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José Craveirinha, 1922-2003
Dossier MZ-0056 [part 4]
José Craveirinha, Mozambique’s greatest poet, was born in Lourenço Marques in 1922 and died in Johannesburg in 2003 at the age of eighty. He published ten volumes in Portuguese – Chigubo; Karingana ua Karingana; Cela 1; Maria; Babalaze das Hienas; Hamina e outros contos; Contacto e outros crónicas; Poesia Toda; Obra Poética; Poemas da Prisão; and Poesia Erótica – and was translated into Italian, Russian and Swedish. He was awarded many prizes and distinctions, both national and international, including the Prémio Lotus and the Prémio Camões; he was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature.
Craveirinha was an important figure in the development of Mozambican cultural nationalism, and in the 1960s was imprisoned by PIDE, the Portuguese political police for his involvement in FRELIMO’s liberation struggle. As a journalist he wrote for most of the well-known local newspapers and weeklies. In addition to his fame as a poet, he was widely respected in Mozambique for his footballing prowess and knowledge.
Above: A portrait of José Craveirinha, Mozambique’s best-known poet, in middle age. Craveirinha is recognised around the world as one of the twentieth century’s most important writers in Portuguese, and his poems written during the colonial period are an important expression of Mozambican nationalism.
Craveirinha’s writing, like that of Noémia de Sousa, was characterised by its affirmation of Africanness and the clarity of its nationalist positions. He did not shy away from such topics as the migrant labour system, which brutalised not only the workers themselves, but also their families who were left behind in the rural areas of southern Mozambique. For example, in his poem «Gado Mamparra Magaiza e Mamana Sequina», he directly compared the conditions endured by migrant labourers to those of a herd of cattle. For a more detailed analysis along these lines (in Portuguese) of the importance of the cultural expressions of Mozambican nationalism in the late colonial period, see «A Contestação da Situação Colonial, 1945-1961» in volume three of História de Moçambique (Maputo: Dept. da História, UEM, 1993), especially pages 225-230. This complete work is downloadable as a PDF file from the Aluka project (subscription required; click on the title).
MHN Resources
◊ 16 March 1980
José Craveirinha. Quando Charlot ainda vivia no cine-variedades: poema inédito de 1958. Tempo [Maputo] no.492 (16 March 1980), p.60-63. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 678 kb. The text of a previously unpublished poem.
◊ 16 November 1980
José Craveirinha and Orlando Mendes. Literatura moçambicana e implicações políticas. Tempo [Maputo] no.527 (16 November 1980), p.49-53. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 1.3 Mb. The text of a paper presented by Craveirinha and Mendes to the Symposium on the Function of Modern African Literatures, Frankfurt-am-Main, Federal Republic of Germany, 4-6 October 1980.
◊ 21 February 1982
Ana Mafalda Leite. Armar o amor: Cela 1 de José Craveirinha na perspectiva crítica de um jornal português de artes e letras. Domingo [Maputo] (21 February 1982), p.19. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 466 kb. A review of the book Cela 1, reprinted from the Portuguese periodical Letras, Artes e Ideias no.4.
◊ 12 June 1983
José Craveirinha. Inéditos. Domingo [Maputo] (12 June 1983), p.20-21. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 333 kb. Unpublished poems.
◊ 12 June 1983
Gulamo Khan. José Craveirinha, autodidacta na primeira pessoa. Domingo [Maputo] (12 June 1983), p.18-19. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 568 kb. Interview.
◊ 30 June 1984
Hoje, em Maputo, José Craveirinha recebe Prémio Lotus. Notícias [Maputo] (30 June 1984). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 50 kb.
◊ 2 July 1984
Obrigado por nos ter honrado: José Craveirinha recebe Prémio Lotus. Notícias [Maputo] (2 July 1984). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 270 kb.
◊ 16 July 1984
Para poetas como Craveirinha, não há palavras para transmitirmos sentimentos: Rui Nogar na intrega do Prémio Lotus ao preeminente poeta moçambicano. Notícias [Maputo] (16 July 1984). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 142 kb.
◊ 16 July 1984
Prémio Lotus é uma dívida de honra: José Craveirinha na mensagem de agradecimento à sua distinção. Notícias [Maputo] (16 July 1984). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 327 kb.
