Born on the Cape Verdean island
Boa Vista, Almeida studied law at the
University of Lisbon and currently practices in
Mindelo. His novels have been translated into several languages. He married Filomena Figueiredo. Almeida founded the literary magazine
Ponto & Vírgula (1983-87) and
Aguaviva. In 1989 he founded the
Ilhéu Editora publishing house and has since published 16 books (nine novels).
Published works His first work was
O dia das calças roladas which was about an account of a strike on the island of
Santo Antão, it was first written in 1982 and was published in 1983. He wrote the novel
The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo which was about businessman turned philanthropist who leaves his fortune to his illegitimate daughter. As independence comes he is shown up to be a relic of colonialism. A motion picture would be made about the novel in 1997 and was directed by the Portuguese director Francisco Manso, it won the award at the Brazil's largest film festival, the
Festival de Cinema de Gramado. He later published
Dona Pura e os Camaradas de Abril in 1999, a story about the 1974
Carnation revolution in Portugal.
Cabo Verde – Viagem pela história das ilhas, published in 2003 was his historical presentation of all the nine inhabited islands that constitute Cape Verde. His recently published novels and works were
Eva in 2006 and
De Monte Cara vê-se o mundo in 2014.
Awards and honors He has been awarded the
Order of the Dragon Plant - First Class, the
Portuguese Order of Merit and the
Camões Prize (2018).
Adaptations The 1995 novel
The Two Brothers (
Os Dois Irmãos) and
Agravos de um Artista - a short story were performed as theatrical plays at the GTCCPPM in
Mindelo, São Vicente in 1999 and in 2000. One of the roles were done by
João Branco. ==Bibliography==