Pepetela

Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos (born 1941) is a major Angolan writer of fiction. He writes under the name Pepetela.

A Portuguese Angolan, Pepetela was born in Benguela, Portuguese Angola, and fought as a member of the MPLA in the long guerrilla war for Angola's independence. Much of his writing deals with Angola's political history in the 20th century. , for example, is a novel that portrays the lives of a group of MPLA guerrillas who are involved in the anti-colonial struggle in Cabinda, ''Yaka'' follows the lives of members of a white settler family in the coastal town of Benguela, and ''A Geração da Utopia'' reveals the disillusionment of young Angolans during the post-independence period.

Pepetela has also written about Angola's earlier history in ''A Gloriosa Família'' and ''Lueji'', and has expanded into satire with his series of Jaime Bunda novels. His most recent works include ''Predadores'', a scathing critique of Angola's ruling classes, ''O Quase Fim do Mundo'', a post-apocalyptic allegory, and ''O Planalto e a Estepe'', a look at Angola's history and connections with other former communist nations. Pepetela won the Camões Prize, the world's highest honour for Lusophone literature, in 1997.

"Pepetela" is a Kimbundu word that means "eyelash," which is a translation of his Portuguese surname, "Pestana". The author received this nom de guerre during his time as an MPLA combatant. Provided by Wikipedia