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Rui Zink Portugal
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Rui
Zink
was born in Lisbon in 1961, where he is now a writer and university lecturer.
He was a regular guest on late-night TV discussion programmes and he has become
popular as an agent provocateur in Lisbon’s cultural scene. Zink is the
author of more than twenty books, including A arte suprema, the first Portuguese graphic
novel, and Dádiva Divina, which was awarded Portugal’s
prestigious Pen Club Award.
O
suplente (“The
Substitute”) tells the story of Paulo Gomes, an over‑weighed
sports reporter who is about to ruin his own life. He has embarrassed himself
in front of millions, by forgetting the name of a substitute. And then, on the
way home, he runs over a five‑year‑old boy called Tiago, who dies
later that day. His parents fall into a deep depression, his 77‑year‑old
grandfather demands revenge. Together with his friends, like him regulars of
the Restaurante Pessoa, he roams the streets of Lisbon at night and bedaubs
cars. First it is only Paulo Gomes’ car, but then the revenging old men loose
control. The whole of Lisbon is soon frightened of the graffiti gang, who
mercilessly avenges traffic sins. Ema, Paulo Gomes’ wife, has been jealous for
years, despite the fact that she doesn’t love him any more. The catastrophes
inject new life into their relationship which had hit rock bottom. Ema engages
the best lawyer for Paulo, although he is not really looking to defend himself
as he feels guilty and craves punishment. The trial against him turns into a
media spectacle. Although he should be pleased by its
outcome, after the trial a new drama starts for Paulo: his 20‑year‑old
lover Mila, whose apartment he is paying for, has fallen for the dead boy's
father. She pretends to be a journalist (to get closer to the man). And a short
time later she is pregnant. The novel shows in a grotesque and tragically comic
way how relative justice and jurisdiction can be.
Os
surfistas (“The Surfers”), the
first Portuguese inter-active e-book before its publication, is the story of
the young Luis Fernando, who is studying literature in Lisbon. The shy young
man’s life changes when his girlfriend Laura gets pregnant by an Afghan and
follows him back to his homeland. An unknown older man then tells Fernando that
his fate is to become a writer. Twelve years later, he is sent by the
omnipresent Writers Association to Afghanistan to retrieve a mysterious
document and bring it back to Portugal. The lightning speed of the novel’s
tempo and its funny-to-absurd plot are the result of its genesis as an e-book.
The readers were able to influence the course of the novel by Internet. Through
the banal form of the e-mail, Rui Zink focuses ironically on the profession of
the writer. The latter, so his provocative thesis, has long since lost his
status as a chosen one in a world where almost everyone feels called to write.
Sam
Espinosa, the main character of Dádiva
divina (“A Gift from God”), is a man who believes in nothing until the day
he dies, is reincarnated and falls in love. Although he does not know yet, he
will meet Jesus and from then on, there will be no choice but to believe in
him. According to Rui Zink, Dádiva divina
is a “mystic thriller, a book for self-help and a romantic comedy”. He deals
with religious and technological conflicts of our time with biting irony.
One
day, detective Sam Espinosa, a slightly overweight New Yorker Jew, atheist and
regular Playboy reader, receives a well-paid job of tracking an escaped clinic
patient. The information he gets is sparse. The search begins in Adis Abeba,
where Sam is already expected. At a crazy speed, his journey leads him to Rome,
Johannesburg, Moatize/Mozambique and Lisbon. Not all the people Sam meets are
well-disposed to him. The retraced patient reveals himself to be a very
confused Jesus, who, against all common knowledge, had remained on earth, and
has been deeply hurt by the terrible deeds of human beings. His immortality
makes him very popular with genetic engineering. Once again, a key rule for
detectives is confirmed to Sam: Know your client.
Together
with the illustrator Manuel João Ramos, Rui Zink published three amusing
picture books. O bebé que...não gostava de
televisão (“The Boy who did not like Television”) is a story about a child
whose deepest wish is that his parents not watch TV. A child whose mother is
away for one week and who is staying alone with his father is O bebé que...não sabia quem era (“The Boy who did not know who
he was”). And there is a stubborn child who does not stop crying, O bebé que...fez uma birra (“The obstinate Boy”).
