Luís Cardoso

Luís Cardoso de Noronha (born 8 December 1958) is a contemporary East Timorese writer. His work focuses on the history of his homeland. It is written in Portuguese, and has been translated into other languages including French and English. In 2021, he won the Prêmio Oceanos for his novel The Pumpkin Planter (Sonata for a Fog) (O Plantador de Abóboras (Sonata para uma Neblina)).

Early life and education Cardoso was born in Cailaco, Bobonaro, an inland town in the then Portuguese Timor. As the son of a paramedic who worked in several locations in East Timor, he came to know, and speaks, several Timorese languages. He attended the missionary colleges of Soibada in Manatuto and Fuiloro in Lautém, the Seminary of Our Lady of Fatima in Dare, Dili, and the Liceu Dr. Francisco Machado in Dili.

After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, Cardoso went to Portugal on a scholarship for further training at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), University of Lisbon, from which he obtained a degree in silviculture. One of his fellow students at the ISA was the writer José Eduardo Agualusa. He also qualified in law, environmental politics and mathematics.

In 2015, Cardoso told Portuguese news agency Lusa (translation):

Quote|text="We can already talk about a Timorese culture, but there is still a lot to do with cultural identity and diversity, which is still under construction. We are taking the first steps in consolidating this cultural identity.

"We're just starting. It's been 40 years, lived partly during the time of resistance, which did not allow people with art and ingenuity to have the availability to write, as many of them were decimated." The pumpkins mentioned in that title, and in the novel, serve as a metaphor for East Timor, which depends heavily upon oil exploitation, but in Cardoso's view ought to return to more sustainable alternatives. In the novel, Cardoso's female narrator takes the reader through three wars involving East Timor: the Manufahi Rebellion of 1911–1912, the Japanese invasion and occupation during World War II, and the Indonesian invasion and subsequent occupation of the former Portuguese colony. After winning the award, he added, "We have oral literature, but we don't have written literature in Timor and written literature is starting and I'm kicking off."

List of works Cardoso's works include:

The Crossing (Translated by Jull Costa, Margaret.; London: Granta, 2002; )(Crónica de uma Travessia - A Época do Ai Dik-Funam (Lisbon, 1997)) Owl Eyes – Cat Eyes (Olhos de Coruja, Olhos de Gato Bravo (Lisbon, 2001)) The Last Death of Colonel Santiago(A Última Morte do Coronel Santiago (Lisbon, 2003)) Requiem for a Solitary Navigator(Requiem para um Navegador solitário (Lisbon, 2007)) The Year Pigafetta Completed His Circumnavigation(O Ano em que Pigafetta completou a Circum-Navegação (Lisbon, 2012)) Where do Cats Go when They Die? A Biblical Parable(Para onde vão os Gatos quando morrem? Uma Parábola Bíblica (Lisbon, 2017) The Pumpkin Planter (Sonata for a Fog)(O Plantador de Abóboras (Sonata para uma Neblina) (Lisbon, 2020))