Ndalu de Almeida, born on July 5, 1977, is an Angolan writer who is known by the pen name Ondjaki. He has written poetry, children's books, short stories, novels, plays, and film scripts.

Career

Ondjaki studied sociology at the University of Luanda and wrote his thesis about Angolan writer Luandino Vieira. In 1999, he earned a Doctorate in African Studies. His first book, a poetry collection titled Actu Sanguíneu, was published in 2000. In 2001, he released a childhood memoir called Bom dia, camaradas ("Good Morning, comrades"). As of 2024, his work includes five novels, four short story collections, six poetry collections, and six children’s books. He also directed a documentary film titled May Cherries Grow, which focuses on his hometown. His books have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Serbian, English, Polish, and Swedish. His most recent English book is Grandma Nineteen and the Soviets' Secrets, published in 2014.

In 2008, Ondjaki won the Grinzane for Africa Prize in the Best Young Writer category. In 2012, he was listed by Zukiswa Wanner in The Guardian as one of the "top five African writers," along with Léonora Miano, H. J. Golakai, Chika Unigwe, and Thando Mgqolozana. He is one of 39 writers under 40 from sub-Saharan Africa selected in 2014 for the Hay Festival’s Africa39 project.

In October 2010, he won the Premio Jabuti in the children’s books category for AvóDezanove e o Segredo do Soviético. In 2013, he received the José Saramago Prize for his novel Os Transparentes.