Rosa Mendes, Pedro 1968-

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ROSA MENDES, Pedro 1968-

PERSONAL: Born 1968, in Portugal.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Harcourt International, 6277 Sea Harbor Dr., Orlando, FL 32887.

CAREER: Journalist.

AWARDS, HONORS: PEN Club Prize, 2000, for Bay of Tigers: An Odyssey through War-torn Angola.

WRITINGS:

(Author of text) O melhor café, photographs by Alfred Cunha, Contexto (Braga, Portugal), 1996.

Bahía de los tigres, Planeta (Madrid, Spain), 1998, translated by Clifford Landers as Bay of Tigers: An Odyssey through War-torn Angola, Harcourt (Orlando, Florida), 1999, translated by Rosa Martinez Alfaro as The Bay of the Tigers, Planeta, 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Portuguese journalist Pedro Rosa Mendes set out in 1997 on a journey to explore the remnants of war-torn Angola. Beginning in Luanda, Rosa Mendes traveled from west to east, his destination Quelimane in Mozambique. Bay of Tigers: An Odyssey through War-torn Angola is the story of his trip, documenting the people, circumstances, and desperation that he encountered along the way. Published in two translations—by Clifford Landers and Rosa Martinez Alfaro—the travel journal went on to win the PEN Club Prize in 2000, due in part to what Salvador Vergara described in School Library Journal as Rosa Mendes' "unique style that integrates poems, songs, and narratives told by the people he meets."

Rosa Mendes began his trip on a road that had not existed a century earlier; today it is in a state of utter despair, due to the region's political unrest and ongoing wars. Along the way he encounters individuals who share their stories, which are both moving and memorable. While at times the number of characters can be somewhat overwhelming for readers to follow, the unsung heroes Rosa Mendes brings to light provide readers a worthwhile glimpse into the everyday reality of Angola and its inhabitants.

In his journey, Rosa Mendes uncovers a country in absolute chaos, where children play with abandoned missiles, and the number of land mines may even outpace the population. He watches as amputees line up in the streets to receive electroshock therapy, and catches sight of an injured infant who is without a face. While his text, with its vivid and often disturbing images, is somewhat disorienting due to Rosa Mendes' tendency to jump from place to place along the time continuum, he provides a helpful outline of the evolution of present-day Angola that serves readers attempting to map his journey. "Rosa Mendes forgoes any kind of conventional approach, lurching backward and forward through time, switching points of view, quickly introducing then discarding characters," explained a Publishers Weekly contributor, the reviewer going on to explain: "It would be frustrating if it weren't done with such evident purpose: the fractured, phantasmagoric depiction of a world gone mad."

Reviewing Bay of Tigers, a contributor to Kirkus Reviews called the work "Sartresque indeed, pensive, arch, and diffuse. Readers aren't likely to envy Mendes's journey, which has yielded a memorable tale." Vergara added his praise in School Library Journal, stating that the author "leaves space for the singular voices and relentless struggles of anonymous heroes, humanitarian organizations, and guerrilla groups" and also illustrates the "corruption that inundates politics and society" in modern-day Angola.