This novel tells of childhood on a remote island off the west African coast. Superstition dominates in dark times and the hard-pressed islanders sacrifice their possessions to the enraged ocean. What of their lives will they save?
Both lyrical and unsparingly truthful, this novel draws on oral storytelling to illuminate a little-known corner of Africa.
Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel was born in 1966 in Equatorial Guinea. By Night the Mountain Burns is based on his memories of growing up on the remote Annobón Island. He made headlines in 2011 by embarking on a hunger strike in an anti-government protest.

By Night the Mountain Burns

Literature & Fiction

Ávila Laurel, Juan Tomás

United States

And Other Stories

Praise for By Night the Mountain Burns:
"A delightfully candid, deceptively sober narrative voice."―Helen Oyeyemi, author of What is Not Yours is Not Yours
"A poignant novel by one of Equatorial Guinea's most celebrated authors . . . fascinating."―Publishers Weekly
"Survival, hope and despair wrestle in this surprising work by Equatorial Guinea's leading author."―Financial Times
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 Tomás Ávila Laurel has written an urgent novel, by turns funny and sad, bringing a distinctly African perspective to a major issue of our time.
Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel was born in 1966 in Equatorial Guinea. The Gurugu Pledge is his second novel, and follows his 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize-shortlisted debut By Night The Mountain Burns, which was based on his memories of growing up on the remote island of Annobón. He made headlines in 2011 by embarking on a hunger strike, in an anti-government protest. He now lives exiled in Barcelona.
Jethro Soutar translates from Spanish and Portuguese. He has translated Argentinian and Brazilian crime novels, written two nonfiction books of his own, and recently co-edited The Football Crónicas, a collection of football writing from Latin America. He divides his time between London and Lisbon.

The Gurugu Pledge

Literary

Cuando a Guinea se iba por mar

Ediciones Carena

Arde el monte de noche

Contemporary

Calambur Editorial, S.L.

Panga Rilene

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Books by Ávila Laurel, Juan Tomás