Mia Couto, born in Beira, Mozambique, in 1955, is one of the most prominent writers in Portuguese-speaking Africa. After studying medicine and biology in Maputo, he worked as a journalist and headed several Mozambican national newspapers and magazines. Couto has been awarded the Jan Michalski Prize, the Camões Prize for Literature, and the prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literature, among other awards. He was also a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize in 2015 and was short-listed for the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award. He has written over 20 books, and his work has been translated into 24 languages. He lives in Maputo, where he works as a biologist.
Photograph © Pedro Soares
