RECENT PORTUGUESE PUBLICATIONS
BULLETIN 55

February 2007

 
PART XVIII:

Fiction

 
See also items 128, 130 & 196.

165. AGUALUSA, José Eduardo. Nação crioula: a correspondência secreta de Fradique Mendes, romance. 5th ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2006. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 158 pp. ISBN: 972-20-3172-4. $30.00

Awarded the Grande Prémio Literário RTP. Novel of a secret love between the Portuguese adventurer Carlos Fradique Mendes (whose correspondence was collected by Eça de Queiroz), and Ana Olímpia de Caminha, born a slave, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Angola. It is set in Luanda, Lisbon, Paris and Rio de Janeiro at the end of the nineteenth century. The first edition, published by Dom Quixote in March 1997, went out-of-print in less than a month. The author, a native of Huambo (b. 1960), currently resides in Lisbon, where he is a journalist. He has previously published one collection of short stories, a novella, andin collaboration with his fellow journalist Fernando Semedo and the photographer Elza Rochaa work of investigative reporting on the African community of Lisbon, Lisboa Africana (1993), and a biographical novel about Lidia do Carmo Ferreira, Angolan poet and historian who disappeared mysteriously in Luanda in 1992.

 
166. AGUALUSA, José Eduardo. Passageiros em trânsito, novos contos para viajar. 2nd ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2006. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 167 pp. ISBN: 972-20-2998-3. $28.00

The author's O vendedor de passados, billed as a novel full of ferocious satire depicted with good humor, reflecting current Angolan society, was first published April 2004; the third edition appeared in October of the same year. The publisher claimed that over 15,000 copies were printed. José Eduardo Agualusa [Alves da Cunha], a native of Huambo (b. 1960), has resided in Luanda, Rio de Janeiro, and Lisbon, where he was working as a journalist until fairly recently. He has previously published collections of short stories, novels, a novella, andin collaboration with his fellow journalist Fernando Semedo and photographer Elza Rochaa work of investigative reporting on the African community of Lisbon, Lisboa Africana (1993), as well as a biographical novel about Lidia do Carmo Ferreira, the Angolan poet and historian who disappeared mysteriously in Luanda in 1992. In 2002 he published his novel O ano em que Zumbi tomou o rio. Catálogo de sombras, first published in October of 2003, appeared in a third edition that December. His books have been translated into several European languages. See Manuela R.M. Augusto in Biblos, I, 84-5.

 
167. ANTUNES, António Lobo. Ontem não te vi em Babilónia, romance. Establecimento do texto por Eunice Cabral. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2006. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. Obra Completa. Edição ne varietur, 21. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 479 pp. ISBN: 972-20-3051-5. $48.00

The psychiatric physician Lobo Antunes, born Lisbon, 1942, is considered by some to be Portugal's greatest living writer of fiction. See Maria Nazaré Gomes dos Santos in Machado, ed., Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, pp. 38-40.

 
168. BARROQUEIRO, DEANA. D. Sebastião e o vidente: um romance de conspiração, mistério e revelação. Porto: Porto Editora, 2006. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 640 pp., genealogical table in text, bibliography. ISBN: 972-0-04139-0. $50.00

Historical novel about the intertwined lives, from birth until the battle of Alcácer-Quibir, of King D. Sebastião and Miguel Leitão de Andrada. Text from Andrada's obra prima, the Miscelânea, forms the source of the present novel. A chapter of that work describes the disaster of Alcácer-Quibir, after which Andrada was taken prisoner, escaping several years later. Included toward the end of the volume is a list of historical personages, with brief profiles (pp. 631-5). The author was born in New Haven, Connecticut, 1945. She has a degree in Filologia Românica from the Faculdade de Letras, Lisboa, and was involved with its theater group which included Luís Miguel Cintra, Luía Lima Barreto, and Jorge de Silva Melo. Barroqueiro has published seven historical novels and two books of short stories, some of which have been translated into Spanish, Italian and English, as well as having been published in Brazil. She was awarded a literary prize by the Newark, New Jersey city council, in recognition of her contribution toward the spreading and promotion of Portuguese language and culture in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

 
169. CALDEIRA, João Mário. O velho ainda canta! Lisbon: Colibri, 2006. Tribuna Livre. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 278 pp., (1 l. adv., 1 l.). ISBN: 972-772-651-8. $35.00

Novel set in the Alentejo. The author was born in Santo Aleixo da Restauração, Concelho de Moura, 1943. At the time this book appeared, he was living in Serpa. He was a member of the Assembleia Municipal de Serpa, and was part of the editorial board of the review Archivo de Beja. He has published three previous books.

