Three of Portugal's largest publishing groups, Bertrand/Círculo de Leitores, Porto Editora and Penguin Random House, announced this week the titles they will bring out over the coming months as the country's autumn literary season begins.
Bertrand/Círculo de Leitores said it will publish "Um Defeito de Cor" in Portugal for the first time. The novel, by Brazilian author Ana Maria Gonçalves, was described by the group as the definitive work on slavery and racial discrimination in Brazil.
The same catalogue includes Stephen Hawking's "Uma Breve História do Tempo" (A Brief History of Time), one of the best-known popular science books ever published, and "Breves Entrevistas a Homens Hediondos" (Brief Interviews with Hideous Men) by the late American writer David Foster Wallace, both through the Quetzal imprint. Quetzal will also release a new novel by Portuguese author José Luís Peixoto, "Menina Alzira", described as a dialogue between a mother and her son that promises to move readers.
Bestselling authors including Stephen King, Jeffrey Archer, Danielle Steel and John Grisham are set to return to Portuguese shelves. Quetzal will also publish a further volume of the diary of writer Rentes de Carvalho, "Voltas e Disfarces".
Porto Editora's autumn titles
Porto Editora highlighted a new trilogy from Richard Zimler, the American-born novelist based in Porto known for fiction set among Portugal's Jewish communities, as one of the season's main draws, alongside a book exploring Ernest Hemingway's career as a journalist.
The publisher also announced the return of Hernán Díaz, winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for his novel "Confiança" (Trust), with a new book titled "Fios", released under its Livros do Brasil imprint.
Penguin Random House lineup
Penguin Random House said it will publish Hugo Gonçalves's new title, "O Império do Fim", through its Companhia das Letras imprint, a book that deals with colonialism. The group will also release another crime novel by João Tordo, "O Inferno Cheio", also via Companhia das Letras, featuring his established detective character Pilar Benamor.
The same group is publishing Afonso Cruz's "Canção de Circe", two titles by Clarice Lispector and two more by Roberto Bolaño. This month it will also release "O Canto do Cisne", a highly anticipated book in which Charles Spencer tells the story of his sister, Princess Diana, who died almost 30 years ago.
Sérgio Godinho's prison memoir
Among the season's releases is "Memórias de Duas Prisões no Brasil (e outras cenas da vida corrente)", published by Quetzal, in which musician and writer Sérgio Godinho revisits defining moments of his artistic career.
Godinho was imprisoned in Brazil in 1971 and again in 1982. He said the book brings together memories he described as combined, revived and affectionate, and that it also recounts his time living in Switzerland and Canada.
