Learn Portuguese: Meu Pé de Laranja Lima

O escritor José Mauro de Vasconcelos, nasceu no Rio de Janeiro em 26 de fevereiro de 1920, de origem pobre, quando era criança chegou a viver com alguns tios na cidade de Natal, no Rio Grande do Norte.

Já crescido, por dois anos, cursou Medicina na capital potiguar, porém resolveu abandonar o curso esperando encontrar melhores oportunidades na sua cidade natal. Quando retornou ao Rio de Janeiro exerceu funções diversas, de boxer a carregador de frutas. Sua vida nunca foi fácil e com muitos sonhos na cabeça, mudou-se para São Paulo. Começou sua vida em Sampa como garçom de boate e trabalhou em outras áreas.

Passou um período viajando em muitos países da Europa e ganhou uma bolsa de estudos na Espanha até ganhar uma bolsa de estudos na Espanha. Retornando ao Brasil, trabalhou com os irmãos Villas-Boas e, juntos, exploraram até então muito pouco conhecida região do Araguaia, que inspirou a temática para o primeiro livro que ele escreveu: “Banana Brava” (1942), lançando quando ele tinha apenas 22 anos.

José Mauro Vasconcelos viveu em muitos lugares bem distintos, exerceu diversas profissões muito diferentes e, diante disso, conheceu muitas culturas e os tipos mais variados de pessoas. Demonstrando ser muito sensível, desenvolveu um estilo de escrita simples e emotiva, que atinge profundamente o leitor

É um escritor respeitado, conhecido e valorado muito mais em outros países do que no Brasil e consta em listas de escritores brasileiros mais lidos no exterior. Seus livros foram traduzidos para o alemão, inglês, espanhol, francês, italiano, japonês e holandês, entre outras línguas.

O livro “Meu pé de Laranja Lima”, foi o seu maior sucesso editorial e inspirou adaptações para uma novela de televisão e filme para o cinema. Vendeu em seus primeiros meses de lançamento, 217 mil exemplares, e foi inspirado em suas próprias experiências pessoais ao retratar os choques que ele sofreu na infância com as mudanças bruscas na sua vida. Além de “Meu Pé de Laranja Lima”, muitos outros de seus livros ganharam versões cinematográficas.

No livro “Meu pé de Laranja Lima,” a pobreza, a solidão e o desajuste social são vistos pelos olhos ingênuos de uma criança de seis anos. Nascido em uma família pobre e numerosa, Zezé é um menino especial, que envolve o leitor ao revelar seus sonhos e desejos, por meio de conversas com o seu pé de laranja lima, encontrando na fantasia a alegria de viver.

O mercado editorial brasileiro perdeu um grande e sensível escritor com a morte de José Mauro de Vasconcelos no dia 25 de julho de 1984.

Learn Portuguese: Read Twilight in Portuguese!

Did you know all the Twilight books are available from Portugal? . Even though I am a lover of Brazilian and Portuguese literature, every once in a while it’s fun to read a book that is simple and doesn’t challenge my Portuguese vocabulary too much, so why not read some vampire fantasy in Portuguese?!

Aqui está  a série “Crepúsculo“, todos de Portugal e até um livro gráfico! Por favor, compre no website da Atlantico Books (3-5 semanas para entregar nos EUA). Obrigada pelo interesse!

Crepúsculo
(Twilight 1, from Portugal) de Stephenie Meyer
Edição/reimpressão: 2006
Páginas: 480

Lua Nova
Twilight 2, from Portugal) de Stephenie Meyer
Edição/reimpressão: 2007
Páginas: 528

Eclipse
(Twilight 3, from Portugal)de Stephenie Meyer
Edição/reimpressão: 2008
Páginas: 608

Amanhecer
(Twilight 4, from Portugal) de Stephenie Meyer
Edição/reimpressão: 2009

Crepúsculo – A Novela Gráfica
(Twilight 1, from Portugal, Graphic Novel)
de Young Kim, Stephenie Meyer
Edição/reimpressão: 2010
Páginas: 244

We have Crepúsculo (Twilight)  from Brazil, too! I’ve been on a Portuguese young-adult literature marathon! It’s a great way to practice your Portuguese and catch up with books you’ve been wanting to read.

