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Literary festival shine a light on Eugénio de Andrade
Feira do Livro do Porto
FLP 2024 - Festival literário acende a luz a Eugénio de Andrade

Eugénio de Andrade © Dario Gonçalves, 1985

Papéis de Eugénio de Andrade, Biblioteca Pública Municipal do Porto

The Feira do Livro do Porto one of the city's most eagerly awaited events, is back to the gardens of the Palácio de Cristal until 8 September, with 115 publishers and booksellers spread over 130 stands, a ‘lively’ programme, as the ‘master of ceremonies’ João Gesta puts it, to celebrate the life and work of the Portuguese poet Eugénio de Andrade.


Debate tables and talks with writers, evening concerts, staged readings, book launches, spoken word sessions, poetry recitals and moments of stand-up comedy and stand-up poetry make up the programme for the 11th edition of the Porto Book Fair, in its renewed format, whose motto is Eugénio's verse ‘Por mais solar que seja o coração’, and which reflects the luminous and loving essence of his poetry.

FLP 2024 - Festival literário acende a luz a Eugénio de Andrade

João Gesta © Nuno Miguel Coelho

FLP 2024 - Festival literário acende a luz a Eugénio de Andrade

Porta-Jazz concert at FLP 2024 © Nuno Miguel Coelho

On the front line with João Gesta

A profound connoisseur of literary Porto and its poets, João Gesta has been in charge of the Feira do Livro programme for more than a decade, an event to which he dedicates himself body and soul. As soon as he finishes one edition, he starts working on the next. ‘It's an absolutely natural process. You can't be at a book fair with one foot in and one foot out; you're either there or you're not,’ he emphasises. For 17 days, Avenida das Tílias becomes his home, where he receives poets and friends from all over the country.


After Sophia de Mello Breyner, Vasco Graça Moura, Ana Luísa Amaral and Manuel António Pina, it's Eugénio de Andrade's turn to be honoured. For Gesta, this choice is not only literary, but also emotional. The poet is ‘indissolubly linked to this solidary and leathery Porto, where the word “freedom” is less secret’. ‘Eugénio de Andrade has a deep connection with Porto, his work reflects the soul of the city, and honouring him at the Book Fair is a way of celebrating that connection,’ he says.


This year's programme includes events dedicated to the solar poet, such as readings, talks and exhibitions. ‘Eugénio's friends and house guests will be present: Inês Lourenço, Rosa Maria Martelo, André Tecedeiro, Pilar del Rio, Ana Monteiro, Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio, Dulce Maria Cardoso, Isabela Figueiredo, among others,’ she says, adding that “figures from all over the country will be arriving”. ‘The concept of the Feira do Livro do Porto isn't to close itself off from the city, it's to open itself up to everyone,’ he emphasises.

‘The concept of the Porto Book Fair is not to close in on the city, it's to open up to everyone.’

On the literary side, Carlos Tê, Gonçalo M. Tavares, José Luís Peixoto, Minês Castanheira (the guest of this edition of Conjugar o Porto), Nuno Artur Silva, Raquel Marinho, Rui Couceiro and Teresa Coutinho are also confirmed for the musical programme, while António Zambujo, Capicua, Frankie Chavez, Gisela João, Milhanas, Sopa de Pedra, Tiago Nacarato and Valter Lobo are also confirmed for the late afternoon concerts at the Concha Acústica.


Among the programme, João Gesta highlights ‘the poetry slam sessions, which are a success; António Zambujo talking about poetry; Gisela João opening the concerts and Sopa de Pedra closing, and a very young and fresh group, Nunca Mates o Mandarim’. ‘In the cinema, we'll have a restored copy of the film ‘Death in Venice’. In addition, there are children's workshops to provide a vast cultural programme for the whole family,’ he says. The programme can be consulted at feiradolivro.porto.pt.

FLP 2024 - Festival literário acende a luz a Eugénio de Andrade

FLP 2024 © Andreia Merca

FLP 2024 - Festival literário acende a luz a Eugénio de Andrade

Andreia C. Faria © Mário Melo Costa

Eugénio de Andrade: A Tribute by Andreia C. Faria

The celebration of the living word - Poetry in motion

The Porto poet Andreia C. Faria is the curator of the Eugénio de Andrade tribute and is leading some sessions at the Book Fair, providing a deeper understanding of his poetry. ‘My work has mainly consisted of re-reading Eugénio de Andrade and some of the countless critical approaches to his work, trying to frame, from today's perspective, aspects that I consider to be striking in his poetry,’ she says.


‘There are features of his work that seem urgent to me in today's light, even more so than they were in his lifetime.’ ‘I'm interested in the way Eugénio expresses the alliance between human rhythms and the natural world, which was the alliance of his childhood. In his poetry, the body and language seem to integrate nature, there is a belonging of the human being to the ‘things of the earth’. His writing sometimes creates in the reader the astonishing effect of something that blossoms and bears fruit. Eugénio's words, at a time when we live disconnected from our natural surroundings, can be dissonant, and therefore powerful.’

In Andreia's generation, Eugénio de Andrade was one of the first poets to be read at school and, at the time, she had ‘the impression of understanding him’. ‘Of course there's a depth to him that it's difficult for a teenager to access, but the musicality and communicative, even empathetic nature of his verses attracted young readers. I read him again later, when I realised his influence on another poet I admire, Luís Miguel Nava. So I won't speak for myself, but if there is a visible influence of Eugénio in my work, it will perhaps be through this triangulation,’ she reveals.


The poet says that Eugénio de Andrade had an ‘antipathy’ towards homage, perhaps because, ‘as a rule, the one who is honoured is someone whose work is perceived as being finished, immobile’. ‘Poems come to an end if they are not revived by new poets and readers, but this is not the case with Eugénio de Andrade, still one of the most widely read poets in the Portuguese language. His is a poetry in movement, unfinished, because it lives on in the work of other poets and among readers,’ he concludes.

by Maria Bastos

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