{"id":80725,"date":"2025-04-11T22:04:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T22:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature"},"modified":"2025-05-07T23:08:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T23:08:00","slug":"mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature","title":{"rendered":"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. <\/strong><\/span>Mozambican writer Mia Couto has won the PEN\/Nabokov 2025 Prize on Friday, becoming the first Portuguese-language author to be honoured with this PEN America award for international literature, the publishing house Caminho revealed.<\/p>\n

PEN America\u201dis awarding \u201cthe PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature to eminent Mozambican author Mia Couto for his body of work. Couto is acclaimed for novels including his breakthrough Sleepwalking Land (1992), Confession of the Lioness (2012), and, most recently, the Sands of the Emperor trilogy (2015, 2016, and 2018), which was short-listed for the International Booker Prize in 2015.,\u201d reads the statement from PEN America, quoted by the publisher.<\/p>\n

The PEN\/Nabokov jury cited Mia Couto for probing his homeland\u2019s fraught history \u201cas well as essential riddles of identity and existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mia Couto, who writes in Portuguese, has held \u201ca singular place in the landscape o f both African and world literature\u201d, adds the jury.<\/p>\n

The PEN\/Nabokov Prize for International Literature, worth US$50,000 (around \u20ac45,000), is awarded annually by PEN America, in collaboration with the Vladimir Nabokov Literary Foundation, to a living author whose body of work, written or translated into English, represents the highest level of achievement in fiction, non-fiction, poetry and\/or drama, according to information on the award\u2019s official website.<\/p>\n

The prize celebrates authors whose work demonstrates \u201cenduring originality and consummate craftsmanship\u201d, evoking the versatility and commitment to literature characteristic of Vladimir Nabokov\u2019s writing, it adds.<\/p>\n

Established in 2016, the prize has previously honoured writers Maryse Conde, Vinod Kumar Shukla, Ngu\u0303gi\u0303 wa Thiong\u2019o, Anne Carson, M. NourbeSe Philip, Sandra Cisneros, Edna O\u2019Brien and Adonis.<\/p>\n

In September last year, Mia Couto was awarded the FIL (Guadalajara International Book Fair) Prize for Literature in Romance Languages 2024.<\/p>\n

Mia Couto was born in Beira, Mozambique, in 1955, worked as a journalist and teacher, and is currently a biologist and writer.<\/p>\n

Awarded the Camo\u0303es Prize in 2013, Mia Couto is the author, among others, of \u2018Jesusale\u0301m\u2019, \u2018O U\u0301ltimo Voo do Flamingo\u2019, \u2018Vozes Anoitecidas\u2019, \u2018Esto\u0301rias Abensonhadas\u2019, \u2018Terra Sona\u0302mbula\u2019, \u2018A Varanda do Frangipani\u2019 and \u2018A Confissa\u0303o da Leoa\u2019.<\/p>\n

Translated into more than 30 languages, the writer was also honoured with the Vergi\u0301lio Ferreira Prize in 1999, the Latin Union Prize for Romance Literature in 2007 and the Eduardo Lourenc\u0327o Prize in 2011 for his work as a whole, among other distinctions.<\/p>\n

\u2018Terra Sona\u0302mbula\u2019 was voted one of the 12 best African books of the 20th century, and \u201cJesusale\u0301m\u201d was among the 20 best fiction books published in France, as chosen by Radio France Culture and Te\u0301le\u0301rama magazine.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mozambique<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican writer Mia Couto has won the PEN\/Nabokov 2025 Prize on Friday, becoming the first Portuguese-language author to be honoured with this PEN America award for international literature, the publishing house Caminho revealed. PEN America\u201dis awarding \u201cthe PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature to eminent Mozambican author Mia Couto for his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":80724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,244],"tags":[283],"class_list":["post-80725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","category-to-homepage","tag-mozambique"],"yoast_head":"\nMia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mozambican writer Mia Couto has won the PEN\/Nabokov 2025 Prize on Friday, becoming the first Portuguese-language author ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mozambican writer Mia Couto has won the PEN\/Nabokov 2025 Prize on Friday, becoming the first Portuguese-language author ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-11T22:04:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-07T23:08:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"438\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-11T22:04:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-07T23:08:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature\"},\"wordCount\":446,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Mozambique\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature\",\"name\":\"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature - Mozambique\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-11T22:04:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-07T23:08:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Mozambican writer Mia Couto has won the PEN\/Nabokov 2025 Prize on Friday, becoming the first Portuguese-language author ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg\",\"width\":730,\"height\":438,\"caption\":\"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/\",\"name\":\"Mozambique\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature - Mozambique","description":"Mozambican writer Mia Couto has won the PEN\/Nabokov 2025 Prize on Friday, becoming the first Portuguese-language author ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature","og_description":"Mozambican writer Mia Couto has won the PEN\/Nabokov 2025 Prize on Friday, becoming the first Portuguese-language author ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature","og_site_name":"Mozambique","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-04-11T22:04:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-07T23:08:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":730,"height":438,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature","datePublished":"2025-04-11T22:04:13+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-07T23:08:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature"},"wordCount":446,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg","keywords":["Mozambique"],"articleSection":["all news","culture and art","to-homepage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature","name":"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature - Mozambique","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-11T22:04:13+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-07T23:08:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Mozambican writer Mia Couto has won the PEN\/Nabokov 2025 Prize on Friday, becoming the first Portuguese-language author ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2025\/04\/sm_1744394324.176968.jpg","width":730,"height":438,"caption":"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/mia-couto-wins-pen-nabokov-award-for-achievement-in-international-literature#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mia Couto wins PEN\/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/","name":"Mozambique","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}