Reading guide: On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan
Stark and unsettling, On Earth As It is Beneath is set in a forgotten prison in remote Brazil where life has taken a sadistic, deadly turn
Ana Paula Maia
Ana Paula Maia was born in Nova Iguaçu, Brazil, and is an author and scriptwriter
She has published seven novels, including O habitante das falhas subterráneas (2003), De gados e homens (2013), and the trilogy A saga dos brutos, comprising Entre rinhas de cachorros e porcos abatidos (2009), O trabalho sujo dos outros (2009) and Carvão animal (2011). Her books have been published in translation in Germany, Argentina, France, Italy, Serbia, the United States and Spain.
She is also the author of many short stories that appear in anthologies and which have been translated into languages including German, Croat, Spanish, English and Italian. Her novel A guerra dos bastardos (2007) won praise in Germany as among the best foreign detective fiction. As a scriptwriter she has worked on a wide range of projects for television, cinema and theatre.
The principal influences on her work date back to her childhood, and range from everyday violence to the consumption of books, films and music. She has won the Prêmio São Paulo de Literatura: Melhor Romance do Ano prize two years in a row; in 2018 for her novel Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra and in 2019 for Enterre Seus Mortos.
Padma Viswanathan’s English language translation of her novel On Earth As It Is Beneath was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026.
Author photo © Pablo Contreras
On Earth As It Is Beneath is a stark, unsettling exploration of power, violence, destruction and institutional corruption that will linger with readers long after the final page
— The International Booker Prize 2026 judges on On Earth As It Is Beneath
All nominated books
An unsettling novel that sets us among an isolated group of men whose bonds break down in ways both hard to comprehend and impossible to look away from
