Mozambican writer Juvenal Bucuane is the winner of the 2025 José Craveirinha Literature Prize, the country's most prestigious literary award, the Mozambican Writers' Association (AEMO) announced in a press release.
The award ceremony is scheduled for 23 June in the town of Songo, Tete province, coinciding with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Power Plant, which sponsors the prize.
The prize is valued at US$25,000 and pays tribute to José Craveirinha, considered the greatest Mozambican poet and the first African to win the Camões Prize, in 1991.
According to the jury, chaired by professor and essayist Sara Jona Laisse, Juvenal Bucuane stands out as "an emblematic figure in Mozambican literature", as a poet, memoirist, fiction writer and essayist with a solid and recognized literary career.
His work is widely studied in academic and literary circles, contributing significantly to the preservation of the country's collective memory.
The jury panel also included professor Jorge Ferrão, journalists Frederico Jamisse and Emídio Oliveira, and poet Sangare Okapi.
Born in Xai-Xai on October 23, 1951, Bucuane holds a degree in Linguistics from Eduardo Mondlane University. He is a full member of AEMO, where he has served as Secretary-General and Vice-President of the General Assembly.
His bibliography includes titles such as "A Raiz e o Canto" (1984), "Requiem: com os olhos seco" (1987), "Xefina" (1989), "A Denúncia" (2003), "Epicentro" (2005), among many others, in the genres of poetry, short stories and novels. He is a co-founder of the now defunct literary magazine "Charrua" and was the coordinator of the "Ler e Escrever" page of the newspaper "Domingo" in the 1990s.
(By MozaVibe)
