Born in 1942, Luís Bernardo Honwana worked as a cartographer and reporter before publishing We Killed Mangy-Dog and Other Stories in 1964; that same year he was arrested and imprisoned for three years based on his involvement with the militant group Frelimo, which sought to liberate Mozambique from Portuguese colonial rule. With the forming of the first independent Mozambique government in 1975, Honwana served in various positions, then worked with UNESCO from 1987 until his retirement from the organization in 2002.