Dina Salústio (born 1941) is a Cape Verdean novelist, who is the first woman from the country to publish a novel, and the first writer from the country to have a novel translated to English.

Biography

Dina Salústio is the pseudonym of Bernardina Oliveira, who was born in 1941 in Santo Antão. After training as a social worker, she worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has also worked in Portugal and Angola as a journalist, social worker and teacher. A prominent literary activist in Cabo Verde, she co-founded the Associação Escritores Cabo-Verdianos, as well as two magazines, ''Mudjer'' and ''Ponto e Vírgula.'' Her novel ''A Louca de Serrano'' was the first novel to be published by a Cabo Verdean woman. Its translation, ''The Madwoman of Serrano'' by

Jethro Soutar Jethro Soutar is an English writer and translator, specializing mainly in Spanish and Portuguese literature. Selected works Latin American culture (non-fiction): * ''Ronaldinho: Football’s Flamboyant Maestro'' * ''Gael García Bernal and t ...

, is the first English translation of a novel from Cabo Verde.

Awards

In 2020, the English translation of ''A Louca de Serrano'' was short-listed for The

Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize The Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize is an annual literary prize for any book-length translation into English from any other living European language. The first prize was awarded in 1999. The prize is funded by and named in honour of Lord Wei ...

. In 2016, she was presented with a Rosalía de Castro Award for lifetime achievement by PEN Galicia ( es). In 1994 she was awarded the national prize for children's literature.

Reception

Salústio's works, both creative and non-fiction, address issues relating to women's rights and Cabo Verdean society and centring female perspectives. Her works are considered an important contribution to

postcolonial literature Postcolonial literature is the literature by people from formerly colonized countries, originating from all continents except Antarctica. Postcolonial literature often addresses the problems and consequences of the colonization and subsequent deco ...

of Cabo Verde. She is also viewed as a writer who counters the masculine perspectives that can be prevalent in African literature.

Selected works

Novels

* ''A Louca de Serrano'' (The Madwoman of Serrano), 1998 * ''Filhas do Vento'' (Daughters of the Wind), 2009 * ''Veromar'' (See-the-sea), 2019

Short stories

* ''Mornas eram as noites'' (Warm were the Nights), 1994 * ''Filhos de Deus'' (God's Children), 2018

Non-fiction

* ''Violência contra as mulheres'' (Violence Against Women), 1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salústio, Dina Cape Verdean women writers Living people 1941 births Cape Verdean women short story writers Cape Verdean women poets Social workers