Can an author over 70 shake up the literature of a country? Yes, he can. That’s what J.
Rentes de Carvalho (born in 1930) has done. Born in Vila Nova de Gaia, in Trás-os-Montes
in the north of Portugal, he lived there until 1945 when he was forced to leave Portugal for
political reasons. He then went on to live in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, New York and Paris,
working in these cities for several newspapers. In 1956 he decided to move to Amsterdam,
where he still lives today. He graduated from the University of Amsterdam, where he was
later a professor of Portuguese literature from 1964 to 1988. Little known in Portugal until
recently, but with extensive works written and published in Holland, the arrival of his books
in Portuguese was a sensation and he has quickly become one of the most respected voices
in contemporary Portuguese literature. Titles such as “With the Dutch” and “Ernestina” are
among his best-known works.