Angolan novel book wins Great Latin American Literary Contest

 Huambo - The work entitled “The Web immigrant and his nonsenses”, by the Angolan writer Nituecheni Africano, pseudonym of Eugénio Afonso Gaspar, won the Novel Category of the 4th edition of the Great Latin American Literary Contest.

With 61 pages, the book, published by the Angola Young Writers Association, was the only one selected on the African continent by the organisers of the Latin American event.

 

The organisers also distinguished the winner of the novel category as one of the best young writers in the world and he is expected to be honoured at the award gala, scheduled for next 10 January, in São Paulo, Brazil.

 

According to ANGOP, the organisers of one of the biggest literature competitions in Latin America requests the presence of the Angolan writer in the awarding gala, because if he is not available, the prize, including trophy, certificate, medal and money, shall be delivered at the Angolan Embassy in Brazil.

 

The contest, based on the voting which began on 20 November this year and ended on 20 December, had the participation of 192 writers from several countries, mainly from Latin America, who competed in several categories.

 

Speaking to ANGOP, after receiving the confirmation from the event´s organisers, Nituecheni Africano said he was pleased with the international recognition because it is an achievement of all Angolans, especially those who voted for the novel, which deals with the daily life of the social media in society.

 

He said that the work tells the story of an Angolan man who is a graduate in Computer Engineering and Telecommunications and who falls in love, virtually, with a young Spanish-Brazilian girl on social media, specifically on Facebook.

 

He added that the young woman invited the Angolan man to live with her in Brazil, and the invitation was accepted, but when he arrived in the Latin American country he realised that the girl does not exist and that it was a fake profile.

 

He recalled that the novel presents some warnings to the youth about the dangers of social media.

 

Nituecheni Africano reiterated that daily life and people´s lack of preparation to avoid believing in everything they see on social media, forgetting that it is essentially a virtual world, were the biggest motivations for the publication of the novel.

 

Born in the southern Province of Huambo, on 12 September 1990, the writer Eugénio Afonso Gaspar graduated in Information Technology and Business Administration from the Technical University of Angola (UTANGA).

 

He is co-founder of the Association of Social Insertion for Former Prisoners (ADISPER) and director-general of the Association of Young Writers of the South.

 

He published, in 2020, the works “O vendedor de pães asmos” (The seller of unleavened bread) and “Prisioneiro do amor” (Prisoner of love).