RECENT PORTUGUESE PUBLICATIONS
BULLETIN 41

April 2004

 
PART XVII:

Fiction

 
See also items 76, 81, and 97.

127. AGUIAR, João. O sétimo herói. Porto: Asa, 2004. Finisterra, Autores Contemporâneos de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 335, (1) pp. ISBN: 972-41-3663-9. $30.00

Fantasy novel owing much to Tolkien. The author has published at least twelve other novels, two volumes of short fiction, as well as literature for children. His work has been translated into Spanish, Italian, German, and Bulgarian.
 

128. ALEGRE [de Melo Duarte], Manuel. Rafael, romance. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2004. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 253 pp., (5 ll.). ISBN: 972-20-2587-2. $28.00

Born in Agueda, 1936, the author has a vast poetical output, awarded a good number of prestigious literary prizes. A long-time left-wing socialist deputy to the National Assembly, he was politically active against the regime prior to 1974, spending time in prison and exile. See Machado, Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, p. 19; also Dicionário cronológico de autores portugueses, VI, 359-62; and Clara Rocha in Biblos, I, 121-2.

 
129. CALADO, Cecília [Afonso de Almeida]. Às duas por três. Queluz de Baixo: Presença, 2004. Grandes Narrativas, 235. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 122 pp., (2 ll. adv.). ISBN: 972-23-3139-6. $25.00

The author was born in Lisbon in 1973. This is her first novel, and probably her first book. The central character, Margarida, becomes attracted to Maxime [i.e. Vladimir], owner of a French restaurant, son of a Russian trapeze artist from the Moscow circus. The set in the present, in and around Lisbon.

 
130. CAMPOS, Fernando [da Silva]. O prisioneiro da Torre Velha. Quare? [2nd ed.?] Lisbon: Difel, 2004. Literatura Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 415 pp. ISBN: 972-29-0669-0. $40.00

First published 2003. This edition appeared in February, 2004. Novel set in mid-seventeenth-century Portugal. A caso do pó, the author's first work of fiction, initially published in 1986 (13th ed., 2001), has appeared in French and German translations. It was considered by a number of critics one of the most innovative texts of recent Portuguese fiction. See Maria Nazaré Gomes dos Santos in Machado, ed., Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, pp. 100-1; also Dicionário de autores portugueses, V, 326-7.
 

131. CARVALHAL, Alvaro do. Os canibais. Coimbra and Castelo Branco: Alma Azul, 2004. 8°, orig. prtd. wrps. 79 pp. (4 ll.). ISBN: 972-8580-67-3. $20.00

 
132. CARVALHO, Sérgio Luís de. Os rios da Babilónia. Porto: Campo das Letras, 2003. Campo da Literatura, 99. 8°, original illustrated wrappers. 133 pp., (1 l.). ISBN: 972-610-748-2. $25.00

The author of this novel (his fourth), born in Lisbon in 1959, is a professional historian who has written various volumes of historical scholarship as well as textbooks. His Anno Domini 1348 (1990), set in the fourteenth century, was his first historical novel. It was awarded the Prémio Literário Ferreira de Castro, 1991. He has since written at least two other historical novels, As horas de Monsaraz (1997), set in the sixteenth century, and El-Rei pastor (2000), set in the thirteenth century. For these see our Recent Portuguese Publications Bulletin 26, items 416 and 417, and our Recent Portuguese Publications Bulletin 29, at our website, or the searchable in-print database at the same website.

 
133. CASTRO, Inês, pseud. [i.e. Sandra Cláudia Fonseca Amarante]. Gotas de amor e lágrimas de fogo. Preface by João Paulo Leonardo. Leiria: Magno, 2003. Colecção Contos e Ficção, 11. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 84 pp., (2 ll. adv.). One of 1,000 copies. ISBN: 972-8345-60-7. $19.00

The author was born in S. João de Madeira in 1977. This is her first book.

 
134. CASTRO CALDAS, Miguel. As sete ilhas de Lisboa. Porto: Ambar, 2004. Biblioteca Ambar de Bolso, 24. 8°, original illustrated wrappers. 94 pp., (1 l. adv.). ISBN: 972-43-0740-9. $20.00

The author was born in Lisbon in 1972. His first novel, Queres crescer e depois não cabes na banheira, was published earlier in the same collection.

 
135. COSTA MONTEIRO [Vouga], Fernando da. A cor do silêncio, ficção. Alexandre Magno, illus. Lisbon: Escritor, 2003. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 188 pp., (5 ll.), illus. ISBN: 972-8590-71-7. $28.00

Born in Lamego in 1940, the author has published four previous volumes of fiction. He is one of a legion of military officers and soldiers who attended that great school of creative writing known as the colonial wars.
 

