António Emílio Leite Couto, better known as Mia Couto (born 5 July 1955), is a Mozambican writer. He won the
Camões Prize
The Camões Prize (Portuguese, ''Prémio Camões'', ), named after Luís de Camões, is the most important prize for literature in the Portuguese language. It is awarded annually by the Portuguese ''Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Bib ...
in 2013, the most important literary award in the Portuguese language, and the
Neustadt International Prize for Literature
The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious inte ...
in 2014.
Life
Early years
Mia Couto was born in the city of
Beira,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
's third largest city, where he was also raised and schooled. He is the son of
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
emigrants who moved to the Portuguese colony in the 1950s. When he was 14 years old, some of his poetry was published in a local newspaper, ''Notícias da Beira''. Three years later, in 1971, he moved to the capital Lourenço Marques (now
Maputo
Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...
) and began to study medicine at the
University of Lourenço Marques. During this time, the anti-colonial
guerrilla and political movement
FRELIMO
FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's firs ...
was struggling to overthrow the Portuguese colonial rule in Mozambique.
After independence of Mozambique
In April 1974, after the
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
in Lisbon and the overthrow of the ''
Estado Novo'' regime, Mozambique was about to become an independent republic. In 1974, FRELIMO asked Couto to suspend his studies for a year to work as a journalist for ''Tribuna'' until September 1975 and then as the director of the newly created Mozambique Information Agency (AIM). Later, he ran ''Tempo'' magazine until 1981. His first book of poems, ''Raiz de Orvalho'', was published in 1983; it included texts aimed against the dominance of Marxist militant propaganda. Couto continued working for the newspaper ''Notícias'' until 1985 when he resigned to finish his course of study in biology.
Literary works and recognition
Not only is Mia Couto considered one of the most important writers in Mozambique, but his works have been published in more than 20 countries and in various languages, including
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, English, French, German, Czech, Italian,
Serbian,
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
,
Estonian and Chinese. In many of his texts, he undertakes to recreate the Portuguese language by infusing it with regional vocabulary and structures from Mozambique, thus producing a new model for the African narrative. Stylistically, his writing is influenced by
magical realism
Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to:
* Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse
* "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr
* '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...
, a movement popular in modern
Latin American literature
Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the ...
s, and his use of language is reminiscent of the Brazilian writer
João Guimarães Rosa
João Guimarães Rosa (; 27 June 1908 – 19 November 1967) was a Brazilian novelist, short story writer and diplomat.
Rosa only wrote one novel, '' Grande Sertão: Veredas'' (known in English as ''The Devil to Pay in the Backlands''), a revoluti ...
, but also deeply influenced by the
baiano writer
Jorge Amado
Jorge Leal Amado de Faria (10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in ...
. He has been noted for creating
proverb
A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phra ...
s, sometimes known as "improverbs", in his fiction, as well as riddles, legends, metaphors, giving his work a poetic dimension.
An international jury at the
Zimbabwe International Book Fair
The Zimbabwe International Book Fair was held for the first time in 1983 in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. It was founded by David Martin (late), Phylis Johnson and Charles Mungoshi (late). Until the opening of the Cape Town Book Fair in 2006 i ...
named his first novel, ''Terra Sonâmbula'' (
Sleepwalking Land), one of the best 12 African books of the 20th century. In 2007, he became the first African author to win the prestigious
Latin Union
The Latin Union is an international organization of nations that use Romance languages, whose activities have been suspended since 2012. Headquartered in Paris, France, its aim is to protect, project, and promote the common cultural heritage of ...
literary prize, which has been awarded annually in Italy since 1990. Mia Couto became only the fourth writer in the Portuguese language to take home this prestigious award, having competed against authors from Portugal, France, Colombia, Spain, Italy, and Senegal. Currently, he is a biologist employed by the
Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park
Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is a 35,000 km² peace park that is in the process of being formed. It will link the Limpopo National Park (formerly known as Coutada 16) in Mozambique, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou Natio ...
while continuing his work on other writing projects.
In 1998, Couto was elected into the
Brazilian Academy of Letters
The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) ( English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on Tue ...
, the first African writer to receive such an honor.
Awards and honours
*2014
Neustadt International Prize for Literature
The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious inte ...
*2013
Camões Prize
The Camões Prize (Portuguese, ''Prémio Camões'', ), named after Luís de Camões, is the most important prize for literature in the Portuguese language. It is awarded annually by the Portuguese ''Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Bib ...
