Germano Almeida

Germano Almeida is a Cape Verdean novelist and lawyer born in 1945 in Mindelo, São Vicente. He is the most celebrated Cape Verdean writer and one of the most important Lusophone African voices in world literature. He worked for many years as a lawyer while writing fiction that draws on Cape Verdean oral tradition, humor, and the society of the islands. Almeida is the author of numerous novels and story collections, beginning with O Testamento do Sr. Napumoceno da Silva Araújo (The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo, 1989), which brought him international recognition. His fiction is known for its warm, ironic humor, its vivid social observation, and its deeply affectionate portrait of Cape Verdean society. His major works include O Meu Poeta (1992), A Família Trágico-Marítima (1994), Estórias de Dentro de Casa (1996), and many others. His work has been translated into numerous languages and he has been recognized internationally as a major Lusophone African writer. He received the Prémio Camões in 2018, the highest recognition in Portuguese-language literature. The prize honored a body of work that has defined Cape Verdean literature on the world stage.