AFONSO CRUZ
Born in 1971 in Figueira da Foz, years later he would visit more than 60 countries. He
studied at the António Arroio Art School, the Lisbon Faculty of Visual Arts and the
Institute for Visual Arts of Madeira. He published in 2008 his first novel, The Flesh of
God: The Adventures of Conrado Fortes and Lola Benites (A Carne de Deus:
Aventuras de Conrado Fortes e Lola Benites), and a year later The Encyclopedia of
the World Story (Enciclopédia da Estória Universal), which won the Camilo Castelo
Branco Grand Prize. In 2011, he released The Books Which Devoured My Father (Os
Livros Que Devoraram o Meu Pai) and The Human Contradiction (A Contradição
Humana).
He was awarded the European Union Prize for Literature in 2012 for his novel
Kokoschka’s Doll (A Boneca de Kokoschka). Jesus Christ Drank Beer (Jesus Cristo
Bebia Cerveja) was considered the Best Portuguese Novel of the Year by Time Out
Lisbon magazine and the Best Novel of 2012 by the readers of the reference
newspaper Público. He’s also an illustrator, an animated film director and member of
the band The Soaked Lamb.
Kokoschka’s Doll (in Hungarian – 2014, Typotex Publishing Ltd.)
Kokoschka's Doll acts as a symbol and metaphor for a story of friendship, a story of
how the Other is fundamental for our own identity. The characters include Isaac
Dresner, a Jew who developed a limp in his left foot, after he was burdened with the
memory of his best friend being killed in front of him during World War II. The reader is
also introduced to Bonifaz Vogel, a man with a suspended conscience, Tsilia Kacev,
an Orthodox Jew who gets stigmata, and a millionaire, Zsigmond Varga, who wants
to weigh the human soul, measuring evil and sin with a hydraulic scale. Music is a
constant in this story, which also includes defeated poets, a man who is too kind,
Kokoschka's doll itself, and a guitar player who classifies people under chords:
bearded philosophers, for example, are diminished seventh.
Selected bibliography:

Carne de Deus — Aventuras de Conrado Fortes e Lola Benites (The Flesh of
God: The Adventures of Conrado Fortes and Lola Benites ), 2008

Enciclopédia da Estória Universal (The Encyclopedia of the World
Story),2009
 Canuki Castelo Branco Grand Prize, 2009

Os Livros que Devoraram o Meu Pai (The Books Which Devoured My
Father ), 2010

A Boneca de Kokoschka, 2010 (Kokoschka's Doll)
 European Union Prize for Literature, 2012

Jesus Cristo Bebia Cerveja(Jesus Christ Drank Beer), 2012


Time Out Lisszabon – Book of the Year 2012
Público – Book of the Year 2012
Photo: Vitorino Coragem