Writers from Angola, Brazil, East Timor, and Portugal map out the heritage of the voyages of discovery. It is not just the long-ago, “glorious” past of Vasco da Gama and Co. that echoes through their books. The encounter between the continents has marked today's world too. José Eduardo Agualusa, shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2007, just about epitomises the writer as globetrotter. His life and work involve constant shuttling between Luanda, Lisbon, and Rio.

Agualusa believes strongly in the affinity between the Portuguese-speaking countries. In his life and work he is the personification of the writer-globetrotter, epitomising the theme of the Encompassing the Globe exhibition. He was born in Huambo, studied agriculture and forestry in Lisbon, has lived in Rio de Janeiro and Goa, and now divides his time between the Angolan and Portuguese capitals.



*The author Pepetela will not be present at the lecture