*2007
Latin Union
The Latin Union is an international organization of nations that use Romance languages, whose activities have been suspended since 2012. Headquartered in Paris, France, its aim is to protect, project, and promote the common cultural heritage of ...
Prize
Books
*''Raiz do Orvalho'' (poetry, 1983)
*''Vozes Anoitecidas'' (short stories, 1986).
Voices_Made_Night''._Translated_by_David_Brookshaw_(1990)_.html" ;"title="Voices Made Night (short stories)">Voices Made Night''. Translated by David Brookshaw (1990) ">Voices Made Night (short stories)">Voices Made Night''. Translated by David Brookshaw (1990) *''Cada Homem É uma Raça'' (short stories, 1990)
*''Cronicando'' (crônicas, 1991)
*''Terra Sonâmbula'' (novel, 1992)
Sleepwalking_Land''._Translated_by_David_Brookshaw_(2006)_.html" ;"title="'
Sleepwalking Land''. Translated by David Brookshaw (2006) ">'
Sleepwalking Land''. Translated by David Brookshaw (2006) *''Estórias Abensonhadas'' (short stories, 1994)
*''Every man is a race''
ranslation of selected works from: Cada homem é uma raça, and Cronicando; translated by David Brookshaw(1994)
*''
A Varanda do Frangipani'' (novel, 1996)
'Under the Frangipani''. Translated by David Brookshaw. (2001) *''Contos do Nascer da Terra'' (short stories, 1997)
*''
Mar Me Quer'' (novella, 1998)
*''
Vinte e Zinco'' (novella, 1999)
*''Raiz de orvalho e outros poemas'' (1999)
*''
O Último Voo do Flamingo'' (novel, 2000)
'The Last Flight of the Flamingo''. Translated by David Brookshaw. (2004) *''Mar me quer'' (2000)
*''O Gato e o Escuro'' (children's book, 2001)
*''Na Berma de Nenhuma Estrada e Outros Contos'' (short stories, 2001)
*''Um Rio Chamado Tempo, uma Casa Chamada Terra'' (novel, 2002)
*''Contos do Nascer da Terra'' (short stories, 2002)
*''O País do Queixa Andar'' (crônicas, 2003)
*''O Fio das Missangas'' (short stories, 2003)
*''A chuva pasmada'' (2004)
*''Pensatempos: textos de opinião'' (2005)
*''O Outro Pé da Sereia'' (novel, 2006)
*''Venenos de Deus, Remédios do Diabo'' (novel, 2008)
*''Jesusalém'' (novel, 2009)
*''
A Confissão da Leoa'' (novel, 2012)
'Confession of the Lioness''. Translated by David Brookshaw (2015). *''Pensativities: Selected Essays''. Translated by David Brookshaw (2015).
*''
Mulheres de cinzas'' (the first book of the trilogy ''As Areias do Imperador'') (2015)
'Woman of the Ashes''. Translated by David Brookshaw (2018). * ''A Espada e a Azagaia'' (the second book of the trilogy ''As Areias do Imperador)'' (2016)
* ''O Bebedor de Horizontes'' (the third book of the trilogy ''As Areias do Imperador)'' (2018)
References
Relevant literature
* de Araújo Teixeira, Eduardo. "O provérbio nas estórias de Guimarães Rosa e Mia Couto." ''Navegações'' 8, no. 1 (2015): 57-63.
* Van Haesendonck, Kristian. "Mia Couto’s Postcolonial Epistemology: Animality in Confession of the Lioness (A Confissão da leoa)." ''ZOOPHILOLOGICA. Polish Journal of Animal Studies'' 5 (2019): 297-308.
External links
Criticism:
"O outro pé da sereia: the dialogue between history and fiction in the representation of contemporary Africa""Exílio e identidade: uma leitura de Antes de nascer o mundo, de Mia Couto"Website: Limpopo Transfrontier Park*
"Mia Couto: 'I am white and African. I like to unite contradictory worlds'" ''The Guardian'', 15 August 2015.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Couto, Mia
Living people
People from Beira, Mozambique
Mozambican poets
Mozambican people of Portuguese descent
Mozambican novelists
Mozambican short story writers
Mozambican children's writers
20th-century poets
20th-century novelists
21st-century novelists
Eduardo Mondlane University alumni
Mozambican biologists
20th-century short story writers
21st-century short story writers
1955 births
Camões Prize winners
20th-century pseudonymous writers
21st-century pseudonymous writers