Niassa was the debut novel by Francisco Camacho, a journalist by profession, which deals with the confrontation between the Portuguese imaginary of Africa and the current reality through a story with mysterious contours.
The Niassa appears from a article that you did?
Francisco Camacho: Yes, Niassa comes from a story I did in Mozambique in 1997, then I was not there, but they talk it was a magical place, a place that corresponded to our romantic idea of Africa, with many animals, isolated and away from it all. And on that first trip I retained that image and the idea. After a while been a reporter in the "great story" had the opportunity to go there, it was a trip article, then we drove from Nampula to Lake Nyasa and in fact that those expectations were over exceeded in terms of scenic beauty and through it all I found out stories that seem to me very interesting.
And some of these stories addressed the traffic of organs, the main persongem disappears. This had to do with the story you did?
FC: No, this was an issue that I include in the book, because then they talk about this kind of problems in the area and not to the size I talk about in the book, but there was traffic of organs. It is a book that speaks particularly of the Portuguese past in Africa, on the colonial war, the civil war in Mozambique and on the Portuguese who chose to stay there, or who believed in the revolution and liberation of the country.
And you did a lot of research, because thou the book you approach this very historical question.
FC: Yes I did some research, though already done it for the articles and this second book "the last song of the night" is the same, I talk about the war in the Balkans and I've been aboard this historic issue again, in both cases. Although novels, I have not undressed completely my skin of journalist. It's my way of writing.
You have in the book a family torn apart by war, several brothers and I thought if there was any analogy to your own family, since dedicaste this book to your own brothers.
FC: I think maybe in subsconciente I do not know, maybe for being the youngest of four brothers, the older ones are very close in terms of age, I felt a need to express my affection for them. The story is about two brothers separated and third who died, I guess that was a way to express this connection I have with them.
In writing, what was the most difficult process?
FC: Let's say that this book came out easily. It was not a difficult course delivery that need it too much commitment in writing to make it more possible what I consider to be the ideal and it is a lot of work, have the words, phrases and the right pace. This more formal part required a lot more work, but I had to tell a story in which I was very passionate and that made it much easier later in writing. Was living a parallel reality, as I wrote, it was not difficult, the more complicated it is to get started and find a story I'm passionate about, because I can only write it. So much so that my last novel just came out last year and after Niassa, because it was time to find a story.
The character has an incurable disease, AIDS. You entered this topic, because it was a social stigma that time?
FC: No, I introduced the topic because of the scourge of this disease in Africa, which reaches according to official figures from 18% to 20% of the population, but can be a lot more people and Mozambique is a country deeply affected by this disease. There is also a tragic thing is the difficulty of implementing prevention programs in these sites. For example, in Niassa I heard that a person had AIDS by having sex with a menstruating woman, so that was why he had been infected. I believe that there is still no much information that defends people's ignorance, is a huge tragedy, hence I brought up in the book.
What is your favorite character in this book?
FC: I would say Fred Roque, because I knew this person. Is someone, let's just say, that of all the characters in the book that he is the closest to reality.
