Leonora Brito (7 July 1954 – 14 June 2007) was a Welsh writer from Cardiff, Wales.

Leonora Brito
Born(1954-07-07)7 July 1954
Cardiff, Wales
Died14 June 2007(2007-06-14) (aged 52)
Cardiff, Wales
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityWelsh
Period1991–2007
Notable works
  • Dat's Love (1995)

Biography edit

Brito was born in Cardiff on 7 July 1954. She studied Law and History at Cardiff University. In 1991 she won the Rhys Davies Short Story Prize.[1] Her first short story collection, Dat's Love (1995), was published by Seren Books and was described by Publishers Weekly as combining 'an unexpected setting (the Caribbean community in Wales) with some truly fresh writing'.[2] In an article for The Guardian, Gary Younge states that 'with the exception of Leonora Brito's Dat's Love, the literary voices of blacks and Asians in Wales are rarely heard.'[3] Michelle Deininger includes Brito in a group of short-story writers of the 1980s and 1990s, who "changed the direction of the form further" and particularly highlights Brito's contribution as a "voice of the experience of Welsh people of colour".[4]

Brito's Chequered Histories (2006), another short story collection, was also published by Seren. In addition to prose, she wrote successfully for radio and television.[5] She died in 2007.

Publications edit

  • 1995: Dat's Love, Seren
  • 2006: Chequered Histories, Seren

References edit

  1. ^ "Black History Month | An Introduction to Welsh Writers - Wales Arts Review". Wales Arts Review. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Fiction Book Review: DAT's Love by Leonora Brito". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  3. ^ "The Congo boys of Cardiff". The Guardian. 31 May 2002. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  4. ^ Michelle Deininger (2019). "The Short Story in the Twentieth Century". In Geraint Evans, Helen Fulton (ed.). The Cambridge History of Welsh Literature. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107106765.
  5. ^ "Dat's Love and Other Stories". Parthian Books. Retrieved 8 March 2017.