Contents
Mia Couto
Writing Sleepwalking Land and reshaping Portuguese through Mozambican storytelling.
Sleepwalking Land · Under the Frangipani
- Born
- 5 July 1955
- Birthplace
- Beira, Mozambique
More people
Mia Couto
Mia Couto is a Mozambican writer whose poetic language connects everyday life, memory and history.
Early life
Beira
Grew up in a family of Portuguese emigrants.
Early poems
Published poetry in a local newspaper as a teenager.
Career
- 1970s
Journalism
Left medical studies to work in the press during Mozambique’s independence period.
- 1980s
Literature and biology
Published poetry and stories while returning to scientific study.
- 1992 onward
Novelist
Reached international readers through novels and translations.
Selected work
Sleepwalking Land
Set intertwining stories amid Mozambique’s civil war.
Under the Frangipani
Combined a mystery with competing memories.
Confession of the Lioness
Explored violence and village life.
Beyond work
Biology
Worked as a biologist alongside writing.
Recognition
Won the Camões Prize in 2013 and Neustadt Prize in 2014.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Photo: Fronteiras do Pensamento. CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
.jpg){kind=link}