Literary and Philosophical Cafe Friday 9 November
It is that time of year again, a time of celebration in Tavira when events and workshops mark a birthday. It is when artists and creative people come together to recall the work of Fernando Pessoa and his heteronym Álvaro de Campos.
This year the birthday party takes place without the financial support of Algarve 365. So if it resonates, do come out and appreciate this celebration with your presence. The party is organised each year by the Association called Partilha Alternativa (Alternative Sharing), under the experienced guidance of the cultural leader Tela Leão.
One event to put in your diary and to come to (that will be in English) is on Friday 9 November from 6.30 pm to 8:00pm. It is a literary – philosophical cafe led by Dr. Maria João Neves. 
This year’s birthday party theme is, ‘The Futurism of our past.’ With this in mind, Dr. Neves has chosen for discussion the poem Chuva Obliqua.
She says, “Chuva Obliqua (Oblique Rain) is by Fernando Pessoa himself. It is a poem in free verse, divided into six parts of an irregular structure. This magnificent piece of literary intersectionalism, brings to literature the process of dynamic overlapping that also characterises futurist painting.”
Here is the poem
Chuva Obliqua (Oblique Rain)
The church is illuminated from within the rain of this day,
And each candle that is lit is more rain beating on the window pane…
I am joyous to hear the rain because it is the temple being lit,
And the glass panes of the church seen from outside are the sound of the rain heard from
inside…
The splendour of the high altar is my not being able to almost see the hills
Through the rain that is the oh so solemn gold on the altar cloth…
The singing of the choir sounds forth, latin and wind shaking the pane at me
And one can feel the water pitter-pattering in the fact that there is a choir…
The mass is a car that passes
Through the congregation kneeling in today being a sad day…
A sudden wind buffets in greater splendour
The festival of the cathedral and the noise of the rain absorbs everything
Until all that can be heard is the voice of the padre water disappearing in the distance
With the sound of car wheels…
And the lights of the church are doused
In the rain that stops…
(Oblique Rain by Fernando Pessoa, part 2)
Dr. Neves is well known for her philosophical cafes held in Faro. It is a gift to literature lovers (especially those not fluent in Portuguese) that she will hold the space for this event in Tavira.
She says, “Philosophy trains the expansion of the mind, the possibility of experiencing alternative
points of view, some consensual, some irreconcilable. Through the journey to the futurism
of our past this Philosophical Cafe proposes exactly the exercise of leaving itself, going
away from opinions and habits rooted, to experience a seeing and feeling of so many
different and alternative ways.”
So remember the date Friday 9 November at the
Nó de Gosto Restaurant in Tavira
Starts at 6.30 pm!
A €5 contribution is suggested and people are asked to register by email with Dr. Neves filosofiamjn@gmail.com
The event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/311613962999974/
Details of the full birthday party celebrations can be found here https://festadosanosdealvarodecampos.com
