On Earth As It Is Beneath

Translated by Padma Viswanathan

INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLISTED 2026

On land where enslaved people were once tortured and murdered, the state built a penal colony in the wilderness, where inmates could be rehabilitated, but never escape. Now, decades later, and having only succeeded in trapping men, not changing them for the better, its operations are winding down. But in the prison’s waning days, a new horror is unleashed: every full-moon night, the inmates are released, the warden is armed with rifles, and the hunt begins. Every man plans his escape, not knowing if his end will come at the hands of a familiar face, or from the unknown dangers beyond the prison walls. Ana Paula Maia has once again delivered a bracing vision of our potential for violence, and our collective failure to account for the consequences of our social and political action, or inaction. No crime is committed out of view for this novelist, and her raw, brutal power enlists us all as witness.

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Praise:

International Booker Prize (Shortlist)
Republic of Consciousness Prize US (Longlist)
English PEN Translates Award
São Paulo Prize for Literature (Winner)

"Beautiful and gripping… a must read for those who like their poetry written in blood." — New York Times

"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." — Booker Prize Judges

"Maia has delivered a masterclass in suspense and allegory." — Morning Star

"A thinking person’s sociological thriller that is also somehow a sort of fable, as tough to endure as it is to put down." — Southwest Review

"When such unspeakable violence, rendered in sparse prose, unfolds against an unforgiving landscape, comparisons with Cormac McCarthy are inevitable. Much credit is due to Padma Viswanathan, whose translation preserves a mythic vision that recalls McCarthy’s oracular intensity." — Necessary Fiction

"A fast-paced and impactful book (…) Ana Paula Maia treads her own path, and it's a brutal one. All the better for us." — Escotilha