Advanced Training Course in Creative Writing
New/Old Poetics


Biographic Notes

Maria Irene Ramalho de Sousa Santos. Full Professor at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at FLUC and researcher at the Centre for Social Studies - Associate Laboratory. Scientific Coordinator of the doctoral programmes in American Studies and Feminist Studies, she is, since 1999, International Affiliate at the Department of Compared Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has published widely , in Portuguese and English, on themes of English language literature and culture (specially focusing on  poetry from the United States), American studies, compared literature, poetic theory, cultural studies and feminist studies. Among her present fields of greater interest, we call attention to the studies on Modernism and Modernity, compared studies on poetry, poetics and philosophy, American studies theory and feminism theory.

Anna Reckin has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota and a PhD in the Poetics Programme at SUNY, Buffalo. She now lives in Norwich, England, where she is an Associate Tutor at the University of East Anglia and follows her research interests in landscape and experimental Anglophone poetry. Her poetry has appeared in magazines in the UK and the US, including Shearsman, How2 and Chain. Her first book, Broder, an artists-book collaboration, won a Minnesota Book award; a pamphlet, Spill, appeared in 2004. She is presently Poet-in-Residence at the University of Coimbra.

Graça Capinha. Professor at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at FLUC. After several years participating in the Poetics Program of SUNY, Buffalo (with Robert Creeley, Susan Howe and Charles Bernstein), she was responsible for introducing the field of Creative Writing in this School (1997). She is researcher at CES - Associate Laboratory, coordinating, presently, the inter- and transdisciplinary collective project “New Poetics of Resistance:  the 21st Century in Portugal” (CES/FCT). She coordinates the group “Poetry Workshop” (FLUC/CES) and runs the same name journal (1997-). She also coordinates the Programme “Poets in Residence” at FLUC (sponsored by the Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova).

Manuel Portela. Professor at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the school of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra. Translated, among others, Laurence Sterne, William Blake and Samuel Beckett. With John Havelda and Isabel Patim, recently organized and translated Pullllllllllllllllllllllllll: Poesia Contemporânea do Canadá (2010). Experimental Poet and performer. Author of the site DigLitWeb: Digital Literature Web  http://www.ci.uc.pt/diglit/ (2005-2010).

John Mateer`s most recent publications are Ex-White (Sisyphus), his collected South African poems, The Language, a translation from Afrikaans and into Persian with Layli Rakhsha (privately published), and the forthcoming The West (Fremantle Press), twenty years of his Australian poems, and Namban (t41), poems on the Portuguese empire. He was brought up in South Africa and Canada, and now lives in Australia. He is presently Poet-in-Residence at the University of Coimbra.

Bruno Santos is concluding his degree in Modern Languages, FLUC. “Militant” in two poetic groups, “Poetry Workshop” and “aranhiças & elefantes”. He has published poems in the journals Oficina de Poesia, Confraria do Vento (Brazil), Callema and Via Latina. He has come to develop an ever greater interest in creative exploration and theoretical exploration of experimental poetic languages, such as visual poetry, sound poetry, poerformance and digital poetry and hypermedia.

Cristina Néry holds a degree in Modern Languages and Literatures, at the University of Coimbra, is junior-researcher at the Centre for Social Studies since 2007, having participated in the IV Cycle Young Social Scientists. She is part of the group “Poetry Workshop” since 1995, and has carried out several public readings and conducted several workshops in Creative writing throughout the country. In 2005, she published the book Ciclo das Sedas and worked with the theatre director Celso Cleto.

Rita Grácio holds a master’s degree in Sociology at the Scholl of Economics, university of Coimbra and is junior researcher at the Centre for Social Studies since 2008. Member of the group “Poetry Workshop” since 2003, she has been published in  the journals Oficina de Poesia, Sulscrito, Debaixo do Bulcão and was represented in the poetry and design exhibition Poesia Quase Anónima (Mercado Negro, Aveiro). She is co-founder of the group/blog “aranhiças & elefantes”, in 2007. She has done performances and conducted writing workshops.