◊ 24 March 1985
Armando Jorge. Craveirinha: dizer bem ou dizer mal? Domingo [Maputo] (24 March 1985). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 83 kb. Quoting an unintentionally funny passage from an analysis of Craveirinha’s work, by Eduardo White, published in Charrua.
◊ 31 March 1985
Com Craveirinha como tese, primeiro mestrado em literaturas africanas. Domingo [Maputo] (31 March 1985). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 106 kb. Announces that Ana Mafalda Leite has been awarded a masters degree in the Faculty of Letters in Lisbon for a thesis on Craveirinha’s book Karingana ua Karingana.
◊ 2 June 1985
José Craveirinha fez 63 anos. Domingo [Maputo] (2 June 1985), p.16. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 239 kb. Includes the text of the poem «Joe Louis, Campeão».
◊ 11 September 1986
Fátima Mendonça. Craveirinha, José. Domingo [Maputo] (11 September 1986), p.5. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 165 kb. One of a series of short profiles of major Mozambican writers published by Domingo under the general title «Ficha de Leitura A-Z». Includes the text of the uncollected poem «Frustração», from A Voz de Moçambique no.106, 8 February 1963.
◊ 7 December 1986
Daniel da Costa. José Craveirinha: a poesia, a raça e o evoluir de uma visão. Tempo [Maputo] no.843 (7 December 1986), p.44-48. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 944 kb.
◊ 27 May 1988-2 June 1988
Fernando Assis Pacheco. Bookcionário: Craveirinha. O Jornal Ilustrado [Lisbon] no.692 (27 May 1988-2 June 1988). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 1.2 Mb. Short review of Craveirinha’s book Maria (publ. ALAC, 1988).
◊ 26 January 1990-1 February 1990
Eddie Koch . The poet of Maputo calls on FW to end the war. Weekly Mail [Johannesburg] (26 January 1990-1 February 1990), p.12 . In English. Click here to download a PDF file, size 116 kb. Report on an appeal by a group of 70 leading Mozambican intellectuals to F. W. de Klerk to end South African support for Renamo.
Above: A portrait of José Craveirinha as a young man. Craveirinha’s twin passions for poetry and football were shared by many Mozambican nationalists and intellectuals during the late colonial period.
◊ 7 June 1991
Afonso Praça. Prémio Camões: Craveirinha, ponto-de-lança. O Jornal [ Lisbon] (7 June 1991). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 228 kb. When younger, Craveirinha was a footballer of potential who nearly played for Benfica, but fortunately for literature in Portuguese instead devoted himself to poetry.
◊ 22 October 1991
José Craveirinha na Academia brasileira. Público [Lisbon] (22 October 1991). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 98 kb. Craveirinha is elected a corresponding member of the Brazilian Academy of Science, Letters and Art.
◊ 29 March 1993
Craveirinha proposto para Nobel da literatura. Século de Joanesburgo [Johannesburg] (29 March 1993), p.16. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 55 kb. Repeats a report in Mediafax that AEMO had nominated Craveirinha for the Nobel Prize.
◊ 16 February 2001
Luís Nhachote. José Craveirinha vai exilar-se. Savana [Maputo] (16 February 2001), p.31. In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 205 kb.
Above: The cover of José Craveirinha’s book Karingana ua Karingana [roughly, ‘Once upon a time’], co-published in 1982 by the Instituto Nacional do Livro e do Disco [INLD] in Maputo and Edições 70 in Lisbon as number nine in the series «Autores Moçambicanos».
◊ 6 December 2002
IV Bienal: um panegírico a José Craveirinha. Notícias [Maputo] (6 December 2002). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 203 kb.
◊ 7 December 2002
IV Bienal: sarau para Craveirinha, o sáurio. Notícias [Maputo] (7 December 2002). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 184 kb.
◊ 8 December 2002
Recordar Craveirinha olhando para o futuro. Domingo [Maputo] (8 December 2002). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 194 kb.
◊ 10 December 2002
IV Bienal: tributo a um dos grandes de África. Notícias [Maputo] (10 December 2002). In Portuguese. Click here to download a PDF file, size 176 kb.