Jorge Barbosa (writer)

Jorge Vera-Cruz Barbosa (25 May 1902 – 6 January 1971) was a Cape Verdean poet and writer. He collaborated in various reviews and Portuguese and Cape Verdean journals. The publication of his poetry anthology Arquipélago (Archipelago) in 1935 marked the beginning of Cape Verdean poetry. He was, along with Baltazar Lopes da Silva and Manuel Lopes one of the three founders of the literary journal Claridade ("Clarity") in 1936, which marked the beginning of modern Cape Verdean literature.

Biography

Jorge Barbosa was born in the city of Praia, on the island of Santiago, Portuguese Cape Verde archipelago (then a territory of Portugal). Soon after, he moved to the island of São Vicente, where he spent his early years on — excluding his years of study in Lisbon. He then lived for many years on the island of Sal, working as a civil servant of the customhouse. He died in Cova da Piedade, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Publications

• Arquipélago (Archipelago) (1935)
• Ambiente (Ambient, also known as The Circle) (1941)
• Caderno de um Ilhéu (An Islander's Notebook) (1955, won the Camilo Pessanha Award)
• Recent poems include Meio Milénio, Júbilo (Jubilee) and Panfletário.

Legacy

Jorge Barbosa was featured on a Cape Verdean stamp in 2003

His poem Prelúdio, can be found on the CD Poesia de Cabo Verde e Sete Poemas de Sebastião da Gama by Afonso Dias

Further reading

• Richard A. Lobban Jr and Paul Khalil Saucier, Jorge Barbosa, in Historical dictionary of the Republic of Cape Verde, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland ; Toronto ; Plymouth, UK, 2007, p. 31-32 ISBN 978-0-8108-4906-8
• dos Santos, Elsa Rodrigues, As máscaras poéticas de Jorge Barbosa e a mundividência cabo-verdiana, Caminho, Lisbon, 1989, p. 247 ISBN 972-21-0422-5
• Silva, Carlos Alberto Gomes da, "An Introduction to Capeverdean Poetry of Portuguese Expression." in Emerging Literatures, ed. Nethersole, Reingard. Bern, Peter Lang, 1990. pp. 91-105. ISBN 9783261043085.