Gonçalo Manuel de Albuquerque Tavares, known professionally as Gonçalo M. Tavares, was born in August, 1970 in Luanda, Angola and is a Portuguese writer and professor of Theory of Science in Lisbon. He published his first work in 2001 and since then has been awarded several prizes. His books have been published in more than 30 countries and the book Jerusalem has been included in the European edition of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die.[1] [2]
Nobel Laureate José Saramago stated: "In thirty years' time, if not before, Tavares will win the Nobel Prize, and I'm sure my prediction will come true... Tavares has no right to be writing so well at the age of 35. One feels like punching him." Tavares published a great variety of books since 2001 and has been awarded several national and international literary prizes. In 2005, he won the José Saramago Prize for young writers under 35. In his speech at the award ceremony, Saramago commented: "JERUSALÉM is a great book, and truly deserves a place among the great works of Western literature."[3]
Tavares is the author of a large body of work that has been translated in countries such as India, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, China, Cuba, South Africa, Indonesia, Iceland, Turkey, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Moldova, Estonia, Israel, Venezuela and the United States, in a total of seventy countries.
Saramago predicted that he would win the Nobel Prize. Vasco Graça Moura wrote that A Journey to India will still be talked about in a hundred years' time. The New Yorker said that, like Kafka and Beckett, Tavares showed that "logic can effectively serve madness as well as reason".[4]
Tavares' language breaks with Portuguese lyrical traditions and his subversion of literary genres is innovative. Recently, Tavares' Le Quartier (The Quarter) received the prestigious Prix Laure-Bataillon 2021, awarded to the best book translated in France, succeeding Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk, who received this prize in 2019, and Catalan writer Miquel de Palol. Twenty-two of Tavares' works have won awards in different countries. He has been a finalist for the Oceanos Prize six times and has been awarded the prize three times. He was also twice a finalist for the Prix Médicis and twice a finalist for the Prix Femina, among other distinctions such as the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger in 2010.
His books have been the basis for plays, art objects, art videos, and opera.
| 2001 | --- | A Temperatura do Corpo | --- | |
| 2001 | --- | Livro da Dança | --- | |
| 2002 | --- | Investigações | --- | |
| 2002 | Mr Valéry and Logic | O Senhor Valéry e a Lógica | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2003 | --- | A Colher de Samuel Beckett e Outros Textos (teatro) | --- | |
| 2003 | Mr Henri and the Encyclopaedia | O Senhor Henri e a Enciclopédia | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2003 | Klaus Klump: A Man | Um Homem: Klaus Klump | The Kingdom | |
| 2004 | Joseph Walser's Machine | A Máquina de Joseph Walser | The Kingdom | |
| 2004 | Jerusalém | Jerusalém | The Kingdom | |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 | --- | |
| 2004 | --- | Biblioteca | --- | |
| 2004 | --- | A Perna Esquerda de Paris Seguido de Roland Barthes e Robert Musil | --- | |
| 2004 | Mr Brecht and Success | O Senhor Brecht e o Sucesso | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2004 | Mr Juarroz and the Thought | O Senhor Juarroz e o Pensamento | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2005 | Mr Kraus and Politics | O Senhor Kraus e a Política | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2005 | Mr Calvin and the Promenade | O Senhor Calvino e o Passeio | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2005 | --- | Investigações Geométricas | --- | |
| 2005 | --- | Histórias Falsas | --- | |
| 2006 | Brief Notes on Science | Breves Notas sobre Ciência | Encyclopaedia | |
| 2006 | --- | Água, Cão, Cavalo, Cabeça | --- | |
| 2006 | Mr Walser and the Forest | O Senhor Walser e a Floresta | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2007 | Brief Notes on Fear | Breves Notas sobre o Medo | Encyclopaedia | |
| 2007 | Learning to Pray in the Age of Technology | Aprender a Rezar na Era da Técnica | The Kingdom | |
| 2008 | Mr Breton and the Interview | O Senhor Breton e a Entrevista | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2009 | Mr Swedenborg and the Geometrical Investigations | O Senhor Swedenborg e as Investigações Geométricas | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2009 | Brief Notes on Connections | Breves Notas sobre as Ligações | Encyclopaedia | |
| 2010 | A Voyage to India | Uma Viagem à Índia | --- | |
| 2010 | Mr Eliot and the Conferences | O Senhor Eliot e as Conferências | The Neighbourhood | |
| 2010 | Matteo Lost His Job | Matteo Perdeu o Emprego | --- | |
| 2011 | Short Movies | Short Movies | --- | |
| 2011 | --- | Canções Mexicanas | --- | |
| 2013 | --- | Animalescos | --- | |
| 2013 | Atlas of the Body and the Imagination | Atlas do Corpo e da Imaginação | --- | |
| 2014 | Old People Want to Live Too | Os Velhos Também Querem Viver | --- | |
| 2014 | A Girl is Lost in Her Century Looking for Her Father | Uma Menina está Perdida no seu Século à Procura do Pai | --- | |
| 2015 | Brief Notes on Music | Breves Notas sobre Música | Encyclopaedia | |
| 2015 | His Excellency, The Circumlucologist | O Torcicologologista, Excelência | --- | |
| 2017 | The Woman-Without-a-Head and the Man-With-the-Evil-Eye | A Mulher-Sem-Cabeça e o Homem-do-Mau-Olhado | Mythologies | |
| 2018 | Brief Notes on Bloom-Literature | Breves Notas sobre Literatura-Bloom | Encyclopaedia | |
| 2018 | Five Children, Five Rats | Cinco Meninos, Cinco Ratos | Mythologies | |
| 2019 | Bucarest-Budapest: Budapest-Bucarest | Bucareste-Budapeste: Budapeste-Bucareste | --- | |
| 2019 | In America, Said Jonathan | Na América, disse Jonathan | --- | |
| 2020 | The Middle Bone | O Osso do Meio | The Kingdom | |
| 2021 | Plague Diary | Diário da Peste: O Ano de 2020 | --- | |
| 2021 | Dictionary of Artists | Dicionário de Artistas | --- | |
| 2022 | The Stone and the Drawing | A Pedra e o Desenho | --- | |
| 2022 | The Devil | O Diabo | Mythologies |