Description
New and selected fiction, over half in English for the first time, from the winner of the 2014 Neustadt Prize.
Known internationally for his novels, Neustadt Prize-winner Mia Couto first became famous for his short stories. Sea Loves Me includes sixty-four of his best, thirty-six of which appear in English for the first time. Covering the entire arc of Couto’s career, this collection displays the Mozambican author’s inventiveness, sensitivity, and social range with greater richness than any previous collection—from early stories that reflect the harshness of life under Portuguese colonialism; to magical tales of rural Africa; to contemporary fables of the fluidity of race and gender, environmental disaster, and the clash between the countryside and the city. The title novella, long acclaimed as one of Couto’s best works but never before available in English, caps this collection with the lyrical story of a search for a lost father that leads unexpectedly to love.
PRAISE FOR SEA LOVES ME
“A worthy … introduction to a unique and atmospheric African writer’s work.” — Kirkus
PRAISE FOR MIA COUTO
“Mia Couto’s stories of civilization and barbarity are told through a language that is precise and profound; he weaves together the living tradition of legend, poetry and song.”—International Man Booker shortlist jury citation
“These literary fragments are dreamy but hopeful responses to Mozambique’s violent past, magical tales that find solace in the wisdom of rivers and trees, fishermen and fortune tellers, children and blind men … Couto’s stories are rooted yet timeless, both whimsical and deeply spiritual.”—Vanity Fair
“[Couto is] a brilliant aphorist. There are countless sentences that … have the weight and wisdom of ancient proverbs.”—Wall Street Journal
“Couto’s narrative tone, at once deadpan and beguiling, and his virtuoso management of time place him alongside the best Latin American magic realists.”—Times Literary Supplement
“One of the greatest living writers in the Portuguese language … [Couto] cracks open a welcoming window onto a vast world of literary pleasures.”—The Millions
