Olinda Beja is a poet, writer and narrator born in 1946 in São Tomé and Príncipe. For about twelve years, she inhabited in the islands, moved then to Portugal at an early age, and got a license in Modern Languages, French and Portuguese at the University of Porto. Her poems deal with interpersonal relations in all their facets, including romantic transformation, beauty, yearning, living together, hurt, mourning and sex. Since 2002, Beja has been a fellow of the C. Nacional de Cultura/I.P.L.B. and an advisor on cultural matters to her homeland’s Embassy in Portugal. Her poems have appeared in national and international magazines, in French and Portuguese schoolbooks and in various anthologies. Beja also lived in Lausanne, Switzerland where she worked as a teacher of Portuguese language and culture. She took part in Poesiefestival Berlin in 2008. She won the Francisco José Tenreiro Literary Award in 2013 on her work “A Sombra do Ocá”. In 2015, she wrote a book titled “Um Grão de Café” (Coffee Bean), which was selected for the National Literary Plan of Portugal.
Olinda Beja ist eine Dichterin, Schriftstellerin und Erzählerin, geboren 1946 in São Tomé und Príncipe. Etwa zwölf Jahre lang bewohnte sie die Inseln, verlegte dann ihren Lebensmittelpunkt schon früh nach Portugal, wo sie eine Lizenz in modernen Sprachen, Französisch und Portugiesisch an der Universität Porto erwarb. In ihren Gedichten geht es um Zwischenmenschliches in allen Facetten, um romantische Verklärung, Schönheit, Sehnsucht, Zusammenleben, Verletzungen, Trauer und Sex. Beja ist seit 2002 Stipendiatin des C. Nacional de Cultura/I.P.L.B. und berät seitdem die Botschaft ihres Heimatlandes in Portugal in kulturellen Fragen. Ihre Gedichte erschienen in nationalen und internationalen Zeitschriften, in französischen und portugiesischen Schulbüchern sowie in verschiedenen Anthologien. Beja lebte auch in Lausanne, Schweiz, wo sie als Lehrerin arbeitete und portugiesische Sprache und Kultur unterrichtete. 2008 nahm sie am Poesiefestival Berlin teil. Für ihr Werk »A Sombra do Ocá« erhielt sie 2013 den Francisco-José-Tenreiro-Literaturpreis. Im Jahr 2015 schrieb sie ein Buch mit dem Titel »Um Grão de Café« (Kaffeebohne), das für den Nationalen Literaturplan Portugals ausgewählt wurde.
Olinda Beja is a poet, writer and narrator born in 1946 in São Tomé and Príncipe. For about twelve years, she inhabited in the islands, moved then to Portugal at an early age, and got a license in Modern Languages, French and Portuguese at the University of Porto. Her poems deal with interpersonal relations in all their facets, including romantic transformation, beauty, yearning, living together, hurt, mourning and sex. Since 2002, Beja has been a fellow of the C. Nacional de Cultura/I.P.L.B. and an advisor on cultural matters to her homeland’s Embassy in Portugal. Her poems have appeared in national and international magazines, in French and Portuguese schoolbooks and in various anthologies. Beja also lived in Lausanne, Switzerland where she worked as a teacher of Portuguese language and culture. She took part in Poesiefestival Berlin in 2008. She won the Francisco José Tenreiro Literary Award in 2013 on her work “A Sombra do Ocá”. In 2015, she wrote a book titled “Um Grão de Café” (Coffee Bean), which was selected for the National Literary Plan of Portugal.
