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

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Biography

Brito was born in Cardiff on 7 July 1954. She studied Law and History at

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

. In 1991 she won the Rhys Davies Short Story Prize. Her first short story collection, ''Dat's Love'' (1995), was published by Seren Books and was described by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' as combining 'an unexpected setting (the Caribbean community in Wales) with some truly fresh writing'. In an article for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 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.' 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". 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. She died in 2007.

Publications

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brito, Leonora 1954 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Welsh short story writers 21st-century Welsh short story writers 20th-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh women writers Afro-Caribbean culture Welsh women short story writers Writers from Cardiff Alumni of Cardiff University