2016-12-12

"Galveias" Presentation Venue and Meeting with Author

On Sunday, the 18th December, at 15:00, the Galveias Georgian translation will be presented and the author will meet Georgian readers at National Library of Georgia [Gudiashvili 7].

José Luís Peixoto is one of Portuguese most acclaimed and bestselling award winning young writer, with established international reputation, a name that inevitably pops up when talking about contemporary Portuguese literature. He has a degree in Modern English and German Literature from the Universidade Nova in Lisbon. Before devoting himself to writing professionally, he taught for a year in Praia, Cape Verde and in several cities in Portugal, though he now lives off his writing.

His literary work has been translated into twenty languages so far. He has received many distinctions and prestigious awards, among others the José Saramago Prize 2001 and the Libro dEuropa Award 2010, and he was shortlisted for the Portugal Telecom Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Femina Prize.

His latest novel Galveias is named after the small village in Southern Portugal where the author was born. It is considered by the national critics as one of the greatest novels about Portuguese rurality and indeed identity, unfolding, page after page, the universality of the microcosms he creates.

It was published in 2014 by Quetzal Publishing, and sold already over 30,000 copies in Portugal alone. In Brazil it was published in November 2015 by Companhia das Letras, and in 2016 won Oceanos 2016 Prize [Oceanos-Prêmio de Literatura em Língua Portuguesa].

Summery:
The sleepy village of Galveias is home to both long-established families with their rivalries and feuds, like the brothers José and Justino who fell out over their inheritance and haven’t spoken for over fifty years, and newcomers like Isabella, the beautiful Brazilian who runs the bakery that, at night, also functions as a brothel. After the village is struck by some sort of mysterious meteor, the bread starts tasting of sulphur, relationships are reshaped and a series of events is set in motion: it stops raining for nine months; the two brothers are finally reconciled with each other and with their past; Isabella is mistaken for a cork thief and accidentally shot. Then finally a baby girl who doesn’t smell of sulphur is born, and the spell is broken.

***
This event is part of a series of Conferences/Workshops in English titled "Portuguese and Brazilian Culture for Beginners", taking place throughout the present academic year at the Portuguese Language Center at TSU and is open to anyone who wishes to know a bit more about Portugal and Brazils traditions, music, literature, society, cultural heritage, etc.. This event is organized in collaboration with Sulakauri Publishing House.
Entrance is Free!


Print

« back to list