João Valente is a Portuguese writer, born in Lisbon. He holds a Degree in International Relations from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and a Master of Arts in European Studies from the College of Europe in Brugges, Belgium. He has always written short stories. In 2014 he was considered one of the FNAC’s New Talents in Literature, with one of his short stories appearing in the FNAC’s popular anthology. His first novel, The Empire, was published by Topseller in 2016. It is a fictional biography of a rock band that headlined the world’s greatest festivals, mixing real life events, personalities and brands with a fictional narrative and made up characters. It was shortlisted for the Chambéry First Novel European Award and it will be published in Mexico by Paraíso Perdido. He regularly writes content for news and online marketing agencies. He is currently working on his second novel and on a weekly fiction podcast.