 
170. CARVALHO, Rodrigo Guedes de. A casa quieta, romance. 3rd ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2005. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 263 pp. ISBN: 972-20-2857-X. $32.00

First published May 2005; this third edition appeared in July the same year. The author is a journalist, born in Porto, 1964. This is his second novel. His first, Daqui a nada (1992), was the winner in Portugal of the Prémio Jovens Talentos, sponsored by the United Nations. In 1997 he received the Prémio Especial of the Jury for the International Festival of FIGRA, in France, for investigative reporting about hospital emergency rooms. His play Os pés no arame opened in Lisbon in 2002.

 
171. CONTUMÉLIAS, Mário. Os velhos da turma B. Lisbon: Plátano, 2006. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 144 pp. ISBN: 972-770-506-5. $28.00

Five very correct elderly men, survivors of Term B of their high school, meet for dinner, and reflect on the future. The author of this novella, a native of Setúbal, was a professional journalist for twenty years. At the time this volume appeared he had a column in the Jornal de notícias. Poet, novelist, and author of stories for children, he has written at least 20 books, beginning in 1983.

 
172. COSTA, Eva Dias. Voodoo Girl. J.B. Vasco, illus. Lisbon: Guerra & Paz, 2006. Colecção Pecado Original. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 134 pp., illus. in text, two color illus. tipped in. ISBN: 989-8014-20-2. $32.00
Appears to be a fictionalized memoir of a troubled young woman. The author, born in Vila Nova de Gaia, 1971, is a lawyer with a Ph.D. in family law from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Centro Regional do Porto.
 
173. GERSÃO, Teolinda. Os anjos, narrativa. 2nd ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2000. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. prtd. wrps. 46 pp., (1 l.). ISBN: 972-20-1747-0. $14.00

First published February 2000, this second edition appeared in November the same year. The author was awarded the Prémio de Romance e Novela da A.P.E. for 1996, and twice awarded the Prémio de Ficção by the PEN Clube. She was born in Coimbra, 1940, grew up in Moçambique, studied at Coimbra, Tübingen and Berlin, and has been a professor on the faculty of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. See Isabel Allegro de Magalhães in Machado, Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, pp. 220-2.

 
174. GOMES, Luísa Costa. A pirata: a história aventurosa de Mary Read, pirata das Caraíbas, romance. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2006. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 216 pp. ISBN: 972-20-3195-3. $28.00

The author (b. Lisbon, 1954) has published a number of volumes of short stories, novels, and plays. Olhos verdes (1994) was awarded the Prémio Máxima de Literatura. Among her other works are Vida de Ramón (1991), an historical novel based on the life of Ramón Lull, and Nunca nada de ninguém (1991). One of her volumes of plays, Ubardo / A Minha Austrália (1983) won the Prémio Eça de Queiroz / Teatro do Município de Lisboa. Of her various works of fiction, O pequeno mundo, a second edition of which was published 1988, won the Prémio Dom Dinis da Fundação da Casa de Mateus.
 

175. GUERRA, Álvaro, pseud. (i.e. Manuel Soares, 1936-2002). No jardim das paixões extintas, romance. 2nd ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2002. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 223, (1) pp. ISBN: 972-20-2216-4. $28.00

First published shortly after the author's death, in May 2002, this second edition appeared in September the same year. In his famous "Trilogia dos Cafés," composed of Cafe República, Café Central, and Café 25 de Abril, Guerra returned to the nineteenth-century narrative form, in order to give an account of every day life in Portugal from the era of the First World War to the aftermath of the revolution of 25 April 1974. His Crónicas Jugoslavas was awarded the Grande Prémio de Crónica by the Associação Portuguesa de Escritores, 1997. Journalist and author of a number of works of fiction, he served as a cultural attaché and ambassador. See Maria Nazaré Gomes dos Santos in Machado, ed., Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, pp. 232-3; also Dicionário cronológico de autores portugueses, VI, 384-6.
 

