Ana Luísa Amaral facts for kids

Ana Luísa Amaral was a famous Portuguese poet.

Ana Luísa Amaral (born April 5, 1956 – died August 5, 2022) was a well-known Portuguese poet. She was also a professor at the University of Porto and had a special degree called a Ph.D. Her Ph.D. was about the poetry of Emily Dickinson, another famous poet.

Ana Luísa Amaral wrote many academic papers about English and American poetry, and also about women's studies. She helped lead a research group called the Institute for Comparative Literature Margarida Losa. She also helped write the Dictionary of Feminist Criticism and worked on a special edition of the book New Portuguese Letters. She even coordinated a big international project about New Portuguese Letters that involved many countries and researchers.

Before she passed away, she was working on new poetry, a novel, and two books of essays. In 2021, a book of essays about her work was published, called The Most Perfect Excess: The Works of Ana Luísa Amaral. Her writings also inspired several plays, like O olhar diagonal das coisas and A história da Aranha Leopoldina.

Literary Journey

Ana Luísa Amaral's first book of poems, called Minha Senhora de Quê (which means Mistress of What), came out in 1990. The title of her book was a nod to another Portuguese woman poet, showing she was part of a new wave of women writers.

After her first book, she published fifteen more collections of poetry and two books that gathered her best poems. She also translated books by other famous writers, including Emily Dickinson, John Updike, and Louise Glück. Plus, she wrote many wonderful books for children!

Her poetry has been translated into many languages, and her books have been published in countries all over the world, like the United States, Germany, France, Brazil, and Spain. Her work is also featured in many poetry collections in Portugal and other countries. She won many important awards for her writing, which we'll talk about more below.

Her Books

Poetry Books

Ana Luísa Amaral wrote many poetry books. Some of her early works include:

• Minha senhora de quê (1990)
• Coisas de partir (1993)
• Epopeias (1994)
• A arte de ser tigre (2003)
• A génese do amor (2005)
• Vozes (2011)
• Escuro (2014)
• What's in a name (2017)
• Ágora (2019)

Other Writings

Besides poetry, Ana Luísa Amaral also wrote:

• An essay book called Arder a palavra e outros incêndios (2018).
• A play called Próspero Morreu (2011).
• A fiction book called Ara (2013).

Books for Children

Ana Luísa Amaral loved writing for children. Some of her popular children's books include:

• Gaspar, o Dedo Diferente e Outras Histórias (1999)
• A História da Aranha Leopoldina (2000) – This book was so popular it had a reviewed edition with a CD that included music and songs!
• A Tempestade (2011) – This book was chosen for the Portuguese National Reading Plan.
• Como Tu (2012) – This book also came with a CD that had an audiobook and songs.

Translated Books

Ana Luísa Amaral also translated many books from other languages into Portuguese. She helped bring the words of famous authors to Portuguese readers, including:

• Emily Dickinson (Cem Poemas and Duzentos Poemas)
• Patricia Highsmith (Carol)
• William Shakespeare (30 Sonetos)
• Louise Glück (A Íris Selvagem and Vita Nova)
• Margaret Atwood (Políticas de Poder)

Her Books Around the World

Ana Luísa Amaral's work was very popular and translated into many languages. Her books were published in countries like:

• The United States, with titles like The Art of Being a Tiger and What's in a name?.
• Brazil, where many of her poetry and fiction books were published.
• France, with books like Images and L’Art d’être tigre.
• Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela also published her works.

Awards and Honors

Ana Luísa Amaral received many important awards for her amazing writing. Some of these include:

• The Literary Prize Casino da Póvoa/Correntes d’Escritas for her book A génese do amor (2007).
• The Premio Letterario Giuseppe Acerbi in Italy (2008).
• The Great Prize of Poetry from the Portuguese Writers' Association (2008).
• The Prize Rómulo de Carvalho/António Gedeão for her book Vozes (2012).
• The Prize for Novel from the Portuguese Writers' Association for her book Ara (2014).
• The Gold Medal of Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos (2015) and Câmara Municipal do Porto (2016) for her contributions to literature.
• The Premio Internazionale Fondazione Roma: Ritratti di Poesia (2018).
• The Prize for Essay Jacinto do Prado Coelho (2018).
• The Guerra Junqueiro Literary Prize (2020).
• The Best Poetry Book of the Year from the Grémio de Librerias de Madrid for What's in a Name (2020).
• The Leteo Prize (2020).
• The Francisco Sá de Miranda Literary Prize (2021).
• The prestigious Virgílio Ferreira Prize (2021).

See also

In Spanish: Ana Luísa Amaral para niños