Discovering Women Writers in Portuguese

Give readers access to women writers who are not visible.

Abstract

If memory is a central criterion of the canon, and this can be described as a retrospective list (Tamen, 2020), and knowing that, until the mid-20th century, few Portuguese women writers entered this list (Klobucka, 2020), it is fundamental to update it by recovering forgotten authors from memory. The project “Discovering Women Writers in Portuguese” (DEP), by the Teachers of Portuguese Association (APP), aims to do exactly that, recognizing the contribution of forgotten women writers in Portuguese with regard to literary and journalistic genres, with a particular focus on the Estado Novo period in Portugal. Emphasis is placed on short stories, published regularly in the press, as well as novels, short stories, poetry, and plays, among other genres (travel memoirs, diaries, or autobiographical fragments). Many of the texts authored by women were published in the press, primarily between the 1950s and 1970s; Others have also been published in volume, but in most cases, without reprints for many years. The objective of this communication is twofold: firstly, to present the DEP and the initiatives already carried out and underway; secondly, to open the possibility of future collaborations within the scope of the project.