The Gurugu Pledge

About Juan-Tomas Avila Laurel

Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel was born in 1966 in Equatorial Guinea Africa's only Spanish-speaking country. His parents were from the remote Annobón Island off the African coast. His Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Prize-shortlisted By Night the Mountain Burns is based on his memories of growing up on Annobón. Ávila Laurel has been a constant thorn in the side of his country's long-standing dictatorial government. A nurse by profession for many years he was one of the best known Equatorial Guinean writers not to have opted to live in exile. But in 2011 after a week-long hunger strike in protest against Obiang's regime timed to coincide with the President of Spains visit to Equatorial Guinea Ávila Laurel moved to Barcelona. He writes across all media in particular as a blogger essayist and novelist.