 

Portuguese for Business: Brazilians Working With Americans Brasileiros que trabalham com americanos: Cultural Case Studies

Para brasileiros que trabalham com americanos, e para americanos que trabalham com brasileiros, este livro BILINGUE (em Português e em Inglês) é um recurso muito útil!

Are you an American planning to work with Brazilians? If so, you should read this book before you start working with Brazilians!

Brazilians Working With Americans  Brasileiros que trabalham com americanos: Cultural Case Studies

de Orlando Kelm & Mary E. Risner
**Bilingual in English & Portuguese**
Brochura / Paperback [2007,1st Ed,218pp]

feedback de Terry Kahler: Ao ler o caso “The Pressure’s On” achei que ele era não somente interessante, mas também bastante correto. Uma das coisas que notei é que língua é muito importante para brasileiros. Ao lidar com brasileiros, é importante relacionar com eles tanto de uma forma pessoal como também profissional. A cultura americana e a cultura brasileira são bem diferentes no mundo dos negócios. Uma das diferenças é o fato que os americanos tendem a ser mais mecânicos em sua forma de fazer negócios. Reconhecer isso é muito importante quando se negocia com vários grupos. Especificamente nesse exemplo, Tom e John acharam que era muito fácil criar uma planilha para facilitar o processo, mas, na verdade, a planilha não melhorou em nada a situação. A minha sugestão nesse tipo de caso é que você enfatize mais as suas perguntas e o tipo de perguntas que vai fazer, e não só o jeito de organizá-las ou a importância que vai dar a elas. Então, o meu conselho seria de criar perguntas que levem a respostas específicas, com números ou medidas, para que assim, você possa melhor interpretar os resultados, os quais você poderá considerar separadamente para determinar o que é que você quer fazer e quais são as decisões que você vai querer tomar. Mas, ao fazer isso, também deve incorporar algumas perguntas mais pessoais para não isolá-los, para que eles não se sintam defensivos. E a minha sugestão é que você inclua um pouco de emoção e um pouco de lógica em suas negociações.

Learn Portuguese: Estive em Lisboa e lembrei de você (Luiz Ruffato)

Em Estive em Lisboa e lembrei de você, Luiz Ruffato opera um pequeno milagre narrativo, criando uma história ao mesmo tempo densa e veloz a partir das marcas linguísticas presentes na fala de seu personagem-narrador. Na primeira parte da história, transcorrida no Brasil, vemos Serginho chafurdando nas pequenezas da vida interiorana mineira, entre as quais se inclui um malfadado casamento com uma moça de “ideia fraca” na sequência de uma gravidez indesejada. A partir daí a vida de Serginho desanda sem apelação: casamento, emprego e a própria vontade de viver entram em perigoso colapso.

Até que alguém saca a panaceia redentora: Portugal. Lá, corre a lenda, é possível um trabalhador denodado recompor a vida e fazer um belo pé de meia antes de retornar à terra natal. É hora, pois, de Serginho dar as costas à sua Cataguases, cortada pelo rio Pomba, em cujas águas o autor parece ter se inspirado para construir uma prosa de fluxo forte intercalado por rápidos e iluminadores flashbacks. Em Portugal, o passar dos anos será demarcado com extrema habilidade e sutileza pelo afloramento de uma plêiade de idiomatismos lusos na prosa interiorana de Serginho, revelando a mão segura e inventiva de um dos mais bem-sucedidos autores brasileiros contemporâneos.

