Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues, Obra Dramática dispersa (Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues, Scattered Dramatic Works), is a book by Pedro Paulo Câmara, featuring a selection, revision, and annotations, presented at the Cultural Center of Vila Franca do Campo on Monday.

As part of the São João da Vila festivities, Mayor Graça Ventura Melo opened the launch of a new work, attended by a large audience in the auditorium. The presentation was given by Ana Isabel D’Arruda, with the special participation of Maria Amélia Lopes.

Graça Ventura Melo testified that “when you believe in something, you do it!”

Furthermore, “this work is part of a broader project that was presented to the Vila Franca do Campo City Council, which adopted and promoted it. It began with the publication of a book, also by Editora Ilha Nova, which gave rise to this one. First, I developed a project based on my master’s thesis at the Open University, titled Violante de Cysneiros: o outro lado do Espelho (Violante de Cysneiros: the other side of the mirror) by Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues. Then, as during this period of research it was possible to discover and rediscover a lot of unpublished and little-known material by Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues, we moved on to a second edition, which was a critical edition of Auto do Espírito Santo (The Holy Spirit Play), one of Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues’ most important plays, because he wrote it for a special occasion when we were hosting the President of the Republic in the Azores. He was one of those responsible for the reception. Then, since we were already in the theater scene, we went on to publish this work, which encompasses four different genres within dramaturgy and spans from 1910 to the second half of the 20th century. There are four plays, each totally different from the other, which also follow the life of Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues himself.

Comedy, satire, recital, and embassy

The scattered dramatic work contains four plays, starting with a comedy, a satire, a recital, and an embassy. “And then there are the embassies, which are very dear to our people, especially here in Vila Franca do Campo, because the last play we have here is the representation of the Procession of the Three Wise Men, which was staged here in Vila Franca do Campo,” added Pedro Paulo Câmara.

“The first play of all, from 1910, is an operetta, which is also quite unusual in the work of Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues,” he added.

This scattered dramatic work by Pedro Paulo Câmara was supported and edited by the Vila Franca do Campo City Council, through its publishing house Editora Ilha Nova.

“The main objective is, on the one hand, to disseminate the work of Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues and, on the other hand, to invite more researchers and authors to pay attention to this author’s work, but we have more authors on the regional scene.”

Pedro Paulo Câmara also spoke of Maria Amélia Lopes, who “was one of the preface writers, representing the other preface writers who could not be here at the presentation because they are represented by the archipelago and around the world. Ana Isabel D’Arruda also spoke very highly of Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues.”

In addition to Maria Amélia Lopes (O Senhor Administrador), Isabel Medina (Em Férias), Álamo Oliveira (Les Noces Sans Figura), and Victor Rui Dores (“O Cortejo dos Reis Magos) are also authors of prefaces.

About Amando Côrtes-Rodrigues, Pedro Paulo Câmara writes in the introductory note that “Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues, Azorean poet and member of the Orpheu1 group, the magazine that would forever engrave his name alongside the Portuguese modernists, dedicated a significant part of his literary creation to theater, using it as a means of artistic expression and a tool for cultural preservation.” (…)

Pedro Paulo Câmara is a researcher, writer, and poet

Pedro Paulo Câmara has a degree in Portuguese-English from the University of the Azores, with a specialization course in Intercultural Studies – Island Dynamics. He has a master’s degree in Multidisciplinary Portuguese Studies.

He is the author of Perfumes (2011), Saliências (2013), Cinzas de Sabrina (2014), published by Casa do Homem Sem Voz (2016), Contos da Imprudência (2020), Violante de Cysneiros: o outro lado do Espelho de Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues? (2021), his master’s thesis. He is also the author of critical editions of Auto do Espírito Santo by Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues (2023) and Violante Cysneiros: obra reunida (2024), and has contributed to anthologies such as Entre o Sono e o Sonho; O Lado de Dentro do Lado de Dentro; Colectânea Literária I, by the Academia de Letras e Artes de Portugal; O Livro da Amizade; Luz de Natal; Ideários I, II e III, Avós, Raízes e Nós, among others.

In 2022, he served as the curator of the Armando Côrtes-Rodrigues: Reflexos exhibition and the scientific coordinator of the exhibition catalog. In 2023 and 2024, he was the scientific coordinator of the Literary Encounters of Ponta Delgada.

He was vice-president of the International Association of Lusophone Colloquiums, of which he has been a member since 2015. He is a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Letters and Arts of Portugal; a Member of the Brazilian Society of Aldravianist Poets, and, since 2020, a member of the Portuguese PEN Club.

Marco Sousa is a journalist for Correio dos Açores, under the direction of Natalino Viveiros.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publications at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks the Luso-American Education Foundation for their support.