Joaquim Arena is a Portuguese-Cape Verdean writer and journalist. He books have been translated into English, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, Serbian and Italian. Born as Joaquim Gonçalves do Rosário Ramos in Cape Verde, West Africa, he is the son of a Portuguese father and a Cape Verdean mother. He graduated in Law and dedicated himself to literature, music and journalism, in Portugal. He also served as Cultural Advisor to the President of Cape Verde for four years.
He novels include A Verdade de Chindo Luz (The Truth about Chindo Luz, 2006), Para Onde Voam as Tartarugas (Where the Turtles Fly, 2010), and Under our Skin, which is a mix of reportage, fiction, autobiography, and history about descendants of African slaves in the rice fields of Portugal and presence of Africans on European continent since 18th century.
He was awarded Arnaldo França Literary Prize in 2022 for his epistolary novel O Sabor da Água da Chuva e Outras Memórias da Amiga Perfeita (The Flavour of the Rain and Other Memories of the Perfect Friend). In 2023, his Syriac and Mister Charles (Quetzal Editores) won him Oceanos Literature Prize, which is considered the Portuguese language Booker Prize.