Idioma: Livro em português
Encadernação: Brochura
Dimensão: 18 x 12 cm
Edição: 1ª
Ano de Lançamento: 2009
Número de páginas: 88
RUFFATO, LUIZ
Luiz Ruffato nasceu em Cataguases (MG) em 1961. Publicou: Histórias de remorsos e rancores (histórias, 1998); Os sobreviventes (histórias, 2000), Menção Especial do Prêmio Casa de las Américas –; Eles eram muitos cavalos (Romance, 2001), vencedor do Prêmio APCA de melhor romance de 2001 e Prêmio Machado de Assis de Narrativa, da Fundação Biblioteca Nacional; Come tanti cavalli (Milano, Bevivino Editore, 2003); Tant et tant de chevaux (Paris, Éditions Métailié, 2005); Eles eram muitos cavalos (Espinho, Quadrante, 2006); As máscaras singulares (poemas, 2002); Os ases de Cataguases (ensaio, 2002); Mamma, son tanto felice (Inferno Provisório – Volume I romance, 2005) e O mundo inimigo (Inferno Provisório – Volume II romance, 2005), ambos vencedores do Prêmio APCA de melhor ficção de 2005.

Learn Portuguese: Differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese

Is there any major difference between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese?

There are a lot of differences! Here’s an explanation of some of the differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese. Enjoy!

**Use of the infinitive vs. the gerund **

I’m working
Portugal: Estou a trabalhar
Brazil: Estou trabalhando

I’m writing
Portugal: Estou a escrever
Brazil: Estou escrevendo

Both forms are understood in Brazil and Portugal, but while Brazilian form is used in certain regions of Portugal and is considered correct in some situations all over the country, the Portuguese form is not used in Brazil. Both of them are correct.

***Position of object pronouns ***

Someone told me
Portugal: Alguém disse-me
Brazil: Alguém me disse

Someone saw me
Portugal: Alguém viu-me
Brazil: Alguém me viu

Both forms are understood in Brazil and Portugal, but while Brazilian form is used in Portugal in some situations, the Portuguese form is not used in Brazil. Both of them are correct.

***Tu/Você (=you, singular) ***

Portugal
Tu: For someone we know and have confidence with (brother, friend, parents..)- informal
Você: People older than us that we don’t know that well (teachers, our parents’ friends..) – formal

Brazil
Tu: informal (only used in some regions)
Você: formal/informal

“Você” is conjugated like 3rd person, singular
“Tu” is conjugated like 2rd person, singular (in Brazil, it’s like 3rd person, singular, which is not correct – informal)

***Preposition “em” ***

Brazil
They have a choice of contracting or not the prepositions “em” followed by an indefinite article, adjective or pronoun
em um / num
em este / neste
em outro / noutro

Portugal
Portuguese people generally opts for the contracted forms
num
neste
noutro

***Articles (o,a,os,as – the) ***

In Portugal they use them very often and it’s not so correct to omit them unlike Brazilians who have a choice of omitting them or not.

My name is José
Portugal: O meu nome é José
Brazil: Meu nome é José

When my father…
Portugal: Quando o meu pai…
Brazil: Quando meu pai..

***Vocabulary ***

Brazilian has been influenced by Amerindian languages, such as Tupian, or Tupí-Guaraní, which was the language used by the natives. Brazil has also accepted more US technical terms into the language On the other hand, European Portuguese was influenced by French (because of the French invasions). Phonetically Brazilian Portuguese is closer to Spanish and Italian and European Portuguese is closer to Catalan and French.

English: pineapple, mouse (computer), screen, baby bottle, pantyhose, train, chiclet, nylon, sandwich

Portugal: ananás, rato, ecrã (Fr. écran), biberão (Fr. biberon), colãs (Fr. collants – they always say/write the french word, not colãs which is the most correct), comboio, pastilha elástica, nylon, sandes

Brazil: abacaxi, mouse, tela, mamadeira, meias-calças, trem, chiclete, náilon, sanduíche

** -c, -p ** Portugal conserves more latin roots:

English: optimum/eminently good, actor, act, fact…
Portugal: óptimo, actor, acto, facto…
Brazil: ótimo, ator, ato, fato…

**accent**
European portuguese is phonetically closer to Catalan and French while Brazilian Portuguese is phonetically closer to Spanish and Italian.

(how it sounds and not how it’s written)
Portugal: dia, Brasil, faláre, dizêre
Brazil: djia, Brásiu, fálá, dizê

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Você ensina ou aprende português europeu?? Procura bons métodos para português intermediário?

