The Last Flight of the Flamingo
ABOUT
THE BOOK
In Tizangara, the only facts are supernatural ones…To put it crudely and rudely, here’s what happened: a severed penis was found right there on the trunk road just outside Tizangara. A large organ on the loose. Folk turned up from all around.’ So the translator of Tizangara begins his tale. But more than folk turn up: car loads of foreign investigators and even a UN official, the Italian Massimo Risi, sweep into the small Mozambican town. And what a minefield they have come to investigate! A labyrinth of witnesses tell stories about each other, the town’s past, its folklore, magic and occasional mayhem: among them are Anna Godwilling, the town’s whore and therefore the most knowledgeable expert in local manhood, the ancient Temporina who changes into a seductive young girl and bewitches Massimo away from his investigation; the bombastic and obsequious administrator and his wife who insists on being called ‘The First Lady’. Even the story of the last flight of the flamingo has its part to play.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR David
Brookshaw
Born in London, David Brookshaw is an emeritus professor at the School of Modern Languages at the University of Bristol. He specialises in comparative literature, translation, and postcolonial Portuguese literature. He has translated works by Mia Couto, and Onésimo Almeida and compiled an anthology of stories by the Portuguese author José Rodriguez.
Born in London, David Brookshaw is an emeritus professor at the School of Modern Languages at the University of Bristol. He specialises in comparative literature, translation, and postcolonial Portuguese literature. He has translated works by Mia Couto, and Onésimo Almeida and compiled an anthology of stories by the Portuguese author José Rodriguez.