2011, after a week-long hunger strike in protest against Obiang's regime, timed to coincide with the President of Spain's visit to Equatorial Guinea, Avila Laurel moved to Barcelona. He writes across all media, in particular as a blogger, essayist and novelist.
Reviews
Praise for Juan Tomas Avila Laurel: 'As a person, Juan Tomas Avila Laurel is gentle, open and funny. As a voice, he is brave, angry, uncompromising. Here is the voice of someone who has courted and suffered persecution for the sake of a better world. How will he be remembered in the end - as revolutionary or martyr? Juan Tomas is not likely to disappear quietly.' William T Vollmann, author of Europe Central ------------ 'Delightfully candid, deceptively sober.' Helen Oyeyemi ------------ 'A leading light of the Equatorial Guinean literature movement.' The Guardian ------------ 'Survival, hope and despair wrestle in this surprising work by Equatorial Guinea's leading author.' Financial Times (Books of the Year 2014) ------------ 'Avila Laurel's dark, troubled narrative of 'our Atlantic Ocean island' is remarkable, original and poetic.' Irish Times ------------ 'Juan Tomas Avila Laurel offers [a] plain style, grown out of the native oral tradition of storytelling. By Night the Mountain Burns is a collection of childhood memories, a working through of hardship and superstition.' The Independent
Awards
Short-listed for Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2015.
Book Information
ISBN 9781908276940
Author Juan Tomas Avila Laurel
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint And Other Stories
Publisher And Other Stories
Weight(grams) 212g
Shortlisted for the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
About the Author
Juan Tomas Avila Laurel was born in 1966 in Equatorial Guinea, Africa's only Spanish-speaking country. His parents were from the remote Annobon Island, off the African coast. His Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Prize-shortlisted By Night the Mountain Burns is based on his memories of growing up on Annobon. Avila Laurel has been a constant thorn in the side of his country's long-standing dictatorial government. A nurse by profession, for many years he was one of the best known Equatorial Guinean writers not to have opted to live in exile. But, in 2011, after a week-long hunger strike in protest against Obiang's regime, timed to coincide with the President of Spain's visit to Equatorial Guinea, Avila Laurel moved to Barcelona. He writes across all media, in particular as a blogger, essayist and novelist.
Reviews
Praise for Juan Tomas Avila Laurel: 'As a person, Juan Tomas Avila Laurel is gentle, open and funny. As a voice, he is brave, angry, uncompromising. Here is the voice of someone who has courted and suffered persecution for the sake of a better world. How will he be remembered in the end - as revolutionary or martyr? Juan Tomas is not likely to disappear quietly.' William T Vollmann, author of Europe Central ------------ 'Delightfully candid, deceptively sober.' Helen Oyeyemi ------------ 'A leading light of the Equatorial Guinean literature movement.' The Guardian ------------ 'Survival, hope and despair wrestle in this surprising work by Equatorial Guinea's leading author.' Financial Times (Books of the Year 2014) ------------ 'Avila Laurel's dark, troubled narrative of 'our Atlantic Ocean island' is remarkable, original and poetic.' Irish Times ------------ 'Juan Tomas Avila Laurel offers [a] plain style, grown out of the native oral tradition of storytelling. By Night the Mountain Burns is a collection of childhood memories, a working through of hardship and superstition.' The Independent
Awards
Short-listed for Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2015.
Book Information
ISBN 9781908276940
Author Juan Tomas Avila Laurel
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint And Other Stories
Publisher And Other Stories
Weight(grams) 212g