176. GUERRA, Inês, pseud. [i.e. Sónia Cântara]. Amor e um quarto de hotel. Porto: Papiro Editora, 2005. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 158 pp., (1 l.). One of 500 copies. ISBN: 972-8916-10-8. $28.00

The author was born in Matosinhos, 1980. She received a degree in Design de Comunicação / Artes Gráficas (2004) from the Faculdade de Belas-Artes do Porto. At the time this volume appeared she was working for various publishers and other entities as a graphic designer; also, she has illustrated several books for children. This is her first "romance".

 
177. LOPES, Fátima. Amar depois de amar-te. Preface by Helena Sacadura Cabral. 20th ed. Lisbon: A Esfera dos Livros, 2006. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. with d.j. 261 pp. ISBN: 989-626-024-9. $30.00

First published June 2006, this 20th edition was issued in December the same year. A total of 68,000 copies were said to have been sold. The author is a well known television host. This novel about three women is her first [ghost written?] book.

 
178. MARQUES, Helena. Os íbis vermelhos da Guiana, romance. 3rd ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2002. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 247 pp. ISBN: 972-20-2103-6. $26.00

First published March 2002. This third edition appeared in October the same year. Helena Marques' first book, O último cais (1992; 6th ed., 1998), was awarded the Grande Prémio Romance e Novela da A.P.E.; Prémio "Maxima" Revelação; Prémio Literário Círculo de Leitores; the Prémio Máxima de Revelação and Prémio Bordallo da Literatura by the Xasa da Imprensa. It was translated into German, Romanian, Bulgarian, and Greek. A journalist born in Carcavelos, 1935, she has worked for Diário de Notícias, A Capital, Jornal do Comércio, República and A Luta. See Dicionário cronológico de autores portugueses, VI, pp. 338-9.

 
179. MARTINS, Rui Cardoso. E se eu gostasse muito de morrer, romance. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2006. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 211 pp., (1 blank l., 1 l.). ISBN: 972-20-3170-8. $28.00

The author, a journalist who founded the Lisbon daily Público, was born in Portalegre, 1967. His essays have been awarded prizes, and he has written for television and film. This novella, or brief novel, appears to be his first work of longer fiction.
 

180. MOURA, Paulo. 1147: O Tesouro de Lisboa. Lisbon: A Esfera dos Livros, 2006. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. with d.j. 181 pp. ISBN: 989-626-039-7. $30.00

Historical novel based on the conquest of Lisbon in 1147. The events are narrated by Raul Santo-Varão. D. Afonso Henriques, in order to convince crusading knights en route to the Holy Land to assist in the fight, spreads rumors of a rich treasure buried in the walls of the city. Moreover, the King, at the behest of Portuguese bishops and monks of the Order of Cister, agrees to use the conquest of Lisbon as a pretext to liquidate the Christian Mozarabs. The author is a leading contemporary Portuguese war correspondent, who has been sent by the daily Público to Algeria, Angola, Kosovo, the Basque country, Mexico, Kashmir, Chechenia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan. He has also reported for Harper's Magazine, the New York Times, Courier Interncional, Lettre International Deutschland, Lettre Romania, World Media and Néon. He has been awarded a number of journalism prizes for his reporting. His recent book Passaporte para o céu (Dom Quixote, 2006) is about clandestine immigration from Africa to Europe. This appears to be his first work of longer fiction.
 

181. MOURÃO&endash;FERREIRA, David. Os amantes e outros contos. 9th ed. Lisbon: Presença, 2006. Colecção Grandes Narrativas, 341. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 144 pp. ISBN: 972-23-1584-5. $25.00

"Os amantes" was first published in 1968. An illuminating preface by the author, "Para o 'Dossier' deste livro" appeared in the fourth edition, 1988 (revised from an article in Os Amantes ou a arte da novela em David Mourão-Ferreira, 1984). The author has added "Adenda ao 'Dossier'" to the eigth edition edition, 1998. The book also contains a "Posfácio" by Eduardo Prado Coelho, which appears to have been written for the second edition, 1974.
 

182. ONOFRE, Andreia. Não se diz tudo aos homens. Lisbon: Guerra & Paz, 2006. Colecção Pecado Original. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 283, (1) pp. ISBN: 989-8014-26-1. $35.00

This novel, a love triangle envolving two women and a male jeweler, is the author's first book. A native of Torres Vedras, at the time this volume appeared she was said to be 31 years of age, with a master's degree in Social Communication from the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa.
 

