Born in Faro in 1924, this artist eventually moved to Lisbon following the end of World War II, where he experienced the victory of the Allies first-hand. Initially working in commerce, he soon abandoned this path to dedicate himself to poetry.
In the 1950s, he became one of the directors of the magazines “Árvore,” “Cassiopeia,” and “Cadernos do Meio-Dia,” also contributing literary criticism texts to publications such as “Seara Nova” and “Colóquio Letras.” As a poet, he made his debut in 1958 in the newspaper “A Voz de Loulé” with the poem “Os dias, sem matéria,” which was later included in the collection “O Grito Claro.” This marked the birth of the modern Portuguese poetry movement in which the artist was actively involved. He wrote dozens of volumes of poetry and several essays throughout his career.
He received numerous national and international awards, including the Pessoa Prize in 1988, the APE/CTT Prize in 1989 for the collection “Acordes,” and the International Poetry Grand Prize at the International Poetry Meetings in Liège in 1990. He is considered one of the great contemporary Portuguese poets. His critical attitude towards his own words made him one of the most insightful contemporary Portuguese critics. In 2001, he released another Poetry Anthology.
He passed away in September 2013 in Lisbon.
