Short stories
Ninguém matou Suhura
Not translated into English
Lília Momplé · 1988
Synopsis
Five short stories, each dated and located, from June 1935 to April 1974. In Saua-Saua, Mussa must deliver to the colonial administration the sacks of rice demanded of him; in 1945, Naftal, seventeen, lives with his family in the reed-hut districts of Lourenço Marques; in 1950, Celina, a pupil at the Salazar lyceum, is about to finish her studies and dreams of the end-of-year ball; in November 1970, on the island where the author was born, the young Suhura crosses paths with the senhor Administrador; the last story takes place in Luanda, on the eve of the April revolution.
Context
The first book by its author, it was published in 1988 in Maputo, by the country's writers' publishing house, in the Karingana series, eighty-two pages, with a preface by Luís Bernardo Honwana. A closing note warns that the stories are based on real events, the places and dates not always corresponding to what took place. The author brought out a third edition at her own expense in 2007.
Who it is for
In Portuguese. Each story can be read on its own, but their order follows time, and the violence of the colony takes a different form in each.
Prizes and reception
“Caniço” won first prize for short story in the Maputo centenary competition; “Le Bal de Celina” was among the texts of the 2001 Caine Prize, won by Helon Habila.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.