136. CUNHAL, Maria Eugénia. Relva verde para Cláudio, contos. Lisbon: Escritor, 2003. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 138 pp., (5 ll.). ISBN: 972-8590-76-8. $22.00

The author was born in Lisbon in 1927. She is the daughter of Avelino Cunhal, a distinguished teacher and legal scholar, and the sister of Alvaro Cunhal, for many years head of the Portuguese Communist Party. A journalist, she has translated the short stories of Chekov into Portuguese, and has made other translations as well. She has published three volumes of poetry, in 1962, 1983, and 2000. This is her first work of fiction.

 
137. DEVI, Vimala. Monção. 2nd ed., augmented. Lisbon: Escritor, 2003. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 151, (1) pp., (1 blank l., 4 ll.). ISBN: 972-8590-72-5. $25.00

The author was born in Penha de França, Goa. A resident of London for many years, where she worked as an art critic for the B.B.C., for the past thirty years she has lived in Barcelona, writting Catalan-Portuguese and Portuguese-Catalan dicionaries, as well as translating Fernando Pessoa, Miguel Torga, Herberto Helder, Egito Gonçalves, and others into Catalan. She has published nine volumes of poetry, and collaborated with her husband, Manuel de Seabra, in the two volume anthology and literary history A literatura indo-portuguesa (1971). This last work was awarded the Prémio Abílio Lopes do Rego by the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa in 1972.

 
138. EÇA DE QUEIROS, [José Maria]. A ilustre Casa de Ramires. Conforme o text da edição crítica preparada por Elena Losada Soler. Nota prefacial, introdução e notas ao texto por Carlos Reis. Queluz de Baixo: Presença, 2004. Obras de Eça de Queirós, 4. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 309 pp., (1 l. adv.). ISBN: 972-23-3128-0. $30.00

 
139. ESPIRITO SANTO DE MELLO, Carlos. Leoa. Lisbon: Bertrand, 2003. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 296 pp., (2 ll.). ISBN: 972-25-1298-6. $30.00

Historical novel set in Lisbon in 1941. A Royal Air Force Pilot, Tom Coburn, native of Kenya, is shot down and rescued at sea by neutral Portugal. He is forced to stay in the British embassy of Lisbon, where he is visited by Jorge Meira, an engineering student. They strike up a friendship. The author, born in Lisbon in 1921, has had published books on economics and politics. This is his first novel.

 
140. FARNOOSH, Moshiri. O balneário. M. Santos Costa Benney, trans. Porto: Campo das Letras, 2003. Campo da Literatura, 98. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 179 pp., (1 l. adv.). ISBN: 972-610-737-7. $30.00
 

141. FERNANDES TRANCOSO, Gonçalo. Contos e histórias de proveito e exemplo de Gonçalo Fernandes Trancoso. Cristina Nobre, ed. Leiria: Magno, 2003. Obras Clássicas da Literatura Portuguesa, Século XVI, 129. Lge. 8°, orig. prtd. wrps. 378 pp. ISBN: 972-8345-59-3. $38.00

The editor's illuminating preface occupies pp. 11-45. See Bell, Portuguese literature, pp. 231-2, 338; Teresa Araújo in Machado, ed., Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, p. 479; and Dicionário cronológico de autores portugueses, I, 265.
 

142. GOIS, Margarida. Catarina Malye: espelho de duas faces. Livro I da trilogia: Primeiras pedras. Lisbon: Verbo, 2004. 8°, original illustrated wrappers. 223 pp. ISBN: 972-22-2255-4. $25.00

This book is a fantasy novel about Catarina Aimani-Malye, hereditary princess of Oriety, a border state between Europe and the Middle East. Otto IV of Oriety is an autocratic and solitary king, without children. When Catarina's father, Otto's brother dies, she becomes heir to the throne. When she reaches age 11, there is a ceremony during which her bodyguard dies protecting her from assassination. She begins to realize the seriousness of her situation.

 
143. GONÇALVES, Hugo. O maior espectáculo do mundo. Lisbon: Oficina do Livro, 2004. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 215 pp. ISBN: 989-555-058-8. $28.00

The author's first novel. Born in 1976; he was a member of the team which launched the review Focus and received the Prémio Revelação do Clube Português de Imprensa. He has contributed to Egoísta, Elle, and Visão, and has written about Lisbon for the Jornal de notícias, and about New York for the Diário económico.

