Bartolomeu Cid dos Santos was a Professor of Fine Art. He was proud to be Portuguese, but spent much of his career in the UK, teaching and working at the Slade College of Fine Art, at University College, London. On his birthday 24th August, together with his wife Fernanda, he would often entertain artists and prospective artists at their…
CAR Hills has a love/hate relationship with Portugal and the Algarve in particular. We are very pleased that he is willing to read from some of his early essays and recent work on September 17th at Lura dos Livros in Tavira. Charles has been a writer all of his colourful life. He wrote a series…
The Arts are suffering in Portugal! It’s a difficult time to get funding. Of course it’s not just the Arts it’s also cultural organisations, the glue of society, that are suffering. In Tavira, in the Algarve, only 4 associations have received funding this year. Some groups are still waiting for funding from last year. A…
As I write this, it is raining in Paraty. It is still beautiful, but its cold. The weather also occupied the mind of one of the writers I saw on day 5. Hanif Kureishi, (English mother, Pakistani father), grew up in Britain in the 1970’s. He said he “started writing to stop going mad”. He…
The day started with a press conference with Ian McEwan. He was his gentle mediative self and shared his love of Brazil. He first came to Brazil with his son in 2004 and his son said at the time Paraty had been the best 15 hours in Ian`s diary. His son, Gregory met a girl…
On Day 3, I attended a mix bag of sessions. The first session celebrated the poems of Drummond. In the next session Stephen Greenblatt and James Shapiro, shared their love of Shakespeare. Later in the day, Granta provided the space for two British writers to reflect on what being British means. Two Middle Eastern writers…
Trying to work in Paraty has so far been a frustrating experience. The main event last night, which was sold out many weeks ago, was not the most compelling experience I had hoped it would be, having read some good things about Paraty. I am hoping today will be better. The organisational issues for…
The population of Paraty swells from 35,000 to 100,00 today, as book enthusiasts overwhelm the town. The opening ceremony starts at 7pm Brazil time, which is 4 hours behind the UK and Portugal. The programme went on the Flip website a few days ago and paper copies were available yesterday. The Portuguese are notorious…
There has been discussion recently, in the local press about what tourists and in particular Brits, do, when they invade the Algarve in the summer. Some bring cash and swimming costumes. Some come to party and some to relax. Some come to learn about the culture. There have been suggestions that tourists do not seem…