Portugues XXI – Livro do Aluno 3 + CD é um bom método avançado de Portugues de Portugal. Você pode ganhar um livro de exercícios também se comprar o pacote: Portugues XXI – PACK Livro do Aluno 3 + CD, Caderno de Exercicio. No final de Portugues XXI – Livro do Aluno 3 + CD, o aluno nao só ficará a conhecer muitos aspectos que se relacionam com a vida cultural e social portuguesa, como se deverá sentir apto para: compreender diferentes tipos de textos de imprensa; apresentar os seus pontos de vista e defender opiniões; intervir em trocas comunicativas próprias de relações sociais; compreender folhetos publicitários; compreender comunicações, experiências, entrevistas e dialogos, a nivel oral; intervir em conversas sobre temas da actualidade, expressando opinioes e sentimentos; compreender e elaborar diferentes tipos de texto escrito. A Carla Guerreiro, professora de português, recomenda, “pois estes livros (nível 1, 2 e 3) apresentam atividades que permitem a utilização progressiva da expressão oral, pois os alunos têm de discutir sobre temas variados, dar a sua opinião, etc.”

Learn Portuguese: Bilingual (English-Portuguese) Books for Teaching Yourself Portuguese

Teaching yourself Portuguese?

I got this email, and below are some suggestions for Anna, whose boyfriend wants to learn Portuguese by himself from a bilingual (English & Portuguese) book!
“Olá! Meu nome é Anna, sou brasileira e estou procurando um livro p q meu namorado aprenda portugues sozinho. Tem q ser um livro bilingue, n pode ser como o Avenida Brasil q é todo escrito em portugues. Vc teria algo assim? Por favor, me ajude! Obrigada!”

 

Brazilian Portuguese, Level 1, 2-DVD set (bilingue inglês & português)

Bilingual 2-DVD set, a fun and educational journey through the study of Portuguese with Paul, a gringo living in Rio de Janeiro. For beginners who want to become conversational in Portuguese.

Portuguese: An Essential Grammar

Great grammar book in Portuguese & English. Full of good examples and explanations. A thorough and academic book.

Cronicas Brasileiras: Nova Fase

Intermediate crônicas, with translations and explanations in English. An academic and challenging book, but with assistance for the English-speaking student.

Learn Portuguese: What influences from other languages can be found in Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese?

What influences from other languages can be found in Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese?

Influences from other languages

The evolution of Brazilian Portuguese has certainly been influenced by the languages it supplanted: first the Amerindian tongues of the natives, the Portuguese from Portugal, then the various African languages brought by the slaves, and those of later European and Asian immigrants. The influence is clearly detected in the Brazilian lexicon, which today has hundreds of words of Tupi–Guarani and Yoruba origin, among others. However, the vocabulary is still predominately Portuguese, since the contributions of other languages were restricted to a few subjects or areas of knowledge.

From South America, words deriving from the Tupi–Guarani language family are particularly prevalent in place names (Itaquaquecetuba, Pindamonhangaba, Caruaru, Ipanema, Paraíba). The native languages also contributed for the names of most of the plants and animals found in Brazil, such as arara (“macaw”), jacaré (“South American alligator”), tucano (“toucan”), mandioca (“manioc”), abacaxi (“pineapple”), and many more. However, it should be noted that many Tupi–Guarani toponyms did not derive directly from Amerindian expressions, but were in fact coined by European settlers and Jesuit missionaries, who used the Língua Geral extensively in the first centuries of colonization. Many of the Amerindian words entered the Brazilian Portuguese lexicon as early as in the 16th century, and some of them were eventually borrowed by European Portuguese and later even into other European languages.