Anibaleitor ("HannibaLector")
is a modern Robinson Crusoe and tells the story of a shipwreck and an
adolescent who discovers the pleasure of reading on the island where he
survives thanks to an apparent monster, a strange being that devours books.
Even if we aren't always aware of it, in each of us lurks an 'animal reader',
ready to awaken at any moment. This story gives way to a world full of
adventures and to discovering the meaning of life via reading.
Rui Zink, this highly
original writer within the vast universe of contemporary Portuguese literature,
offers us with Anibaleitor a little gem which, once you've read it, you won't
be able to forget.
Micaela
Ghitescu
Rui Zink has written a novel that is
going to move us.
Caras
In O destino turístico (“The Tourist Destination”), a man
books a week half-board in what he thinks is a war zone, with the intention of
getting himself killed. What he doesn’t know is that it is really a holiday
attraction… With humour bordering on the grotesque, the author plays with the
blurred edges between reality and pseudo-reality in our modern cosmopolitan
society.
Portugal
is very fortunate to have someone like Rui Zink to call its own.
The
Bottom Line
This
novel is of mandatory reading.
Journal
de Letras
A tale that takes the reader from
surprise to surprise along the swift, ironical and corrosive lines of the
author.
Público
O amante
é sempre o último a saber (“The Lover is Always
the Last to Know”) relates the intriguing journey of two people from different
cultures that are closer than we might think. Writing with the dry humour typical of his work, Zink portrays the quirks of
modern society, playing with the reader and using language as a font of
inspiration. A story full of amusing encounters, where love gives new strength
and hope indeed never dies.
A master in the art of irony and humour with a
very distinctive style and an ardent and rigorous narrative.
Lídia Jorge
A
narrative that is rife with word games, puns and traps which reflect the
characters’ confusion as well as their guileless innocence.
Ípsilon
Original works and rights sold (selection):
Novels:
Hotel Lusitano, Lisbon: Europa-América 1986, Planeta 2011, 166 p.
German: Deuticke
1998 ● Israel: Xargol 2005
Apocalipse Nau, Lisbon: Europa-América 1996, 201 p.
German: Deuticke
1999
A
espera, Lisbon: Europa-América 1998, Teorema 2007, 152 p.
O suplente, Lisbon: Europa-América 2000, 348 p.
Brazil: Planeta
2004
Os surfistas, Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2001, 255 p.
German: Deuticke
2002
Dádiva
divina, Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2004, 301 p.
PEN Club Award 2005
Brazil: Planeta
2007 ● Serbia: Clio
Anibaleitor, Lisbon: Teorema 2006, 2010, 118 p.
India: Monfakira ● Romania: Humanitas 2012
O
Destino Turístico, Lisbon: Teorema 2008, 223 p.
English sample
translation available
Croatia: Meandar ● France: Métailié 2011 ● Israel: Rimonim 2011 ● Romania: Humanitas 2011 ● US:
Dalkey 2011 (Excerpt in Best European
Fiction)
O
amante é sempre o último a saber, Lisbon:
Planeta 2011, 288 p.
Graphic Novel:
A arte
suprema
(Ill. by António
Jorge Gonçalves)
Lisbon: Asa 1977,
156 p.
Stories:
Homens-Aranhas, Lisbon: Relógio d’Água 1994, 165 p.
A realidade agora a cores, Lisbon: Signo 1988, 189 p.
A
realidade agora a cores II, Lisbon: Europa-América
1998, 188 p.
A
palavra mágica, Lisbon: Dom Quixote 2005, 138
p.
Bulgaria: Five Plus
Participation in
anthologies:
Best European Fiction 2012
US: Dalkey Archive Press
For children:
O bebé
que ...não gostava de televisão, Lisbon: Dom
Quixote 2002, 22 p.
US: MacAdam/Cage 2004
O bebé
que...não sabia quem era, Lisbon: Dom
Quixote 2002, 22 p.
O bebé
que...fez uma birra, Lisbon: Dom
Quixote 2003, 22 p.