The Modern Novel

Biography

Fernando Pessoa was a poet and did not write a single novel. So what is he doing here? Though his book Livro do desassossego (The Book of Disquiet) is clearly not a novel, it is difficult to classify. There are other books here that clearly extend the definition of novel – think W G Sebald – and there is no doubt, as in other art forms, the definition of novel is changing and is going to continue to change. Because Pessoa is such an interesting person and because he did write an interesting prose work, he is here.

He was born in Lisbon in 1888. His father died of tuberculosis when he was five. When he was seven, he wrote his first poem and his mother married the Portuguese consul in Durban. Pessoa accompanied his mother to Durban. Growing up in Durban, Pessoa became fluent in English. He was reading the great English poets and started writing poetry in English. In 1902, the family returned to Lisbon but Pessoa soon returned to South Africa where he started studying at the University of the Cape of Good Hope. However, the following year he returned to Lisbon where he lived with an aunt. After a further trip to South Africa he returned to Lisbon and lived with his grandmother. When she died, she left him a small inheritance. He started working as a foreign correspondent. Meanwhile, he was writing poetry in English, Portuguese and French and adopting some of his many pseudonyms, complete with their own biographies, writing styles and characters. He continued to write poetry, much of which was published in magazines, as well as working at odd commercial jobs. Meanwhile, he was drinking heavily and this eventually killed him in 1935. His reputation has been mainly posthumous.

Other links

Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa and the multiple faces we show on the net
Pessoa’s Trunk
Fernando PessoaA man of many parts
Fernando Pessoa (in Portuguese)
Fernando Pessoa Obra Poética (in Portuguese)
MultiPessoa (in Portuguese)
Arquivo Pessoa (in Portuguese)