Mozambique: São Vicente de Paulo school wants to honour Eduardo White

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Mozambique: São Vicente de Paulo school wants to honour Eduardo White

9:27 CAT | 07 Jul 2022

File photo: Notícias

The library of the São Vicente de Paulo Community School, one of the oldest in the city of Maputo, could this year be renamed after the Mozambican poet Eduardo Costley White (1963-2014).

This intention was expressed on Tuesday by the directors of the joint primary and secondary school at the opening ceremony of a book fair taking place there until Saturday.

According to school director Licínio Miguelo, this would be one of the best ways of paying tribute to Eduardo White, who laboured unceasingly to establish the library in the school.

“He gave conferences here, offered books and brought writers, so we want to remember him through a tribute,” Miguelo clarified.

Eduardo White, he said, always expressed an ambition to set up a reading space at the St Vincent de Paul school, and this came to fruition in 2013, a year before he lost his life to an illness in Maputo, on August 24, 2014.

READ: FLAD names literary prize for emerging PALOP writers after Mozambican poet Eduardo Costley-White

Saovpm.fb_ — *File photo: Escola Comunitária São Vicente de Paulo da Malhangalene on Facebook*

This idea was also backed by the Association of Mozambican Writers (AEMO), which took the opportunity to emphasise that White deserved this recognition, and more besides.

“Our words are an incentive for the library to be named after Eduardo White,” said AEMO secretary general Carlos Paradona, adding that the author was a friend to the school and encouraged students to develop the habit of reading.

White was the promoter and founder of the school’s library

Licínio Miguelo said that, if it was not possible to rename the library, the author of “O País de Mim” should have another space in the school dedicated in his honour.

“He was the promoter and founder of the library, but if it is not possible to rename the library, we should pay tribute to this great writer by attributing his name to another space in the school. There are many tributes to hi, to his body of work in Mozambique, but he followed this case particularly closely,” Miguelo noted.

The space is currently called Biblioteca S. Paulo, in reference to the biblical figure Paul of Tarsus, as shown on the plaque at the entrance.

Currently with a stock of 2,393 books, the library could benefit from some modernization. Yesterday, it received some more books from AEMO.

“We are working on it, not only in the physical library, but also in a virtual one. Of course, books are important, but we cannot forget that the younger generations are connected digitally, and we should take advantage of that,”Miguelo added.

Miguelo also explained that the idea of holding a book fair at the school emerged after the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic in the country, so its realisation was postponed by preventative measures.

The book fair is an opportunity for around 2,300 students to connect with works by Mozambican authors, provided by AEMO and the publishers Alcance, Ethale Publishing, Plural and Kuvaninga.

On the occasion, Júlia da Consolação Nhampule, from the District Directorate of Education and Culture, said the literary festival was important for student development, because books contained the knowledge necessary for a better understanding of the world.

“We encourage everyone to carry out these types of activities, because they help the student grasp the importance of literature. Especially since all we see around us today is cell phones,” she said.

Eduardo White

Eduardo Costley-White was born in Quelimane, Zambézia province, the son of Portuguese mother and English father. He began his published career in 1984 with the work ‘Amar sobre o Índico’ (“Loving over the Indic”).

White belonged to the literary generation who founded the ‘Charrua’ (Plough) Magazine, and was a prominent member of the Association of Mozambican Writers (AEMO).

Costley-White published more than a dozen titles. His works include “Homoíne”, “O País de Mim (My Country),” “Poemas da Ciência de Voar e da Engenharia de Ser Ave (The Science of the Science of Flying and the Engineering of Being a Bird)”, “Desafio à Tristeza (Challenge to Sadness)”, “Os Materiais do Amor” (The Materials Of Love)” , “O Manual das Mãos (The Manual Of Hands)”, “A Mecânica Lunar (Lunar Mechanics)”, “A Escrita Desassossegada (Restless Writing)”.

The Mozambican Press Association voted him literary figure of the year in 2001, and his anthology “O Libreto da Miséria (The Libretto of Hardship)” won the BCI Prize for Literature in 2012.

Eduardo White also won the National Award of Mozambican poetry, the Rui de Noronha Consecration Prize and the José Craveirinha Great Prize for Literature of Mozambique.

Conselho do tio Eduardo White para os amantes.
A mente deste poeta fervilhava que fervilhava.
Deve estar a encantar os anjos! pic.twitter.com/ML4xXAcUQM

— Bayano Valy 🇲🇿 (@BayanoValy) June 8, 2022