The African languages provided hundreds of words too, especially in the following subjects: food (e.g. quitute, quindim, acarajé, moqueca), religious concepts (mandinga, macumba, orixá, axé), African-Brazilian music (samba, lundu, maxixe, berimbau), body-related parts and diseases (banguela, bunda, capenga, caxumba), places (cacimba, quilombo, senzala, mocambo), objects (miçanga, abadá, tanga) and household concepts, such as cafuné (“caress on the head”), curinga (“joker card”), caçula (“youngest child”), and moleque (“brat, spoiled child”). Though the African slaves had various ethnic origins, the Bantu and Guinean-Sudanese groups contributed by far to most of the borrowings, above all the Kimbundu (from Angola), Kikongo (from Angola, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo^[6]), Yoruba/Nagô (from Nigeria), and Jeje/Ewe language (from Benin).

There are also many borrowed words from other European languages such as English, especially words connected to technology, modern science and finance, like app, mod, layout, briefing, designer, slideshow, mouse (computing), forward, commodities, commercial terms like kingsize, fast food, delivery service, self service, drive-thru, telemarketing, franchise, merchandise, but also cultural aspects such as okay, gay, vintage, junk food, hot dog, pet, lol, nerd, geek, noob, punk, skinhead, emo, indie, hooligan, cool, vibe, hype, rocker, hippie, yuppie, bobo, hipster, overdose, junkie, cowboy, mullet, country, sex appeal, drag queen, queer, bro, rapper, mc, surf, skating, gospel, praise, bullying, stalking, etc.

French (food, furniture, luxurious fabrics and abstract concepts). Examples are hors-concours, chic, metrô (with the French inflection), batom, soutien, buquê, abajur, purê, petit gâteau, pot-pourri, ménage, enfant gâté, enfant terrible, garçonnière, patati-patata, parvenu, détraqué, femme fatale, noir, rendez-vous, chez…, partouse, pédé, à la carte, à la …. Scholars affirm that even now, French remains as the largest foreign influence in Portuguese due to the fact that French borrowings were adopted by a strong cultural affinity. Brazilian Portuguese tends to adopt French suffixes as in aterrissagem, differently from European Portuguese. Brazilian Pt. also tends to adopt culture-bound concepts from French, but when it comes to technology, the major influence is the English, while European Pt. tends to adopt technological terms from French. That is the difference between estação and gare. An evident example of the dichotomy between English and French influences is the use of the expressions know-how, used in a technical context, and savoir-faire, in literal Portuguese saber-fazer, proficiência-da-feitura, saber-como), German and Italian (mostly food, music, arts and architecture), and, to a lesser extent, Asian languages such as Japanese. The latter borrowings are also mostly related to food and drinks or culture-bound concepts, such as quimono, from Japanese kimono. Besides strudel, pretzel, bratwurst, sauerkraut, Oktoberfest, biergarten, there are also abstract terms from German like encrenca or blitz. A significant number of beer brands in Brazil are named after German culture-bound concepts due the fact that the brewing process was brought by German immigrants. Besides, there were many Italian loan words and expressions which are not related to food or music: (italianisms) like tchau, imbróglio, bisonho, panetone, è vero, cicerone, male male, terra roxa, capisce, mezzo, va bene, ecco, ecco fatto, ecco qui, caspita, cavolo, incavolarsi, engrouvinhado, andiamo via. Due to its large Italian diaspora, parts of the Southern and Southeast states have an Italian influence over the prosody, the vocal patterns of the language, with an Italian sounding stress.

The influence of these languages in the phonology and grammar of Brazilian Portuguese have been very minor.Some authors claim the loss of initial es in the verb estar – now widespread in Brazil – is an influence from African slaves’ speech,and it is also claimed that some common factors of BP – such as the near-complete disappearance of certain verb inflections and the marked preference for compound tenses – recall the grammatical simplification typical of pidgins. However, the same or similar processes can be verified in the European variant, and such theories have not yet been proved. Regardless of these borrowings and changes, it must be kept in mind that Brazilian Portuguese is not a Portuguese creole, since it can be traced as a direct evolution from 16th century European Portuguese.

