Mozambique’s first woman to publish a novel, Paulina Chiziane has become the first African woman to receive the most prestigious award for Portuguese literature, the Camoes Prize. She is also the first author to defy all restrictions on Mozambique’s patriarchal culture and social taboos.

The Camoes Prize was first awarded in 1988 to acknowledge great literature in Portuguese and was named after the famous 16th-century Portuguese poet Luis de Camoes.

Chiziane was born in Manjacaze in 1955 and was brought up in the nation’s capital, Maputo. She practiced both Portuguese, the language that was imposed during colonial times, and Chopi, a Bantu language spoken along Mozambique’s southern coast. Chiziane is a well-known name in Portuguese literature nowadays and holds a degree in linguistics.

Paulina was proclaimed the winner of the 2021 Camoes Prize but was unable to receive the award in person because the annual event was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2023 during a ceremony in Lisbon, Paulina finally received the award in person. 

She said in an interview that the prize is for all the people of her country as she has always written from a collective experience, transmitting a collective voice.

In her speech in Lisbon, she said, I come from Africa. I am black and I am here, being the first black woman to receive this high recognition… I am black. Yes, and so what?

Chiziane’s stories often portray the social instability of a country oppressed by a war of liberation that was followed by civil conflicts after independence from Portugal in 1975. They reflect her commitment to the Frelimo liberation movement. 

She didn’t just write about oppression and liberation, she also volunteered to join the Red Cross humanitarian organization during the civil war that took place from 1977 to 1992. This enabled her to observe the suffering of her people closely. She chronicled some of the most painful memories in her second novel, the 1993 romance Ventos do Apocalipse (Winds of Apocalypse).

Paulina also joined a non-governmental organization called the Nucleus of Feminine Association of Zambezia of Nafeza founded in 1997. The organization also advocated for women at all levels. She used her literary works to fight oppression and also political actions.

Chiziane currently provides guidance on the creation of international aid initiatives devoted to conflict resolution and the preservation of women’s rights and dignity. Chiziane has consistently boosted the voices of women in her nation. Her literary career has already made history, and the Camoes Prize, which is currently being honored, is proof of the immense significance of her representation of African culture in the context of countries that speak the Portuguese language.