‘The academic separation of journalism and literature only suits journalists who write poorly.’ José Cardoso Pires (interview with Inês Pedrosa, in the newspaper Expresso — 12/20/1997)

I have always been against those who advocate a separation between journalism and literature.

If we examine the matter historically, we see there has always been a standing interaction between books and newspapers. In fact, when you think about it, books and newspapers were born under the curse of censorship. For example, in the 16th century, while the Inquisition threw books into the fire, an “Ea Est” papal bull cutting off the sinful hand of unsubmissive chroniclers (journalists).

Journalists versus novelists? There is no incompatibility between journalism and literature. Let’s look at some examples of authors for whom this distinction never existed.

● The great poet and playwright Almeida Garrett [1799-1854] founded and directed the newspapers O Portuguêz and O Entreato, was editor of the weekly A Regeneração, and collaborated on the daily O Português Constitucional.

● The prolific writer Camilo Castelo Branco [1825-90] was a journalist. As editor-in-chief of the newspapers O Porto and Aurora do Lima he collaborated with several periodicals, notably A Nação and O Imparcial.

● The great novelist Eça de Queiroz [1845-1900] had strong journalistic collaborations with Gazeta de Portugal, O Distrito de Évora and Gazeta de Notícias do Rio de Janeiro.

● Ramalho Ortigão [1836-1915] dedicated himself heart and soul to journalism (Jornal do Porto and O Correio), and throughout his life collaborated on many other periodicals. As Farpas, for which he and Eça de Queiroz wrote, are nothing less than both journalism and literature of the highest caliber.

● Raul Brandão [1867-1930], author of As Ilhas Desconhecidas, produced excellent journalism for the weekly newspaper O Micróbio and the magazines Brasil-Portugal, Revista Nova, Serões and Homens Livres.

● More recently, Nobel laureate in Literature José Saramago  was involved with newspapers, having directed Diário de Notícias and collaborated on Diário de Lisboa.

(À propos of this, I take a moment here to mention another Nobel laureate in Literature: the Colombian Gabriel Garcia Márquez, who even after being awarded the prize continued writing regularly for El País, stating on numerous occasions that he had never ceased to be a journalist. Authors like Fielding, Proust, Hemingway and Capote, among others in the Anglo-Saxon world,  were in tune with his sentiment).

There is a whole tradition of journalists in Portugal who dedicated themselves to literature while never abandoning newspapers — Jorge de Sena, Augusto Abelaira, Stau Monteiro, Baptista Bastos, Alçada Baptista, Alexandre O’Neill, José Cardoso Pires, Carlos Pinhão, Mário Castrim, Mário Zambujal, Fernando Dacosta and Fernando Assis Pacheco, among many other journalist-literati.

In current times many journalists stand out in literature, combining columns, novels, and journalistic research with creative writing: Manuel António Pina, José Jorge Letria, Miguel Sousa Tavares, Clara Ferreira Alves, Inês Pedrosa, José Rodrigues dos Santos, Francisco José Viegas and Isabel Stilwell, among others.

In the Azores, the cultural movement that arose in the city of Horta in the late 19th century and first quarter of the 20th stands out. This movement is inseparable and inextricable from the development of press publishing on the island of Faial, where journalistic writing decisively influenced literary writing, giving rise to a stellar cluster of first-rate prose writers and poets: João José da Graça, Roberto de Mesquita, Manuel Garcia Monteiro, Manuel Joaquim Dias, Florêncio Terra, Manuel Zerbone, Nunes da Rosa and Ernesto Rebelo, among others.

Such literary journalism bore fruit in the Azores in the 20th and 21st centuries, with particular emphasis on the widely recognized names of Manuel Ferreira, Pedro da Silveira, Eduardo Jorge Brum, Carlos Tomé, Sidónio Bettencourt and Joel Neto, among others.

That said, my conclusion is this: The experience gained by many authors in newspaper newsrooms streamlined their writing. That is why I still do not understand the separation that some want to see established between writers and journalists, as if they were different and antagonistic entities.

Originally published as “Jornalismo versus Literatura? ‘A separação académica jornalismo-literatura só convém aos jornalistas que escrevem mal.’ José Cardoso Pires (entrevista a Inês Pedrosa, jornal Expresso. – 20/12/1997″) on Graciosa Digital and here on Filamentos artes e letras.