Learn Portuguese: Typing Portuguese Accents on your Keyboard

My friend, Ananda Lima wrote this handy guide for keyboard shortcuts for the accents in Portuguese. If you write in Portuguese, I recommend Portugues Descomplicado and Resumo de Gramática do Português Avançado for quick and easy explanations of the Portuguese grammar and accents.  — Elena Como from Atlantico Books 

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Are you ready to get serious and start typing accents? Not only will your accented text look somewhat cool, but you will also be able to type correct Portuguese and get some important distinctions, like the difference between avô (grandfather) and avó (grandmother)… or coco and cocô !*

On a Mac, it is very easy to type accents, even without any configuration (setting up a keyboard etc.) necessary. You just have to remember the 5 combinations below (press keys in the square brackets at the same time and then type a vowel):

[Option n] = tilde (til) e.g.: não
[Option `] = grave accent (crase) e.g. Fui à escola. (I went to the school)
[Option e] = acute (acento agudo) e.g.: café
[Option i] = circumflex (acento circunflexo) e.g.: você
[Option c] = cedilla (cê cedilha) e.g. força (strength)

These should work with all applications on your mac, and on all browsers, and you should remember them in no time if you use them (it works for me! ˆ´˜ç ).

On Windows, unfortunately it is harder to just use the immediately available shortcuts. This is because they have separate codes for each combination of vowel, case and accent, so there are more codes to type and remember… but here are the codes anyway (press the Alt Key at the same as the codes below on the number keypad only):

á 0225, Á 0193, à 0224, À 0192, â 0226, Â 0194, ã 0227, Ã 0195

é 0233, É 0201, ê 0234, Ê 0202
í 0237, Í 0205
ó 0243, Ó 0211, õ 0245, Õ 0213, ô 0244, Ô 0212
ú 0250, Ú 0218
ç 0231, Ç 0199

… So Windows users usually set up an international or Brazilian Keyboard first, which you can quickly learn how to do here (Brazilian), here or here (International)**. Once an international keyboard is set up, the key combinations become easy and more intutitive (press keys in square brackets at the same time, followed by a vowel):

[Shift ~] = tilde (til)
[`] = grave accent (crase)
[' ](apostrophe) = acute (acento agudo)
[Shift ^] = circumflex (acento circunflexo)
[RightAlt c] = cedilla (cê cedilha)

Want to try it out? Leave a comment with accents!

* Digresssion for advanced learners only… you may be entertained by this discussion on Brazilians confused by these words.
** For setting up a Brazilian keyboard on a Mac, see this page.

*** This post is by Ananda Lima, who also wrote this post about the meaning of “infeliz” and “infelizmente”.***

Jeff Parker: Disquiet conference attracts writers to Lisbon – Interview by Millicent Borges Accardi

This guest-post by Millicent Borges Accardi first appeared on the Portuguese American Journal, an online  interactive publication dedicated to the Portuguese-American heritage with the purpose of informing and offering an insight into the Portuguese-American experience. experience. It’s a great place to delve into Portuguese-American topics, and I highly recommend it! Enjoy!! –Elena Como (Atlantico Books)

— Last summer the first session of Disquiet International Literary Program (ILP) took the literary community by storm, bringing together Portuguese-American writers and writers in Portugal.

Now, Disquiet is returning for a second year of adventure with dynamic workshops in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, along with weekend field trips and literary walking tours in Lisbon.

During the summer of 2012, guest writers and faculty will include Junot Diaz, Denise Duhamel (author of Queen for a Day poetry collection), Richard Zenith, Kim Addonizio (her books include Lucifer at the Starlite, Tell Me and The Philosopher’s Club), Frank X. Gaspar (his novel, Leaving Pico, is a coming-of-age in the Portuguese community of Provincetown), Philip Graham, Christine Hume (Banard Women Poets Prize), Josip Novakovich, Luísa Costa Gomes, Valter Hugo Mãe, Jacinto Lucas Pires, and Rui Zink (author of Hotel Lusitano, Apocalypse Nau and The Substitute).

In addition to writing workshops, the ILP is expanding its offering to include courses in Songwriting, Photo-Documentary Storytelling (with Pulitzer-Prize winning Photojournalist Deanne Fitzmaurice) and Book Arts (with Portland’s Independent Publishing Center).

