Possible Loves

My earliest love, the one to which I dedicated my devotion (after my family, of course), was reading and writing. It was a book that stole my young heart—actually two. I shared my heart with two lovers: Pablo Neruda and Florbela Espanca. I was twelve years old and had excellent taste.

Neruda's 100 Love Sonnets soothed me, and Espanca's Book of Sor Saudade was my alibi for mourning the passions that didn't work out. Poetry has been my friend ever since, and I've never let go of that hand, nor do I intend to.

Books accompany me on travels, at work, on sleepless nights, in the hospital, during research, in bar conversations, on lazy afternoons, on commutes, as gifts... and because of them, of course, I love visiting bookstores and libraries. I'm even very honored to have some of my published books featured in these spaces!

No, they're not yet present here in this bookstore, Bertrand do Chiado, and they may never be. That's okay! What's truly wonderful is having the opportunity to be physically present in the oldest bookstore in the world, because being among books, for me, is a great joy. The smell of the paper, the colors, the covers, the shape of the spines, the stitching, reading the flaps, peeking at the back cover, the organization by sections and titles... everything enchants me.

So, just imagine how I felt on that trip. I think my expression in this photo says it all! To celebrate, I bought the book "Jóquei" by Matilde Campilho, a Portuguese-Brazilian poet who has been to FLIP and is almost my age. She's an inspiration to me!

All this text to say that some genuine loves are possible.