Introduction

Albertino Homem dos Santos Sequeira Bragança was born in the then Portuguese colony, São Tomé e Príncipe on March 9, 1944, where he completed his elementary and secondary education. He moved to Portugal in 1964 to attend the University of Coimbra, graduating in 1969, before returning to São Tomé e Príncipe following independence in 1975. There, he played an active role in postcolonial nation-building “on the ground,” spending numerous years working in education, in leadership roles. During this time, he became a key part of postcolonial literary circles, collaborating with notable figures of San Toméan literature including Frederico Gustavo dos Anjos and Armindo Aguiar, with whom he inaugurated the San Toméan publishing house, Edições Gravana Nova, in 1984. Alongside Alda Espírito Santo, another key contributor to San Toméan literature, he formed the União Nacional de Escritores e Artistas de São Tomé e Príncipe (National Union of Writers and Artists of São Tomé e Príncipe) in 1985.

The 1990s saw Bragança become more involved in national political fronts. From 1991 to 1992, he served as the defense minister in Daniel Daio's government under the Democratic Convergence Party—Reflection Group; and later as the foreign minister in Costa Alegre's government, from 1992 to 1994. In the following decade, Bragança shifted his party allegiance to the Force for Change Democratic Movement—Liberal Party, and served as a member of the party in the National Assembly from 2002 to 2010 as the party's influence dwindled, eventually merging with the Union of Democrats for Citizenship and Development in 2017. During this time, he also played a leading role in the formation of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, serving as its goodwill ambassador since 2006; and has represented São Tomé e Príncipe in discussions concerning the Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreements.

Throughout his political and professional life after independence, Albertino Bragança has continued to be a central presence in the San Toméan and Lusophone literary landscapes. He has published two books of short stories, Rosa do Riboque e outros contos (Rosa of Riboque and Other Stories, 1985) and Preconceito e outros contos (Prejudice and Other Stories, 2014), a volume on San Toméan popular music, and three novels—Um clarão sobre a baía (A Glare over the Bay, 2005), Aurélia de vento (A Pupa of Wind, 2011), and Ao cair da noite (At Nightfall, 2017).