Ana Luísa Amaral


Ana Luísa Amaral was a Portuguese poet.
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Biography

Professor at the University of Porto, she held a Ph.D. on the poetry of Emily Dickinson and had academic publications in the areas of English and American poetry, comparative poetics, and feminist studies. She was a senior researcher and co-director of the Institute for Comparative Literature Margarida Losa. Co-author of the Dictionary of Feminist Criticism and responsible for the annotated edition of New Portuguese Letters and the coordinator of the international project New Portuguese Letters 40 Years Later, financed by FCT, that involves 10 countries and over 60 researchers. Editor of
several academic books, such as Novas Cartas Portuguesas entre Portugal e o Mundo, or New Portuguese Letters to the World.
Prior to her death, she was preparing a book of poetry, a novel, and two books of essays. In 2021, a book of essays on her work by Peter Lang titled The Most Perfect Excess: The Works of Ana Luísa Amaral was published.
Several plays were staged around her work, such as O olhar diagonal das coisas, A história da Aranha Leopoldina, Próspero Morreu, or Como Tu. On April 1, 2022, she was awarded the rank of Commander of the Military Order of Sant'Iago da Espada. The insignia was only awarded on August 6, 2022, posthumously, to Ana Luísa Amaral's daughter.
She died on August 5, 2022, at the age of 66.

Literary career

Amaral's first volume of poetry, Minha Senhora de Quê, was published in 1990. The collection's title alluded to Maria Teresa Horta's 1971 volume Minha Senhora de Mim, thereby explicitly inscribing Amaral's work into the emergent genealogy of Portuguese women’s poetry. Since then, she has published fifteen further original collections of poetry and two volumes of collected poems, in addition to several translations and books for children.
Amaral's poetry has been translated into several languages and volumes of her writings have been published in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, Italy, Sweden, Holland, Venezuela, Colombia, Hong Kong, Mexico and Slovenia. She is also represented in many Portuguese and international anthologies. Her work has been awarded several distinctions such as the Gold Medal of Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos and the Gold Medal of Câmara Municipal do Porto, for "services to literature", or the Medaille de la Ville de Paris, and several literary prizes, such as the Correntes d’Escritas Literary Prize, o Premio di Poesia Giuseppe Acerbi, o Great Prize for Poetry of the Portuguese Writers' Association, the António Gedeão Prize, the Internazionale Fondazione Roma, Ritratti di Poesia Prize, o PEN Prize for Fiction, Prize for Essay from the Portuguese Association of Literary Critics, the Premio Leteo, Best Poetry Book of the Year from the Grémio de Librerias de Madrid, Vergílio Ferreira Prize, Sá de Miranda Literary Prize or the Premio Reina Sofía de Poesía Iberoamericana.

Books

Poetry

Minha senhora de quê, Fora do Texto, 1990; re., Quetzal, 1999Coisas de partir, Fora do Texto, 1993; re., Gótica, 2001Epopeias, Fora do Texto, 1994E muitos os caminhos, Poetas de Letras, 1995Às vezes o paraíso, Quetzal, 1998; re. 2000.Imagens, Campo das Letras, 2000Imagias, Gótica, 2002A arte de ser tigre, Gótica, 2003
  • Poesia Reunida 1990–2005, Quasi, 2005A génese do amor, Campo das Letras, 2005; 2nd edition, 2006Entre dois rios e outras noites, Campo das Letras, 2008Se fosse um intervalo, Dom Quixote, 2009Inversos, Poesia 1990–2010, Dom Quixote, 2010Vozes, Dom Quixote, 2011; 2nd edition 2012; 3rd edition 2015Escuro, Assírio & Alvim, 2014E Todavia, Assírio & Alvim, 2015What's in a name, Assírio & Alvim, 2017
  • Ágora, Assírio & Alvim, 2019
  • Mundo, Assírio & Alvim, 2021

Essay

Arder a palavra e outros incêndios, Relógio D'Água, 2018

Theater

  • Próspero Morreu, Caminho, 2011

Fiction

Ara, Sextante, 2013

Children's books

Gaspar, o Dedo Diferente e Outras Histórias,, Campo das Letras, 1999A História da Aranha Leopoldina,, Campo das Letras, 2000A Relíquia, based on the novel by Eça de Queirós, Quasi, 2008Auto de Mofina Mendes, based on the play by Gil Vicente, Quasi, 2008A História da Aranha Leopoldina,, Civilização, 2010 Gaspar, o Dedo Diferente,, Civilização, 2011 A Tempestade,, Quidnovi 2011 – Selected for the Portuguese National Reading PlanComo Tu,, Quidnovi, 2012, Zero a Oito, 2019
  • A História da Aranha Leopoldina,, Zero a Oito, 2019
  • Gaspar, o Dedo Diferente,, Zero a Oito, 2019
  • Como Tu,, Zero a Oito, 2020