183. PEDROSA, Inês. Nas tuas mãos. 10th ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2006. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 227 pp., (1 l.). ISBN: 972-20-1405-6. $25.00

First published June, 1997, this novel was awarded the Prémio Máxima de Literatura. Inês Pedrosa was born in Coimbra, 1962. She has worked for O Jornal, O Independente, Expresso, and Marie Claire. Her first and only other previous novel, A Instrução dos amantes (1992) went into its fifth edition in 1998. Her Crónica feminina (2005) won the Prémio 2004 da Comissão para a Igualdade e para os Direitos de Mulheres. She has also published volumes of poetry, short stories, and essays, several of which have been "best sellers," and has been represented in and edited anthologies.

 
184. PEIXOTO, José Luís. Cemitério de pianos. Lisbon: Bertrand, 2006. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. with d.j. 315 pp. ISBN: 972-25-1534-9. $38.00

The author's Morreste-me, ficção (2000) was awarded a prize by the Instituto Português da Juventude and the Clube Português de Artes e Ideias. His short novel, Nenhum olhar, first published in October, 2000, had reached a fifth edition in October, 2002, and was awarded the Prémio Saramago. He also wrote another novel, Uma casa na escuridão (2002; 2nd ed., 2002). Peixoto was born in Galveias, concelho de Ponte de Sor, distrito de Portalegre in 1974; this is his fourth volume of fiction. He has also published at least two volumes of poetry, and has written plays. His novels have been published in France, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, Finland, The Netherlands, Spain, the Chech Republic, Croacia, Belorussia and Japan.

 
185. PEPETELA, pseud. [i.e. Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos]. Jaime Bunda, agente secreto. 8th ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2006. Autores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 334 pp. ISBN: 972-20-3249-6. $32.00

First published October 2001; this eighth edition appeared in December 2006. There appear to be some differences (number of pages, no subtitle, different ISBN). The Angolan-born author was awarded the Prémio Camões, described by the publisher as "the most important literary prize in the Portuguese language," for the totality of his literary output. "Pepetela" has also written Mayombe (1980 - 5 editions); O cão e os Calundas (1985 - 4 editions); Lueiji, o nascimento dum império (1990 - 3 editions); A geração da Utopia (1992 - 3 editions); O desejo de Kianda (1995 - 4 editions); and Yaka (1985 - 4 editions). All were published by Dom Quixote.

 
186. PEREIRA, Alexandra, Inês Vinagre, Jorge Vaz Nande, et al. Jovens escritores '06. Lisbon: 101 Noites / Club Português de Artes e Ideias, 2006. Colecção Poiesis. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 214 pp., (2 ll.). ISBN: 972-8494-60-2. $28.00

Short stories and poems. In additon to the authors mentioned above, there are contributions by Miguel Marques, Nuno Marques, Sofia Afonso Ferreira, Tiago Videira, and Vanessa Muscolino. At the end are brief biographies of the authors.
 

187. REBELO, Tiago. O tempo dos amores perfeitos. 3rd ed. Queluz de Baixo: Presença, 2006. Grandes Narrativas, 339. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 420 pp., (2 ll. advt.). ISBN: 972-23-3678-9. $45.00

First published December 2006; this third edition appeared before Christmas that month, according to the publisher 15 days after the publication of the first edition. It is a love story of a young army lieutenant and the daughter of the Governor, set in Angola, 1894. The author has written seven previous works of long fiction and five volumes of stories for children. He has worked as executive director of a TVI news program.

 
188. RÉGIO, José, pseud. [i.e. José Maria dos Reis Pereira, 1901-1969]. Jogo da cabra cega. 6th ed. Preface by Eugénio Lisboa. Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional, 2006. Biblioteca de Autores Portugueses. José Régio, Obra Completa. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 383 pp., (2 ll.). One of 1,000 copies. ISBN: 972-27-1523-2. $45.00

The preface by Eugénio Lisboa (pp. 9-13) is new to this edition. First published Coimbra: Edições Presença, 1934, this book was removed from the market by the censorship of the Salazar regime.
 

189. RESENDE, Catarina. Amo-te de morte. Grijó: Exodus, 2006. 8°, publ. bds. with d.j. 307 pp., (2 ll.). ISBN: 989-8048-14-X. $35.00

Novel set in a prison, where six prisoners regularly attend group therapy sessions with a young female psychologist. They have all killed for love, and are without remorse. The author was born in Ílhavo, 1972. She has worked in Brussels for the European Commission, then returned to work as a journalist in Lisbon. At the time this volume appeared she was Director of Communications for the Hospital Infante D. Pedro. This is her second novel. Her first, Do lado errado da noite, appeared in 2005.
 

190. RODRIGUES, Urbano Tavares. Ao contrário das ondas, romance. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 2006. Authores de Língua Portuguesa. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 131, (3) pp. ISBN: 972-20-3232-1. $25.00

On the widely-acclaimed and prolific author of fiction, researcher, essayist, literary critic, professor Catedrático jubilado at the Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa, and member of the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Urbano Tavares Rodrigues (born Lisbon, 1923), see Machado, Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, pp. 422-3; Cristina Robalo Cordeiro in Biblos, IV, 909-13; Dicionário cronológico de autores portugueses, V, 296-8.

 
191. SANTOS, José Rodrigues dos. A fórmula de Deus. 7th ed. Lisbon: Gradiva, 2006. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. with d.j. 574 pp. ISBN: 989-616-139-9. $48.00

First published October 2006; this seventh edition appeared in December the same year; 80,000 copies are said to have been printed. Tomás Noronha meets the Iranian Ariana Pakravan in a Cairo museum. She has a copy of an unpublished old manuscript with a strange title and an enigmatic poem. Thus begins an adventure involving the world nuclear crisis with Iran, and the most important of Albert Einstein's discoveries, his cientific proof of the existence of God. The author, born in Mozambique, 1964, has published four volumes of essays, and three previous works of fiction, at least two of which were commercial blockbusters. Sixty thousand copies are said to have been printed of his novel set in France during World War I, A filha do capitão, (2004; 12th ed., 2006). which makes the book a runaway bestseller by Portuguese standards. A journalist, he began his career with Radio Macau in 1981, and worked for the BBC in London from 1987 to 1990. In 1990 he moved to RTP, and collaborated with CNN from 1993 to 2002. With a doctorate in Communication Sciences, Rodrigues dos Santos has taught at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He has been awarded prizes in journalism twice by the Clube Português de Imprensa and three times by CNN.

 
192. SANTOS, José Rodrigues dos. O Codex 632. 3rd ed. Lisbon: Gradiva, 2005. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. with d.j. 550 pp., double page map in text. ISBN: 989-616-072-4. $48.00

Novel, supposedly based on authentic historical documents, in which Tomás Norton, professor of history at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, expert in cryptology and ancient languages, was asked to decipher a strange code. Secrets relating to the discoveries and the mission of Columbus are revealed. Another best seller by this extremely popular author. First published earlier the same year, by the time this third edition appeared 20,000 copies were said to have been printed. A fourth edition followed soon after, also in 2005.

 
193. SILVA, Joana Pereira da. SGPS: Sexys, Giras, Porreiras, Solteiras. Preface by Miguel Esteves Cardoso. Lisbon: Guerra & Paz, 2006. Colecção Pecado Original. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 226 pp., (1 l.). ISBN: 989-8014-18-0. $35.00

This novel, the author's first book, is a sort of Portuguese version of "Sex in the City". Joana Pereira da Silva, a native of Porto, has written for the theater and television.
 

194. VASCONCELOS, J. Sementes. Linda-a-Velha: MHIJ-Editores, Lda., 2006. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 249 pp. ISBN: 989-8027-01-0. $35.00

The author was born in Lisbon in 1977. This is his first novel. A young journalist decides to accept work at a small African newspaper in order to report on elections. Vasconcelos, from a family which had lived for several decades in Portuguese Africa, visited the continent for the first time in 2003.

 
195. VELHO DA COSTA, Maria. Lucialima. 4th ed. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 1997. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 351 pp. ISBN: 972-20-1394-7. $32.00

The author was awarded the Prémio Camões in 2001. First published 1983, this novel was awarded the Prémio D. Dinis. Among the most important names in contemporary Portuguese literature, the author was born in Lisbon, 1938. One of the "Three Marias" who jointly wrote that milestone of Portuguese feminist literature, Novas cartas portuguesas (1972; 7th ed. 1998), a number of her books have been awarded important literary prizes, and her work as a whole was recognized by the Prémio Virgílio Ferreira in 1997. On Maria [de Fátima Bívar] Velho da Costa, see Maria Nazaré Gomes dos Santos in Machado, ed., Dicionário de literatura portuguesa, pp. 151-3; also Dicionário crononológico de autores portugueses, VI, 492-4; and M. Helena Ribeiro da Cunha, in Biblos, I, 1337-8.