António Emílio Leite Couto, better known as Mia Couto (born 5 July 1955), is a renowned Mozambican writer and biologist. He gained immense recognition in the literary world when he was awarded the Camões Prize in 2013, the most prestigious literary award in the Portuguese language, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2014.

His literary journey began in 1983 with the publication of a poetry book titled Raiz de Orvalho. In 1986, he published his first collection of short stories, Vozes Anoitecidas. Throughout his career, Couto has published numerous chronicles, short stories, and novels, which have been widely translated into several languages including Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, French, German, and Italian.

Among his achievements, in April 2007, Mia Couto became the first African author to receive the prestigious Latin Union Award of Romanic Languages. His debut novel, Terra Sonâmbula (Sleepwalking Land), was hailed as one of the best 12 African books of the 20th century by an international jury at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair.