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Poet

Manuel Gusmão

Manuel  Gusmão

Manuel Gusmão

(Portugal, 1945)
Biography
Manuel Gusmão was born in Évora in 1945. A poet, essayist and university lecturer, he graduated in romanic philology at the Arts Faculty of Lisbon University in 1970, becoming a member of the Faculty’s teaching staff the following year.
Manuel Gusmão was elected representative of the Constituting Assembly (1975/76) and between 1984 and 1987 was a member of the Communications Council. He is a founding member of the French Literature Studies University Group (GUELF) and took part in setting up the Portuguese Association for Comparative Literature (APLC). He was also was one of the driving forces behind the magazines Ariane and Dedalus, as well as a member of the editorial board for the magazines O Tempo e o Modo (1968/71) and Letras e Artes (1969/70). Gusmão has written literary reviews for several other newspapers and literary magazines.

His debut as a poet occurred in 1990, with his book Dois sóis, A Rosa / a arquitectura do mundo (Two Suns, The Rose / architecture of the world). In 1997 he was awarded the Portuguese PEN Club Prize for the best book of poetry published the previous year, Mapas / O Assombro A Sombra (Maps / The Wonder The Shadow). His third book of poetry Teatro do Tempo (Theatre of Time), published in 2001, was awarded both the Portuguese Writer’s Association Grand Prize and the ‘Luís Miguel Nava’ Foundation Prize.His poems have appeared in different specialist publications, such as Di Versos and Hablar/Falar de poesia. Furthermore, Gusmão wrote the libretto for the opera by António Pinho Vargas, Os dias levantados (the first opera to have been written about the Portuguese Revolution), which was staged at the S. Carlos National Theatre.

Publications (Poetry)
Dois sóis, A Rosa / a arquitectura do mundo. Lisbon: Caminho, 1990 [Two Suns, The Rose/ the architecture of the world]
Mapas / O Assombro A Sombra . Lisbon: Caminho, 1996 [Maps / The Wonder The Shadow ]
Teatros do Tempo . Lisbon: Caminho, 2001 [Theaters of the Time]

Publications (Essays)
A poesia de Carlos de Oliveira [The Poetry of Carlos de Oliveira]. Lisbon: Seara Nova, 1981
A poesia de Alberto Caeiro [The poetry of Alberto Caeiro]. Lisbon: Comunicação, 1986
Poemas de Ricardo Reis [Poems of Ricardo Reis]. Lisbon: Comunicação, 1992
Francis Ponge: Alguns Poemas [Francis Ponge: some poems]. Lisbon: Cotovia, 1996

Translations
Czech
In Portugalstí básnici v Praze. Prague: Nakladatelství Vlasty Brtnikove, 1997

French
In Dix-huit poètes + un. Anthologie de poésie récente en langue portugaise. Chandeigne, 2000
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère