Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel: Biography, Facts and Career

Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel (born 6 November 1966) is an Equatoguinean author and activist. His parents were from the remote island of Annobón, off the West African coast. He is at the center of the feature award-winning documentary The Writer From a Country Without Bookstores. For many years, Ávila Laurel was an author from Equatorial Guinea who lived in the country. He has engaged in protest and political activism regarding the government of Equatorial Guinea. His first novel to be published in English, By Night the Mountain Burns (And Other Stories, 2014), was shortlisted for the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and is based on his time growing up on Annobón. The Gurugu Pledge, his second novel to appear in English, was published by And Other Stories in 2017. Ávila Laurel made headlines in 2011 by embarking on an anti-government hunger strike, and now lives in exile in Barcelona.

Quick facts about Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel

• Full name: Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel
• Born: 1966-11-06
• Nationality: Equatorial Guinea
• Known as: Author
• Wikidata ID: Q151806

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.