Tracing the Poet’s Awakening in Terceira

Pessoa’s Terceira
By Andreia Fernandes (Text), António Araújo (Photography), Translated by Diniz Borges
Published by Dois Caminhos / Lar Doce Livro, in partnership with Bruma Publications

Angra do Heroísmo, Azores/Fresno, California — Pessoa’s Terceira is a luminous new bilingual book that sheds light on a little-known episode in the life of one of the most celebrated figures in world literature, Fernando Pessoa. Authored by Andreia Fernandes and photographer António Araújo, and translated into English by Diniz Borges, the book retraces Pessoa’s brief but deeply symbolic 1902 visit to Terceira Island in the Azores—his mother’s birthplace. Through lyrical prose and evocative imagery, Pessoa’s Terceira reconstructs this nine-day passage not only as a physical journey but as a formative moment in the imagination of a young poet.

At just 13 years old, Pessoa created his first poetic alter ego, Dr. Pancrácio, while staying in Angra do Heroísmo with his maternal relatives. There, he penned the adolescent poem “Quando ela passa” and co-produced a handwritten newspaper, “A Palavra,” foreshadowing the heteronymic universe that would define his future literary identity. Fernandes and Araújo’s work delves into these intimate beginnings, illustrating how Pessoa’s inner world first began to fracture and multiply—on an island surrounded by myth, sea, and memory.

The book is both a historical essay and a poetic meditation on Pessoa’s insular roots. Fernandes’ research and narrative, combined with Araújo’s atmospheric photographs, invite the reader to explore Pessoa’s Azorean connection with fresh eyes. The translation by Diniz Borges extends the reach of this exploration, opening it to readers across the Atlantic—especially the Azorean diaspora in North America, who will find in these pages a bridge between ancestral memory and literary legacy.

Pessoa’s Terceira is more than a literary homage—it is a cultural reclamation of Pessoa’s Azorean lineage and a tribute to Angra do Heroísmo as a city of poetry and passage. Supported by the Angra do Heroísmo City Council and available through Bruma Publications in the United States, the book promises to become essential reading for scholars, diaspora communities, and all lovers of Pessoa’s vast and mysterious world.

Editora Dois Caminhos/Bruma Publications

The book is available at various bookstores in the Azores, particularly at Lar-Doce-Livro in Angra. It will soon be available by mail order in the US from Bruma Publications/PBBI at Fresno State.