Jeff Parker is the director and co-founder of Disquiet. Previously, he was the program director of the Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia. He is author of the novel Ovenman, the story collection The Taste of Penny (Dzanc Books) and the forthcoming nonfiction book Igor in Crisis: A Russian Journal from Harper Collins. Currently he is the Director of an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Tampa, Florida.

In this interview for the Portuguese American Journal, Jeff Parker answers questions about Disquiet, tattoos, Portuguese literature and the arts scene in Lisbon.

Why did you decide to put on Disquiet? Who came up with the idea?

Portugal is a place that’s sort of off the radar, literarily and otherwise. I had this idea that a good place for a literary program has these elements: a strong literary and cultural tradition, a thriving young literary scene, and is reasonable priced by Western standards. There you have a nice mix of practical and artistic. But Portugal, Lisbon, adds so much to that. It’s a strange, alluring place, with bright sides and dark sides. It’s got centuries old castles and world-class beaches. It’s the kind of place you’d want to have a vacation and the kind of place that can teach you a lot. It’s a lot of fun. You know a program like this is sort of like recreating Paris in the 20s in microcosm. We take a group of writers–in this case 50 of them–and plop them as expats into strange and underexplored environs. The only difference is we facilitate engagement with Portugal’s literary culture. In other words, we hang out and drink with and talk to writers working in a totally different literary/political climate, writing totally different kinds of things, for totally different kinds of reasons.

So that was my idea. Dzanc Books has asked me to start an intl. program for them–but you can’t do something like this on your own. I met Scott Laughlin (co-director of Disquiet) in Russia years ago and he had connections there to Alberto de Lacerda (award winning Portuguese Author) and had been there a few times. Oona Patrick who is Portuguese-American, who I met several years ago totally by chance, helped me connect lots of dots, putting me in touch with Frank Gaspar among others. It all just fell into place that way.

What did you hope to accomplish? What do you feel you did accomplish?

We hoped to do a number of things: to make a bunch of American and Canadian writers into foreigners because becoming a foreigner, as Proust said, is essentially the same thing as becoming a writer; to raise the awareness of Portuguese literature and cultural among North Americans; to have a great time in one of the most striking, odd, beautiful and memorable cities in the world…among many other things. Essentially the idea is to create an experience that you could never otherwise experience in a city that you might never otherwise go to. No one could travel to Lisbon without our program and meet 20 different Portuguese writers in the way that we met them.

What elements of the conference worked? What didn’t?

It went over better than we could have ever imagined. The Center for National Culture (CNC), our primary partner in Lisbon, is one of the most efficient cultural institutions in the world. They made all the logistics work. What didn’t work? Well, you know, the typical things: some rooms weren’t comfortable or air conditioned enough for the Americans. But we all made it, and everyone, with the exception of two people out of 50, according to the evaluation, loved it.

How did you select the readers and panelists?

From the North American side, we selected writers who have reputations as great teachers. From the Portuguese side we worked with our partner, the CNC, who has a very large roster of Portuguese writers as members.

Why is Portuguese literature such a dark horse? And so unknown to global readers?

I don’t know if it’s unknown to global readers as much as it’s unknown to North American readers. As you know North Americans, especially Americans, tend not to read works in translation in general, from anywhere. That’s the whole point of the program. The Nobel Prize judge, who recently called us too insular, is right in a lot of ways.

Who are your favorite Portuguese writers? Who are your favorite Portuguese-American writers?

I very much like José Luis Peixoto and Valter Hugo Mãe and Patricia Reis among many others. José Agualusa is terrific and well translated. António Lobo Antunes obviously is one of the great living world writers. As for writers from North America of Luso descent, I like Frank Gaspar and Katherine Vaz and Anthony De Sá. I met a whole new group of young Portuguese-American writers in Lisbon this summer, who I hope I’ll be reading soon.

You gathered quite possibly the largest gathering ever of Luso writers in one place. Can you foresee a journal or an anthology coming out of this event?

I don’t know. That’s probably for other people to decide. I’d like to work on an anthology of contemporary Portuguese writers in English translation.

As director, which activities did you feel were most significant?

