Teolinda Gersão: The Word Tree

Reading

29 October 2024 at 6.30pm

The James Joyce Centre was proud to host a literary gathering with the Portuguese writer Teolinda Gersão on the subject of her book The Word Tree on Tuesday, 29 October 2024 at 6.30pm. The event was organised by the Embassy of Portugal to Ireland in partnership with Literature Ireland. It was moderated by the Director of Literature Ireland Sinéad Mac Aodha.

This event was sponsored by the Portuguese cultural institute, Camões — Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I.P. and the Irish branch of the Network of European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC).

“The Word Tree is a portrait of Lourenço Marques, before and during the colonial war. It is a book about the fascination of Africa and African culture, about the mix and clash of cultures and also a disturbing story about paradise that turns into a nightmare. A magical book about childhood, to which one cannot return, except through the miracle of literature.” (Porto Editora)

Margaret Jull Costa’s translation was awarded the Calouste Gulbenkian Portuguese Translation Prize for 2012.

Teolinda Gersão is the author of 12 novels and short-story collections, which have been translated into various languages. Her work has brought her many prizes, including the Pen Club Prize for best novel (twice), the Literature Prize from the International Critics’ Literary Association and the Grand Prix for Novel and Short-Story from the Portuguese Writers´ Association. The Word Tree is the first of her novels to be published in English.

This year’s edition of the EUNIC European Book Club series, entitled “Europe!”, will showcase the work of eight European authors from Poland, Italy, Romania, Ireland, Estonia, Portugal, Slovenia and France. For more information please visit the following webpage: https://www.facebook.com/EUNICireland/