Manuel Brito-Semedo was born in São Vicente, Cabo Verde, in 1952. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. A university professor, he is a founding member of the PEN Club of Cabo Verde, the Cabo Verde Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Cabo Verde Writers Union. He has published several books, including collections of his writing from the newspaper Expresso das Ilhas, studies on morna music, a biography of musical artist Renato Cardoso, and Cabo Verdean culture at large.