I think absolutely every event is significant. It’s all part of the experience. It’s all part of the workshop. It’s all part of immersing yourself in a new street vernacular and stepping out of the routine of your daily life. It is all workshops.

How long did it take you to organize Disquiet?

Well, we were talking about it for a couple years. A coherent plan had to be put in motion and then Scott and I traveled to Lisbon in June of 2010 for ten days to have meetings and really start working. There were many times in between there that we thought it would never work. But it did.

How many participants were there? And what was the diversity? There were participants from Brazil and Angola, for example, and many from Canada.

Total there were 47 participants. Six North American faculty members. And then there were around 15 Portuguese writers who came through the program. Our North American staff also numbered about five. All participants were from the US and Canada, but we would very much like to attract participants from elsewhere.

What might future participants hope to accomplish at Disquiet? What benefits does it offer?

There are lots of literary programs. And there are lots of literary programs in foreign countries. What’s maybe unique about us is that we organize an experience that’s fully engaged with the literary, artistic, and cultural world we’re a part of. Our participants are constantly hanging out with and meeting Portuguese writers and scholars and artists and going to the places that they go.

What are you most proud of?

I’m not proud. I’m just glad it went off. Glad that I got to see Antunes read. Glad that I got to meet a lot of writers I wouldn’t have otherwise, and glad that I got to bring along a lot of new friends.

What was the most touching moment?

When Melissa Da Silveira Serpa (Disquiet participant) had the swallows (a symbol of good luck to Portuguese fishermen) tattooed on her arms.

Why are study abroad programs (like Disquiet) invaluable to a writer’s development?

The world is global now. To know anything you have to have a sense for yourself outside yourself. You have to have a sense for others. You can travel on your own and you should. But a program like this just gives you a chance to look at the thing you want to do from another perspective. We writers in America bitch and moan a lot but we have it pretty good. At the very least, having a few Super Bocks with Jacinto Lucas Pires is something I would recommend to anyone.

What will you “take away”? What will you remember most about Lisbon?

I still love pastéis de nata. But I forgot to take some away! Everyone loves pastéis de nata. What’s not to love?

Note: Millicent Borges Accardi, a Portuguese-American poet, is the author of two poetry collections: Injuring Eternity (World Nouveau) and Woman on a Shaky Bridge (Finishing Line Press chapbook). She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the arts (NEA), the California Arts Council, Barbara Deming Foundation, Canto Mundo and Formby at Texas Tech (researching the work of writer-activist Kay Boyle).

Learn Portuguese: O RATO QUE ROEU A ROUPA DO REI

O  RATO QUE ROEU A ROUPA DO REI

Era uma vez um rei gordo, muito, muito gordo mesmo. Ele era tão gordo, que não sobrava nada para as pessoas do seu reino: toda a comida era para o rei, toda a roupa era para o rei, e para mais ninguém. Os anos se passavam e o rei sempre a engordar, mais e mais. Até que um dia apareceu um ratinho muito faminto que, sem encontrar o que comer, acabou roendo toda a roupa do rei.

2011, 1st Ed, 24pp

Vivaldo Andrade dos Santos nasceu em 1964, na cidade de Viçosa, Minas Gerais. Formou-se em Letras pela Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, é mestre em Literatura Brasileira pela Universidade do Novo México e doutor em Literatura Latino-americana pela Universidade da Califórnia, em Berkeley (EUA). Publicou artigos e resenhas sobre literatura e cultura brasileira em periódicos especializados no Brasil e no exterior. Atualmente trabalha como professor de Língua Portuguesa e Literatura Brasileira na Georgetown University, em Washington D.C. O rato que roeu a roupa do rei é seu primeiro livro infantil.

VIVALDO ANDRADE DOS SANTOS is Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. He is currently the Director of the Portuguese program. He is an expert in Brazilian literature, Latin American avant-garde poetry, and Carlos Drummond de Andrade. He teaches courses in Portuguese language, Brazilian literature, Brazilian popular music and Brazilian cinema.

O Website do Vivaldo encontra-se aqui!

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