Noémia de Sousa

Carolina Noémia Abranches de Sousa Soares, known as Noémia de Sousa (20 September 1926 – 4 December 2002), was a poet from Mozambique who wrote in the Portuguese language. She was also known as Vera Micaia. She was of mixed Portuguese and Bantu descent. De Sousa's poetry and involvement in Moçambicanidade was a large part of the anti-colonial literary movement of Mozambique.

Life Noémia de Sousa was born of mixed-race heritage in Catembe, on the south side of the bay across from the Mozambican capital Lourenço Marques. Her father was a descended from a Luso-Afro-Goan family from the island of Mozambique; her maternal grandfather was German.

De Sousa wrote often in her early years but did not publish her work until the age of 22 in 1948. From that year on, she published her work frequently for the next three years.

Moving to Portugal by the age of 25, de Sousa lived in Lisbon, working as a translator from 1951 to 1964. She then left for Paris, where she worked for the local consulate of Morocco. She went back to Lisbon in 1975 and became a member of the ANOP.

She worked with several newspapers and magazines throughout her life. Some of her most notable collaborations were with Mensagem (CEI); Mensagem (Luanda); Itinerário; Notícias do Bloqueio (Porto, 1959); O Brado Africano; Moçambique 58; Vértice (Coimbra), Sul (Brazil).

Writing career In the early 1950s de Sousa became involved in the Moçambicanidade movement.

Works Sangue Negro, Maputo: Associação dos Escritores Moçambicanos, 2001. "If You Want to Know Me" - this poem appears in many anthologies, including in Margaret Dickinson (ed.), When Bullets Begin to Flower, and Margaret Busby (ed.), Daughters of Africa (1992).