Leonor de Almeida: the writer who excelled is honoured at Porto Book Fair

Those keen to get to know forces of nature, especially when they come in the name of a poetess, who wrote daring poems in 1951, thus sending an unusual powerful message of strength with her work and celebrating poetry written by women, will have the opportunity to get to know her work, as she is the honoured writer of this year's Porto Book fair, organised by Porto City Hall, in the Gardens of Palácio de Cristal, from 28th August to 13th September.

This force of nature was Leonor de Almeida, whose memory and work is being honoured at Porto Book Fair 2020 edition.

Leonor de Almeida was born in Porto, in 1909. "She was a mother, a poet, a nurse, a physical therapist, a beautician, a traveller, an adventurer, a pioneer, but most of all, she was free", as explained by Cláudia Clemente, who researched the writer's work.

During the press conference on Porto Book Fair 2020, held on 14th July, at Casa do Roseiral, Rui Moreira, Mayor of Porto, announced that "this is an opportunity to fairly carry the writer's name into the public awareness. She authored four books of poems, released between 1947 and 1960, all sold out".

Many literary critics, namely João Gaspar Simões or Jacinto Prado Coelho refered to Leonor de Almeida as "one of the best Portuguese contemporary poets" or "an unusual lyric personality", respectively.

Alberto de Serpa, in turn, emphasised "the new side of feminine writing in Portuguese poetry" and Artur Portela boasted Leonor de Almeida as "one of the most extraordinary cases of modern poetry".

The magazine "A Serpente" cited the writer as "the author of the most significant poems ever to be signed by a woman thus far in Portugal".

Her work is included in several Anthologies, such as the Erotic and Satirical Poetry by
Natália Correia and the Anthology of "Novíssima Poesia Portuguesa de M. Alberta Meneres e E. Melo e Castro". 

Leonor de Almeida lived in London, Paris, and Copenhagen and wrote poems, articles and conducted interviews for major magazines and newspapers in the 1940 and 50's.

She published four books of poetry, and lived anonymously in Lisbon. She died, alone, in an unknown day of May, in 1983.

This year 2020 marks 111 years of her birth, a woman that lived way ahead of her time, who remains a unique personality of the Portuguese culture.

Porto Book Fair is back to the Gardens of Palácio de Cristal, from 28th August to 13th September. This year, the motto is "Alegria para o fim do mundo" ["Joy to the End of the World", free translation], transliterated from the work by Andreia C. Faria, one of the resident writers of the event.

The Fair's guiding principle is women's writing, and the programming will focus mainly on the valorisation of the Portuguese language and poets, writers and artists, especially those working in Porto or who are based in the Invicta.

An edition of the poetry work by Leonor de Almeida will be launched in the framework of the Porto Book Fair, the seventh edition of this essential literary event in Porto, organised by Porto City Hall, in the Gardens of the Palácio de Cristal.