Mozambique: Mia Couto returns home to Beira for his literary 35th birthday

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Mozambique: Mia Couto returns home to Beira for his literary 35th birthday

12:35 CAT | 04 Apr 2018

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Accompanied by his brothers, Fernando and Armando, writer Mia Couto has been in his home city of Beira since the beginning of the week, to celebrate the 35 years of his literary career so far.

Representing the Fernando Leite Couto Foundation, the Couto brothers have been mixing with managers, artists and other cultural agents and arts audiences, namely at an event at the ‘Casa do Artista’ [Artist’s Home] in Beira.

*From left to right: Fernando Jorge, Mia and Pedro Couto with Maria Pinto de Sá, Photo: Notícias*

The common denominator of several interventions during the meeting was the scarcity of resources for artists’ initiatives, a situation worsened by the current crisis in the country.

Fernando and Mia responded by urging artists to not give up, but to do everything possible to keep working, because support may come only later.

They gave as an example of their own foundation, which started out of nowhere, an example seconded by the head of the Casa do Artista regarding the rehabilitation of the institution she runs.

Fernando and Mia were clear that the Leite Couto Foundation did not have the financial resources to support artists, but said it could help “knock on doors”.

The other hot topic was reading habits, especially among the young, with possible solutions such as digitising books mentioned.

Before that, however, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the foundation and Casa do Artista by Fernando Couto and Maria Pinto de Sá, presidents of the respective institutions.

The memorandum binds the parties to undertake joint efforts to carry out activities, hold periodic meetings and share experiences in the area of training, and is valid for an extendable period of 12 months.

In his ongoing cultural agenda, Mia Couto visited the Cultural and University Centre (CUCA) and spoke to a large audience of professors, university students, journalists, artists and the public, in a dialogue that focused around his literary career.

Founded in 2015, the Couto Foundation is now in its third year. Fernando Leite Couto, poet and promoter of literature and journalism in Mozambique, lived in Beira from the early 1950s, later moving to Maputo, where he died in 2013.

Fernando Leite Couto edited and published many Mozambican authors, enabling them to fulfil their dream of seeing their works printed.

Source: Notícias