Translations

Ana Luísa Amaral’s books published in other countries

United States

The Art of Being a Tiger. Selected Poems, trans. Margaret Jull Costa, Tagus Press, 2018What's in a name?, trans. Margaret Jull Costa, New Directions, 2019

Brazil

A gênese do amor, Gryphus, Rio de Janeiro, 2008Vozes, Iluminuras, São Paulo, 2013Escuro, Iluminuras, São Paulo, 2015Ara, Iluminuras, São Paulo, 2016
  • Luzes, Iluminuras, São Paulo, 2021

Colombia

Entre otras noches, Antologia Poética, trans. Lauren Mendinueta, Taller de Edición-Rocca, Bogotá, 2013Como Tu, trans. Lauren Mendinueta, Taller de Edición-Rocca, Bogotá, 2014
  • Qué Hay en un Nombre, trad. Pedro Rapoula, Puro Pássaro, Bogotá, 2020

France

Images, trans. Catherine Dumas, Vallongues Éditions, 2000Comme Toi, trans. Catherine Dumas, Editions Theatrales, Paris, 2013L’Art d’être tigre, trans. Catherine Dumas, Phare du Cousseixo, 2015
GermanyWas ist ein Name, trad. Michael Kegler & Piero Salabe, Hanser Verlag, Munchen, 2021

Hong Kong

Nude: a Study in Poignancy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, Hong Kong, 2019

Italy

Poesie, trans. Livia Apa, Poesie, XVª Edizione – Portogallo, Lisbona, Instituto Camões, 2008La Genesi dell’Amore, trans. Piero Ceccucci, Fiorenza mia…!:, Florence, Firenze University Press, 2009La Scala di Giacobbe: Poesia di Ana Luísa Amaral, trans. Livia Apa, Manni Editori, Milan, 2010Voci, trans. Chiara De Luca, Kolibris, 2018
  • What's in a Name e altri versi, trans. Livia Apa, Crocetti Editore, Milano, 2019

Mexico

Oscuro, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Léon, trans. Blanca Luz Pulido, 2017

The Netherlands

Wachten op Odysseus: Gedichten 1990–2011, trans. Arie Pos, uitgeverij IJZER, 2011
SloveniaWhat’s in a Name, trans. Barbara Juršič, Beletrina, Lubiana, 2021

Spain

Oscuro, trans. Luis Maria Marina, Olifante, 2015
  • What's in a Name, trans. Paula Abramo, Sexto Piso, Madrid, 2020
  • Mundo, trans. Paula Abramo, Sexto Piso, Madrid, 2021

Sweden

Mellan tva floder och andra natter, trans. Ulla Gabrielson, Diadorim, Gothenburg, 2009
  • Mitt Klärobskyra, En Antologi Poesi av Ana Luísa Amaral, trans. Ulla Gabrielson, Diadorim, Gotemburgo, 2021

Venezuela

Ana Luisa Amaral, Antología Poética, trans. Nidia Hernandez, Monte Ávila Editores, Caracas, 2012

Prizes and awards

  • Literary Prize Casino da Póvoa/Correntes d’Escritas, with the book A génese do amor Premio Letterario Giuseppe Acerbi, Mantua Italy, with the book A génese do amor
  • Great Prize of Poetry of Associação Portuguesa de Escritores, with the book Entre Dois Rios e Outras Noites
  • Finalist for the Prize Portugal Telecom
  • Prize Rómulo de Carvalho/António Gedeão, 1st edition, with the book Vozes
  • Proposed to the Prize Reina Sofia
  • Prize of Novel of Associação Portuguesa de Escritores, with the book Ara
  • Finalist for the Prize Portugal Telecom
  • Gold Medal of Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos, for services to literature
  • Gold Medal of Câmara Municipal do Porto
  • Premio Internazionale Fondazione Roma: Ritratti di Poesia
  • Prize for Essay Jacinto do Prado Coelho, from the Portuguese Association of Literary Critics, with the book Arder a palavra e outros incêndios
  • Guerra Junqueiro Literary Prize
  • Best Poetry Book of the Year from the Grémio de Librerias de Madrid, with the book What's in a Name
  • Leteo Prize
  • Francisco Sá de Miranda Literary Prize, with the book Ágora
  • Virgílio Ferreira Prize
  • XXX Premio Rainha Sofia de Poesia Ibero-americana.