Germano Almeida (Photo: wikipedia.org)

According to an email sent out this morning by the Consulate of Cape Verde in Boston, the renown and controversial CV author Germano Almeida will be in the US for the first time in early April to speak at a conference that includes other great names of the Portuguese Literature. Mr. Almeida was invited by the prestigious Brown University.

 

The Consulate believes that "this is an opportunity to introduce Germano Almeida to the Cape Verdean Community and to other Portuguese literature lovers in our area."

"Germano Almeida is considered one of the best if not the best contemporary writers of Cape Verde", states the email.

The Consulate general plans to organize at least one program to introduce Mr. Almeida to the community and is looking for support either at the individual level (a personal donation) or at institutional level such as event sponsorship.

Mr. Almeida was scheduled to speak at Umass Boston in April 28, 2008. However, according to a posting at FORCV forum, the event was cancelled supposedly because the US embassy in Cape Verde rejected his visa application. The posting states that the harsh language Mr. Almeida used in some of his past criticisms against the US influenced the decision to deny his application.