Mia Couto.

His older brother could not pronounce his given name Emílio and called him Mia, a nickname that stuck for the boy born in Beira on July 5, 1955. Couto’s parents were Maria de Jesus and Fernando Leite Couto, a Portuguese poet and journalist. He studied medicine at Lourenço Marques University from 1971 to 1974 but did not complete the program. Later, he earned a degree in biology from Eduardo Mondlane University in 1989. His father’s literary and journalistic career shaped Couto’s early interest in writing.

Couto published his first poetry collection, Raiz de Orvalho, in 1983, while working as a journalist for the Diário de Notícias of Mozambique starting in 1974. His breakthrough came with the novel Terra Sonâmbula 1995, which won the Nacional Literature Award of Mozambique and the NOMA African Award, and was later named one of the 12 best African books of the 20th century. In 1990, he published Cada homem é uma raça, followed by O último vôo do flamingo 2000 and Um Rio Chamado Tempo, uma Casa Chamada Terra 2005, which was adapted into a film in 2005. In 2007, Couto became the first Mozambican writer to win the Romanic Literature of Latin Union Award. He also received the Camões Prize and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Several of his works have been adapted for the screen, including the 2010 film O Último Voo do Flamingo and the 2024 film O Ancoradouro do Tempo.

Couto is married to Patrícia, with whom he has a daughter named Rita. He also has a stepdaughter from Patrícia’s first marriage, Luciana, and a son, Maydo Dawany, from his first marriage. The family lives in Mozambique. He is known to have a dog named Chocolate. His father, Fernando Leite Couto, was a poet and journalist; his mother, Maria de Jesus, is Portuguese. He has an older brother named Fernando and a younger brother.

In 2007, Couto became the first Mozambican to win the Romanic Literature of Latin Union Award. His novel Terra Sonâmbula is considered a masterpiece of African literature and was selected as one of the 12 best African books of the 20th century. He also received the Camões Prize and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. His work blends magical realism with Mozambican history and culture and has been translated into more than 30 languages, influencing a generation of Lusophone writers. His unique voice brought African storytelling to a global audience.