 
144. GOUVEIA E MELO, Carlos. A santa mãezinha, romance. Lisbon: Escritor, 2003. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 147, (1) pp., (1 blank l., 3 ll.). ISBN: 972-8590-68-7. $25.00

The title is taken from the front wrapper, as well as from the verso of the final leaf. The title page reads: Segundo o Manual de linguística e sentimento de A. Rubikov: compêndio para a criação de Obras populares. This is the author's second work of fiction, and apparently his second published work. His first novel, A escada (1998), was awarded the Prémio de Revelação APE / IPLB, Ficção / 1994. According to the publisher's blurb on the inside front wrapper of that volume, was born "na segunda metade do séc. XX, fez primeiro discurso público aos dez, decidiu tornar-se escritor polos doze, ganho o primeiro prémio de pintura num concurso de âmbito nacional aos treze, colaborou no suplemento juvenil do Diário de Lisboa, e esteou-se no teatro professional soa dezasseis, escrevendo o primeiro romance pelos dezanove." The present volume gives his date of birth as 1950. The jury for the Portuguese selection of the European Drama Award (1933) singled out his piece "Príncipe Celso" [at the time this present volume appeared it remained unpublished]. A number of other plays have been performed but not published.

 
145. HONRADO, Alexandre. Os venturosos. Porto: Ambar, 2004. Colecção Gin Tonic. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 170 pp., (2 ll.). ISBN: 972-43-0768-9. $25.00

Historical "romance pícaro" set in the reign of Dom Manuel I. The author, a teacher and journalist, was born in Lisbon in 1960. He has written at least one previous novel, A montanha russa de Deus (2001), about "sex, violence and money", as well as children's books, student manuals, song lyrics, plays, and fictional scripts for television.

 
146. LUFT, Lya. Perdas e ganhos. Queluz de Baixo: Presença, 2004. Grandes Narrativas, 239. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 135 pp., (2 ll. adv.). ISBN: 972-23-3164-7. $25.00

 
147. MARQUES, Cristina Teixeira Buínhas. Distinos cruzados. Preface by Orlando Teixeira. Leiria: Magno, 2002. Colecção Contos e Ficção, 10. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 145 pp., (2 ll. adv.). One of 1,000 copies. ISBN: 972-8345-54-2. $25.00

The author, a former "Miss Portugal" contestant, was born in Odevelas in 1970. She has had published one previous book, Nina (2001), an autobiographical novel, with a preface by Joaquim Letria.

 
148. MARTA [Monteiro Pinheiro], Alexandre. As mãos de Eva. Lisbon: Roma Editora, 2003. Colecção Casa de Escritores. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 245 pp. ISBN: 972-8490-34-8. $26.00

This work is a novel about the rights of the handicapped. The author's royalties have been assigned to the Federação Portuguesa de Desporto para Deficientes. A retired army officer born in Miuzela, Almeida in 1950, he wrote A arma (1999) about his time in Angola from 1971 to 1973.

 
149. MEDINA, Miguel. Cavalos brancos de espuma, romance. Lisbon: Escritor, 2003. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 172 pp., (4 ll.). ISBN: 972-8590-75-X. $27.00

The author was born in Lisbon in 1951. His first novel, Alem do maar, was awarded the Prémio Literário LER/Círculo de Leitores, 1990. He also has to his credit two volumes of short stories, and two volumes of interviews.

 
150. MIRANDA, Joana. Não se escolhe quem se ama. Queluz de Baixo: Presença, 2004. Grandes Narrativas, 234. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 205 pp., (1 l. adv.). ISBN: 972-23-3150-7. $30.00

This novel is the author's fourth volume of fiction. A psychologist with a master's degree in intercultural relations, she has also published a number of scientific and technical works.
 

151. NOBRE DE GUSMÃO, Ana. O pintor. Porto: Asa, 2004. Finisterra, Autores Contemporâneos de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. prtd. wrps. 367, (1) pp. ISBN: 972-41-3664-7. $33.00

Novel (her seventh?), by "uma das vozes mais inovadoras da nova ficção portuguesa," born in Lisbon in 1952. The author's Delito sem corpo (1996), billed as a new type of detective novel, was awarded the Prémio Máxima de Revelação, 1997.

 
152. OLIVEIRA SANTOS, José Carlos. Benlove. Lisbon: Universitária, 2003. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 57 pp. ISBN: 972-700-505-5. $16.00

According to Urbano Tavares Rodrigues, this work is a "síntese de conto e poema". The author has written three previous volumes of poetry; his work has appeared in various anthologies.

 
153. PINTO, Gilberto [António]. Como sombras no muro, romance. Lisbon: Escritor, 2003. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 208 pp., (5 ll.). ISBN: 972-8590-74-1. $29.00

The author's first novel. He was born in Carrazeda de Ansiães in 1964.

 
154. PORTELA [Filho], Artur [Colen Guerra Jardim]. História fantástica de António Portugal, romance. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2004. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 253 pp., (1 l.). ISBN: 972-20-2578-3. $28.00

A journalist, "cronista", novelist and essayist, the author was born in Lisbon in 1937, son of the writer and journalist Artur Portela. This is his sixth novel; he has had published five other volumes of fiction, 12 volumes of "cronicas", four of drama, six volumes of literary and art history and criticism, and four volumes of interviews. See Alvaro Manuel Machado, Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, p. 389; Dicionário cronológico de autores portugueses, VI, 453-5; and Ernesto Rodrigues in Biblos, IV, 339.
 

