Germano Almeida Cape Verde

© J.A. Salvador

Almeida was born on the island of Boavista in 1945. At the age of 18 he went to Lisbon and later studied law. He now lives in São Vicente on the Cape Verde islands and works as a lawyer. When Germano Almeida’s book O testamento do Sr. Napumoceno da Silva Araújo (“The last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo”) was published in 1991, Portuguese critics were unanimous in their view that this was a great moment for Cape Verdean literature.

In his novels, Almeida unmasks the hypocrisy of public and private morality in the Republic of Cape Verde (and elsewhere). His most effective artistic tool is humour: Almeida is a master of all arts of literary comedy and his observations on society are sharpened by irony and sarcasm, puns and slap-stick-like situation comedy.

O testamento do Sr. Napumoceno da Silva Araújo is a highly witty and entertaining book telling about the life of a rich old-school macho on the Cape Verde islands. Amusingly enough, this man owes his economic and social progress to thousands of umbrellas which he once ordered by mistake. No one on the islands ever really needed an umbrella since it hardly ever rains. Fortunately though, this day the heavens were understanding and tore open just at the right moment ...

In 2004 the novel was mentioned in the London Times Literary Supplement as one of the Best Books of the Year by Pankaj Mishra:

Germano Almeida’s The last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo introduced me to a writer of great comic gifts.

O testamento do Sr. Napumoceno da Silva Araújo is the predecessor of the great novel O meu poeta (“My Poet”). Almeida’s third novel is entitled A ilha fantástica (“The fantastic Island”) and in 1995 he published Os dois irmãos (“The two Brothers”), a gripping story about a case of fratricide.

In his new novel, Eva, Luís Henriques and Reinaldo, the narrator, are roaming the streets of Lisbon at night in December 2000. The occasion for their meeting is Eva. Both know her, and both know of each other from Eva’s stories. 25 years ago, she was Luís Henriques’ first love. Now he is curious to find out about this other man in her life. Is he a friend, or even a lover? The backdrop is Lisbon, from the 1960s onward to the Carnation Revolution, and the challenging life on Cape Verde against the background of more recent political developments. From a strictly Catholic bourgeois parental home, Eva moved to Lisbon to go to university, evidently exerting an irresistable charm on the male sex. Here she gets caught up in politics and meets and falls in love with Luís Henriques. After she returns to Cape Verde, she marries the candid Zé Manel without further ado, but embarks on a relationship with Reinaldo. Is it Eva, ultimately, who pulls the strings in all these relationships? The two men are faced with ever more questions and many remain unanswered when they part.

As in previous novels, Germano Almeida knows how to use a priceless story to tell the history of the Cape Verde Islands and their peoples.

Original editions and rights sold:

Novels:

O testamento do Sr. Napumoceno da Silva Araújo, Lisbon: Caminho 1991, 167 p.

Film version 1996, Prize as “Best Film”, August 1997, at Brazil’s most important film festival in Gramado

Brazil: Companhia das Letras 1996 ● Bulgaria: Five Plus 2009 ● Denmark:Husets 2002 ● France: Sepia 1995 ● Italy: AIEP 1996 ● Germany: Fischer 1997 ● Netherlands: De Geus 2000 ● Norway: Cappelen 2001 ● Sweden: Tranan 1999 ● Spain: Bronce 2000; Txalaparta (Basque) ● US: New Directions 2004

O meu poeta, Ilhéu 1989, Lisbon: Caminho 1992, 349 p.

Film rights sold

A ilha fantástica

Lisbon: Caminho 1994, 223 p.

Spain: Cobre 2003 ● Italy: Cavallo di Ferro 2006

Os dois irmãos, Lisbon: Caminho 1995, 238 p.

Italy: Nuova Frontiera 2005 ● Cuba: Arte y Literatura 2005 ● Spain: Bronce 2002

A família Trago, Lisbon: Caminho 1998, 329 p.

Netherlands: De Geus 2002 ● Sweden: Tranan 2001

Dona Pura e os camaradas de abril, Lisbon: Caminho 1999, 226 p.

Spain: Cobre 2002

O dia das calças roladas, Lisbon: Caminho 1999, 156.p

As memórias de um espírito, Lisbon: Caminho 2001, 319 p.

O mar na Lajinha, Lisbon: Caminho 2004, 275 p.

Eva, Lisbon: Caminho 2006, 276 p.

Cuba: Arte y Literatura 2009

A morte do ouvidor, Lisbon: Caminho 2010, 382 p.

Stories:

Estórias de dentro de casa, Lisbon: Caminho 1996, 205 p.

Spain: Txalaparta 2003

Estórias contadas, Lisbon: Caminho 1998, 250 p.

Short prose:

Cabo Verde. Viagem pela história das ilhas, Lisbon: Caminho 2003, 273 p.

Participation in anthologies:

Germany: Wagenbach 2010