Vera Duarte, a Capeverdean lawyer and writer was born in Mindelo on 2nd of October 1952. As a lawyer with a degree by the University of Lisbon, in her homeland she has performed various public and political duties. She was a judge of the Supreme Court of Justice, Counselor of the President of the Republic and Minister of Education. In 1995 she was awarded with North-South Prize of the Council of Europe for defending human rights. She is a member of the African Commission of Human and People's Rights and International Commission of Jurists. She started her literary career in 1993 and is now one of its most important feminine voices in Cape Verde. Her novel A Candidada (The Candidate, 2003) won the Sonangol Prize in Literature. Till the day she published poetry books Amanhã a Madrugada (Tomorrow at Dawn, 1993), O Arquipélago da Paixão (The Archipelago of Passion, 2001), Preces e súplicas ou os cânticos da desesperança (Prayers and Supplications, or the Songs of Despair, 2005) e Exercícios Poéticos (Poetical Exercises, 2010), the novel A Candidata (The Candidate, 2003) and a volume of essays Construindo a Utopia (Building the Utopia, 2007).