155. RESENDE, Vasco. Antónia, mulher coragem: as crenças do Homem, desde o começo do mundo, confrontadas ao longo da singular estória de uma heroína portuguesa do século XVI. Lisbon: Difel, 2004. Literatura Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 334 pp. ISBN: 972-29-0676-3. $33.00

This appears to be the author's first book. It was awarded the Prémio de Poesia e Ficção, Almada 2002. He is a prize-winning journalist, radio personality, and former director of Sporting athletic club.

 
156. SANTOS, Ana Eduarda. O homem do tempo. Lisbon: Difel, 2004. Literatura Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 261 pp. ISBN: 972-29-0677-1. $28.00

The author's Luz e sombra (2001), was awarded the Prémio de Revelação APE / IPLB, Ficção / 1998. The author, born in Lisbon in 1983, was 15 when that novel was written. At 16 she wrote a volume of stories, Os dias diferentes, which won honorable mention in competition for the Prémio Nacional do Conto Manuel da Fonseca, 2000. This is her fourth book, and her first full-length novel.

 
157. SELVA, Paulo. 101 Receitas de trevos. Leiria: Magno, 2003. Colecção Contos e Ficção, 12. 8°, this appears to be the author's first book.. 172 pp. One of 1,000 copies. ISBN: 972-8345-61-5. $25.00

 
158. SILVA, Cristina. A mulher transparente. Lisbon: Gótica, 2004. Cavalo de Tróia. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 187 pp. ISBN: 972-792-100-0. $26.00

A novel about present-day domestic violence. This appears to be the author's second book. Her epistolary novel, Mariana, todas as cartas (2002), consisted of imaginary letters by Soror Mariana Alcoforado, at an advanced age, to the Marquis de Chamilly, about her life when, a as a child of ten, she was shut up in a convent. The author was born in 1964, and holds a doctorate in educational psychology.

 
159. SOUSA TAVARES, Miguel. Equador, romance. 12th ed. Lisbon: Oficina do Livro, 2004. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 527 pp. ISBN: 989-555-013-8. $38.00

Novel set in São Tomé. It had an initial printing of 30,000 copies in the Spring of 2003, in a country where novels usually have initial printings of between 1,000 and 3,000 copies. The book went quickly to the top of the Portuguese best seller lists, and has also enjoyed critical success. The author, a native of Porto, abandoned the law for journalism, entering quickly thereafter into a literary career. He has written three travel books, a story for children, and a volume of short stories. This is his first novel. This twelfth edition is said to have consisted of 10,000 copies.
 

160. STRECHT, Pedro. Malmequer. Preface by Alvaro Laborinho Lúcio. Lisbon: Assírio & Alvim, 2003. Pelas Bandas da Psicanálise. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 165 pp., (1 l.). ISBN: 972-37-0860-4. $24.00

 
161. UMBRAL, Francisco. Mortal e Rosa. Carlos Vaz Marquez, trans. Porto: Campo das Letras, 2003. Campo da Literatura, 100. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 136 pp., (1 blank l., 1 l. adv.); CD with the author, interviewed by Carlos Vaz Marquez, tipped in. ISBN: 972-610-668-0. $30.00

 
162. VALENTE, Maria Adelaide. Cartas a Tâmara, ou Os (Sobre)viventes. Introdução de Newton Sabbá Guimarães. Posfácio de Joaquim Matos. Porto: Campo das Letras, 2003. Campo da Literatura, 101. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 117 pp., (2 ll., 1 l. adv.). ISBN: 972-610-724-5. $20.00

Awarded the Prémio Literário António Mendes Moreira, 2002. The author's A harpa de cristal (ensaio sobre Júlio Brandão) was awarded the prémio de Revelação APE / IPLB, Ensaio Literário / 1997. Her novella A deusa dos laços (2002), was awarded the Prémio Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho, by the Cámara Municipal de Loures. Born in Vila Nova da Gaia, 1942, she has written for the literary supplement of the Jornal de notícias, the review Letras e letras, Expresso, the Jornal de letras, artes e ideas, Diário do Minho, and Correio do Minho. Awarded the Prémio Joaquim Namorado and the Prémio da Sociedade Histórica da Independência de Portugal, she has gained honorable mention in competition for the Prémio Nacional de Conto Manuel da Fonseca.
 

163. VENTURA, Maria Helena. Não te deixes morrer, romance. Preface by Urbano Tavares Rodrigues. Lisbon: Escritor, 2004. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 166 pp., (4 ll.). ISBN: 972-8590-77-6. $27.00

The author, a native of Coimbra, has written six volumes of poetry, four novels, and a work titled Timorenses num Portugal em mudança. Writing as Helena Ventura Pereira, she has published sociological studies.