Luandino Vieira

José "Luandino" Vieira Mateus da Graça [ 'vi̯ɐi̯rɐ ] (born May 4, 1935 in Lagoa do Furadouro near Ourém , Portugal ) is a Portuguese-Angolan writer . He particularly campaigned for Angola's independence from Portugal.

Life

Vieira emigrated to Angola as a child in 1938 and grew up in an African neighborhood in Luanda . His work Luuanda from 1963 initially received a Portuguese literary prize, but was soon banned (until 1974) because it portrayed Portuguese rule in a bad light. From 1961 to 1972 he was in Tarrafal prison in Cape Verde after he published lists of Portuguese deserters during the first independence uprising in Angola in a BBC interview.

After his release from prison, he became president of the Angolan Writers' Association.

He writes prose in Portuguese with the typical Angolan touch, which is largely based on elements of the Kimbundu , as it is spoken by the Africans of Luanda. This language shaped Vieira early on and his storytelling technique also reflects these African influences. Life in the African quarters and the oppressive conditions of colonial rule are defining thematic elements in his works. In 2006 he was awarded the prestigious Camões Prize , but declined the award for "personal reasons".

Works

• Luuanda , 1963
• A vida verdadeira de Domingos Xavier ( The True Life of Domingos Xavier ), 1961 (published 1974)
• Velhas estórias , 1974
• Nós os do Makulusu , 1974
• Vidas novas , 1975
• João Vêncio: os seus amores , 1979
• Lourentinho, dona Antónia de Sousa Neto e eu , 1981
• De rios velhos e guerrilheiros: O livro dos rios , 2006

Web links

• Literature by and about Luandino Vieira in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature by and about Luandino Vieira in the catalog of the Ibero-American Institute of Prussian Cultural Heritage, Berlin