Huambo — The province of Huambo hosts the first African Book Biennial from the 4th to the 16th of April this year, as a multifaceted cultural space, which aims to bring together writers from 54 countries on the continent.
The information was made public on Wednesday by the Angolan writer Nituecheni Africano, pseudonym of Eugénio Afonso Gaspar, during a meeting with the governor of Huambo province, Lotti Nolika, who served to present the 'Literary Reference' award, won on December 5, 2023, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
The writer said that the event, an initiative of the Federal University of Brazil, which will have, among the ambassadors, the Brazilian actress Taís Araújo, will feature the presentation of literary works by African authors, handicrafts and the exhibition of performing arts.
On the sidelines of the Biennial, taking place under the motto 'An Africa in peace and without war', lectures and colloquia will be held on African literature, in addition to serving as an exchange of experience between African writers and culture makers from Brazil, indicated as ambassadors of the activity.
As for the 'Literary Reference' award, he said he was the only Angolan representative recognized in the second edition of the event, considering it the second highest award in the history of the Brazilian literary world, after the "Jabuti Award", an initiative of the Brazilian publisher Publiart.
Nituecheni Africano won with the work "The Emigrant of the Web and its Foolishness", with a pure message that transmits moral values to the world society, as it has contributed a lot to the rescue of good habits in the world.
In addition to the gold medal he received and the designation of ambassador of the Federal University of Brazil, the Angolan writer, the only African representative in the competition, received a cheque equivalent to 54 million Kwanzas.
For her part, the governor of Huambo province, Lotti Nolika, said it was a pleasure to receive an Angolan writer, who was the winner of the international 'Literary Reference' award, and also for bringing the first African Book Biennial to this region, as the country needs young people who, despite working in silence, present public results that magnify everyone.
In this way, he added, the Government of the province of Huambo is fully available to support and help prepare the event, with the participation of writers from the 54 countries of Africa, which will represent a great moment for this region of the Central Plateau of the country.
"We are going to work in this direction and, from now on, the institutional support of the Government of Huambo is guaranteed, because the good reputation is not only for the writer, but also for the province and perhaps the country in general," she concluded.
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Writer's journey
Nituecheni Africano, 33 years old, won, in 2022, the category of Best Novel of the IV edition of the Great Literary Contest of Latin America, with the work entitled 'The immigrant of the Web and his foolishness', which has 63 pages and edited by the Association of Young Writers of Angola.
The event, the voting basis, was attended by 192 writers from various countries, in particular from Latin America, who competed in several categories, with Nituecheni Africano, the only representative of the continent 'cradle of humanity'.
At the beginning of 2023, he was appointed ambassador of literature in five African countries, by the Brazilian magazine Word-Book Revier.
These are Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda, through solidarity funding, which began on 3 April this year.
The writer was recently at the headquarters of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), in Lisbon, Portugal, where he launched the work 'The Recluse', a detective novel genre, which addresses, among other themes, money laundering and abuse of power.
He has, so far, four literary works, namely 'The Prisoner of Love', with 255, 'The Bread Seller As Mos', with 145 pages, and 'The Immigrant of the Web and His Foolishness', with 63 and 'Reclusos', with 153 pages.
Born in the province of Huambo on September 12, 1990, the writer Eugénio Afonso Gaspar has a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration from the Technical University of Angola (UTANGA). ALH/DOJ
