Profile

Writer, biologist, and professor of Ecology at Eduardo Mondlane University (Maputo). His literary work, which spans novels, short stories, poetry, and chronicles, includes dozens of titles, among which stand out: Vozes Anoitecidas (1986), Cada Homem é uma Raça (1990), Terra Sonâmbula (1992), Contos do Nascer da Terra (1997), Raiz de Orvalho e outros poemas (1999), O Último Voo do Flamingo (2000), Venenos de Deus, Remédios do Diabo (2008), A Confissão da Leoa (2012), As Areias do Imperador (2015–2017), and O Mapeador de Ausências (2020).

He has been awarded numerous literary prizes: Grande Prémio da Ficção Narrativa (1990), National Fiction Prize of the Mozambican Writers’ Association (1995), Vergílio Ferreira Prize (1999), Latin Union Prize for Romance Literatures (2007), Eduardo Lourenço Prize (2012), Neustadt International Prize (2014), and the Guadalajara International Book Fair Prize, Mexico (2024).

He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (since 1998) and holds an Honorary Doctorate from São Paulo State University (2022). He received the Camões Prize (2013) and was decorated as Comendador da Ordem Militar de Sant’Iago da Espada (1998).