Each day, a page. Each page, a moon. Each moon, Álamo.

Proclamation of Condolence from the President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores

The President of the Azores’ Legislative Assembly expresses deep sorrow on the death of Azorean writer Álamo Oliveira.

Translated by Katharine F. Baker

The President of the Assembleia Legislativa da Região Autónoma dos Açores [Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores], Luís Garcia, extends his profound condolences on the death of Azorean poet and writer José Henrique Álamo Oliveira, who passed away today, July 6, at the age of 80, in the Hospital de Santo Espírito on Terceira after a long illness.

A son of the village of Raminho, Terceira, where he was born in May 1945, Álamo Oliveira stood out as one of the most important figures in contemporary Azorean literature. He began his studies in Philosophy at the Angra do Heroísmo Seminary, and served in the military in Guinea-Bissau between 1967 and 1969 — experiences that would come to influence his literary output.

He dedicated his working life to culture, first as a cataloguer at the Angra Public Library and Regional Archives from 1970 to 1971, and then as an administrative officer at the Azores’ Regional Department of Studies and Planning. In 1982, he transferred to the Regional Directorate of Culture, and after retirement was invited to collaborate with the Regional Directorate of Communities, until 2010.

He was a founding member of the Alpendre theater group (1976), where he served as artistic and stage director. He published approximately forty books of poetry, novels, short stories, plays and essays. He has been included in more than a dozen anthologies of poetry and narrative fiction.

His novel Até Hoje (Memórias de Cão), now in its third edition, received the Maré Viva Award from the Seixal City Council in 1985. In 1999 he received the Almeida Garrett/Teatro award for his play A Solidão da Casa do Regalo. Some of his poetry and prose has been translated into English, French, Spanish, Italian, Slovenian, and Croatian. His novel Já Não Gosto de Chocolates [I No Longer Like Chocolates] has been translated and published in English and Japanese. The Portuguese Studies Program at the University of California Berkeley invited him to serve as its Writer in Residence in Spring 2002, teaching his own work to Portuguese-speaking students, the first Portuguese person to receive such an honor.

In the field of visual arts, he exhibited work at individual and group exhibitions in Angra do Heroísmo, Ponta Delgada, Lisbon, Porto and Guinea-Bissau from the 1960s to the 1980s — and created more than one hundred book covers.

In 2010 he was awarded the following distinctions: the Insígnia Autonómica de Reconhecimento from the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Regional Government of the Azores; and the Grau de Comendador da Ordem de Mérito from the President of the Republic of Portugal. In 2017, Companhia das Ilhas began publishing his fiction, plays and poetry.

His life and work have had a profound impact on Azorean culture, leaving a literary legacy of great significance to the archipelago’s identity.

Luís Garcia, in his personal capacity and on behalf of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, expresses deepest condolences and sympathies to his family.

— Horta, July 6, 2025