Alípio Ferreira

Journalist and fiction writer. He emigrated to Mozambique in the 1950s, completing his secondary education in the city of Beira. He worked in various activities. In 1969, he moved to Lourenço Marques (today Maputo) and in 1974, he enrolled in Law at Eduardo Mondlane University, where he would obtain his bachelor's degree. His connection to journalism dates from that period, as a contributor to Diário, Notícias (both from Lourenço Marques), and Notícias da Beira. In 1978, he returned to Portugal and joined the editorial staff of Jornal de Notícias, in Porto, where, in the early 1980s, he was involved in a protest that would lead to his dismissal. He then undertook a hunger strike at the entrance of the Porto daily, which culminated in his reinstatement. In 1992, he left Jornal de Notícias and returned to Alfândega da Fé as chief editor of the bi-weekly Terra Quente. He died of a sudden illness, living alone, in November 1995. The man of solidarity and firm principles also revealed himself in a demanding journalistic practice. In 1991, he published the book Chipangara, poems and short stories, with evocative drawings by João Mota and dedicated «Aos moçambicanos – meus irmãos». A contained and tense work, it is a vigorous portrayal of the 1960s and the end of Portuguese colonialism in Mozambique. The poet António Cabral wrote that Chipangara is a testament to «sonhos dilacerados» (shattered dreams) and the «desabrochar de uma juventude que procura ansiosamente um caminho» (blossoming of a youth anxiously seeking a path). In 1995, Chipangara was selected at the University of Paris III for a study aimed at inventorying the particularities of literary Portuguese in Mozambique, based on research «junto dos próprios produtores de texto» (among the text producers themselves) and not from «especialistas» (specialists), as highlighted by researcher Michel Laban.