Orlanda Amarílis facts for kids

Orlanda Amarílis Lopes Rodrigues Fernandes Ferreira, known as Orlanda Amarílis, was a writer from Cape Verde. She was born on October 8, 1924, and passed away on February 1, 2014. Orlanda Amarílis is known for her interesting stories, especially those that show the lives of women in Cape Verde. She also wrote about people from Cape Verde who moved to other countries. Many people consider her one of Cape Verde's most talented writers.

Biography

Orlanda Amarílis was born in Assomada, a town in Santa Catarina, Cape Verde. Her parents were Armando Napoleão Rodrigues Fernandes and Alice Lopes da Silva Fernandes. In 1945, she married Manuel Ferreira, who was also a writer. They had two sons, Sérgio Manuel Napoleão Ferreira and Hernâni Donaldo Napoleão Ferreira. Orlanda came from a family of writers. Her father, Armando Napoleão Rodrigues Fernandes, even published the first dictionary for the Cape Verdean Creole language.

Orlanda went to school in the city of Mindelo, on São Vicente island in Cape Verde. She finished her primary and high school studies there. Later, she moved to Goa and lived in its capital, Panaji, for six years. While there, she trained to become a primary school teacher. Years later, she took two more courses in Lisbon, Portugal. These courses were in educational sciences and supervising elementary education.

Orlanda Amarílis and her husband traveled to many countries. They visited places like Angola, Canada, Egypt, Mozambique, Nigeria, Spain, Sudan, and the United States. They traveled for work and to take part in cultural activities. She joined groups like the Portuguese Movement Against Apartheid (a movement against unfair treatment of people based on their race). She was also part of the Portuguese Movement for Peace and the Portuguese Association of Writers.

Career

Orlanda Amarílis started her writing career in 1944. She began by writing for a Cape Verdean magazine called Certeza. Many of her short stories were later included in different collections of Cape Verdean literature. After Certeza, she wrote more short stories for other magazines. Some of these were COLÓQUIO / Letras, África, and Loreto 13. Her short stories have been translated into several languages, including Dutch, Hungarian, Italian, and Russian.

Literary works

Orlanda Amarílis wrote many short stories and books. Here are some of her works:

Short stories

Her short stories appeared in different collections.

Short story anthologies (Portuguese language)

• Escrita e Combate (1976)
• Contos – O Campo da Palava (1985)
• Fantástico no Feminino (1985)
• Afecto às Letras – Obra Coletiva de Homenangem da Literatura Contemporânea a Jacinto do Prado Coelho (1988)

Short story anthologies (German language)

• Frauen in der Dritten Welt (1986)

Short story anthologies (English language)

• Across the Atlantic: An Anthology of Cape Verdean Literature (1986)
• A New Reader’s Guide to African Literature (1983)

Short story collections

These are books that collected her own short stories.

• Cais-do-Sodré té Salamansa (1974)
• Ilhéu dos Pássaros (1983)
• A Casa dos Mastros (1989)

Children's books

Orlanda Amarílis also wrote books for children.

• Folha a folha (1987) - written with Maria Alberta Menéres
• Facécias e Peripécias
• A Tartaruguinha [The Little Turtle] (1997)

See also

In Spanish: Orlanda Amarílis para niños