Odete Semedo (Maria Odete da Costa Semedo) born in Bissau on 7th of November 1959 is a Guinean writer and researcher. She has a degree in Modern Languages and Literature by Nova University in Lisbon and a PhD by PUC Minas. In her home country, she held several positions in public and political office. She was president of the National Commission for UNESCO – Bissau, Minister of Health and Minister of Culture and now she is Minister of National Education. She was co-founder of Tcholona, Letters, Art and Culture Magazine. She translated to creole the script of Flora Gomes's film Olhos Azuis de Yonta (Yonta's Blue Eyes). Her short stories and poems were published in newspapers and magazines in Guinea-Bissau and abroad. By now she published Entre o Ser e o Amar (Between Being and Love, 1996), Histórias e Passadas Que Ouvi Contar (Stories and Passadas That I Heard Being Told, 2003) e No Fundo do Canto ( At the Bottom of Song, 2003). She writes in Portuguese and in Creole.
