“I am almost as destroyed as my city” – Mia Couto on the catastrophe in Beira

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“I am almost as destroyed as my city” – Mia Couto on the catastrophe in Beira

12:55 CAT | 20 Mar 2019

File photo: DN

Mozambican writer and native of Beira Mia Couto deplores the destruction caused by Cyclone Idai in emails exchanged with his publisher, Zeferino Coelho of the Caminho Publishing House.

Mia Couto says he is almost as destroyed as Beira, the city where he was born 63 years ago. “In fact, I am almost as destroyed as my city,” the Mozambican writer confesses in a reply to his publisher in Portugal, after Coelho wrote expressing concern.

Author of books like ‘Sleepwalking Land’ and ‘The Last Flight of the Flamingo’, Mia Couto finished his ‘Sands of the Emperor’ trilogy in 2017 and was working on a new book about his childhood in Beira. According to Jamie LeSueur of the International Red Cross, 90% of Beira city was destroyed by the storm.

“I was determined to go to Beira to delve into the spirit of the place and now, I am told, there is almost no place. It’s as if they’ve ripped away part of my childhood. Zeferino, as early as your first assessment, you warned me that Beira was the central character in the book. Beira was the central character of the book, and I confess that I am sort of lost,” Mia Couto wrote in an email made available to Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias by the publisher with the writer’s permission.

The winner of the Camões Award 2013 expresses concern about his friends and acquaintances in Beira.

“This morning I got pictures of the Macúti church in ruins. That building is deep inside my story; it as if I were writing the story of a friend who had died in the meantime. The entire centre of Mozambique is under water: roads, houses, power lines and telecommunications are destroyed. I am unable to get news from friends who live in Beira,” his email reads.

My Dear

Thanks for message. In fact, I am almost as destroyed as my city. I was determined to go to Beira to delve into the spirit of the place and now, I am told, there is almost no place. It’s as if they’ve ripped away part of my childhood. Zeferino, as early as your first assessment, you warned me that Beira was the central character in the book. I confess I am sort of lost. This morning I got pictures of the church in Macuti in ruins. That building is deep inside my story; it as if I were writing the story of a friend who had died in the meantime. The entire centre of Mozambique is under water: roads, houses, power lines and telecommunications are destroyed. I am unable to get news from friends who live in Beira. Anyway, it’s feels good, that embrace.

Mia

Meu caro

Obrigado pela mensagem. Na verdade, estou eu quase tão destruído quanto a minha cidade. Estava determinado a ir para a Beira para mergulhar no espírito do lugar e agora, segundo me dizem, quase não há lugar. É como se me tivessem arrancado parte da infância. O Zeferino, logo na sua primeira avaliação, me tinha alertado que a Beira era a personagem central do livro. Confesso que estou meio perdido. Esta manhã recebi fotografias da igreja do Macuti que está em ruínas. Aquele edifício está profundamente dentro da minha história. É como se estivesse a escrever a história de um amigo que, entretanto, morresse. E o problema é bem maior que a Beira. Todo o centro de Moçambique está por baixo de água: estradas, casas, torres de energia e de telecomunicações estão destruídas. Não consigo saber dos meus amigos que vivem na Beira. Enfim, sabe bem esse seu abraço.

Mia

Source: Diário de Notícias