António Emílio Leite Couto, known as Mia Couto, (Beira, Mozambique, July 5, 1955) is one of the best known current Mozambican writers.

In 1972 he settled in Maputo and began studying medicine while starting in journalism. He abandoned studies to fully devote himself to writing. Later he studied biology, profession he exercises today. He has been director of the Mozambique Information Agency, Tempo magazine and the newspaper Notícias de Maputo.

His literary career begins in 1983, with the book of poems Raiz de Orvalho, which followed, in 1986, his first book of stories, anoite voice he has published chronicles, short stories and several novels. His literary production, already very extensive, enjoys enormous prestige in Portuguese language countries, and is translated into several languages, including Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, French, German and Italian.

In 1999 Mia Couto received the Ferreira Virgílio Award, for his work as a whole.

In 2013 he won the Camões Award, the equivalent of the Cervantes Prize in Portuguese language, for his "vast fictional work characterized by stylistic innovation and deep humanity."