Cláudia Cassoma
@claudiacassoma
The year was the seventh before the last of my century.Right at the beginning of the rainy season, under the far-famed Luanda’s warmth, in the arms of a woman I also called grandma, my first cries echoed, perhaps with no dreams. Solely remanded in an excessive attachment to my own interests. Nine dry seasons after, on the eve of new rains, those high and rough screeches acclaimed the artist inherent to me. And, since then, I’m that too — drifting in agitated yet compensating seas, with strong arms and already steady aspirations.Apart from the seven own publications in literary repertoire, I my works are also published in a number of international journals, such as: The Red Jacket (U.S.A, 2014), The Sligo Journal (U.S.A, 2015), Best "New" African Poets Anthology (Cameroon, 2015-16), Antologia de Textos Premiados da AVL (Brazil, 2016), The Wagon Magazine (India, 2017), Teixeira de Pascoaes Vol.III - Pensamento e Missão (Portugal, 2017), Antologia do Concurso Literário de Itaporanga (Brazil , 2017), Maryland’s Best Emerging Poets (USA, 2018), , CIVICUS’ State of Civil Society Report (South Africa, 2018), Empodere Magazine (Brazil, 2018), Philos Magazine (Brazil, 2018) and Anthology of Portuguese Poetry “Entre o Sono e o Sonho” (Portugal, 2018).Through life's storyline built with mistakes, eversions and effort, are signs of potential and gains from extreme devotion. In 2016, from Brazil, the Maria José Maldonado Literary Prize was the first I received. The following year, Portugal and Brazil honored me again with prizes for my participation in the Teixeira de Pascoaes Artistic Competition and the 6th Literary Contest of Itaporanga, respectively. In 2018 was the Honorable Mention in the 2nd Haicai Contest of Toledo - Kenzo Takemori. Thus, considering the complexity and the multitude of the artist inherent in me, I live lives that continuously grant me reasons to thank and celebrate. Ever since I know myself as a necessary piece of the puzzle, few things are as important as the effective completion of my responsibility to society. This understanding has earned me accreditations like the Diplomatic Citizen Certificates awarded by the University of the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. I have also been invited to speak at international conferences such as the one on Global Citizenship Education in Belgium and the one at the Brazilian Embassy in D.C. on “The Female Voices in Portuguese Language Literature.” I too had the honor of writing the poem “Éden” which became the song “Rishikesh” of the music album “antes da monção,” the second from SENZA, a Portuguese duet.In an attempt to honor every single recognition, bring to life one of my greatest passions and, most importantly, answer my calling, I dedicate myself tirelessly in the creation and participation of projects that benefit the community around me. SmallPrints, Do Good Reading More and The YA Project are some of such projects. And, driven by what I hope to one day be able to contribute to the world, in early 2018, I participated in a training of historians — offered by the D.C. Oral History Collaborative, with the collaboration of Humanities D.C. and D.C. Public Libraries — acquiring certification and skills to effectively practice oral history. Today, still with errors, eversions and many efforts — always auspicious — I follow paths ranging from the art of graphic representation of language to those that bring the world closer to a hopeful metamorphosis.
