Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) has been called “the greatest Portuguese poet of his century” (New Yorker 2017) and his writings have been on the rise in the English-speaking world.
Watch our conversation with Katia Mitova on Pessoa’s work. At the time of his death, Pessoa left two trunks full of unpublished manuscripts, only a few of which were signed by his own name. The bulk of his writing Pessoa attributed to other personalities he called “heteronyms.” Each heteronym had a unique character, biography, and writing style. And each was invented by Pessoa the way a novelist might invent a character. Pessoa’s oeuvre would be of interest to anyone willing to embrace the idea of a fluid self.
The conversation previews Katia Mitova’s Autumn course on Pessoa, see https://graham.uchicago.edu/programs-….