Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935), the Portuguese poet, literary critic, and essayist, is one of the most significant literary figures of the twentieth century. He wrote not only under his own name but under over a hundred others (including Alexander Search, Alberto Caeiro, Álvaro de Campos, Ricardo Reis, and Bernardo Soares). Antonio Cardiello is a researcher in Philosophy and Comparative Literature at NOVA University Lisbon’s Institute of Philosophy. Jerónimo Pizarro is a professor at the Universidad de los Andes and editor-in-chief of Pessoa Plural—A Journal of Fernando Pessoa Studies. For her translations of Spanish and Portuguese, Margaret Jull Costa has won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize four times as well as the Premio Valle-Inclán, the International Dublin Literary Award, and the 2008 PEN Prize for best translation from any language for The Maias, by Eça de Queirós (New Directions, 2007). A poet, translator, and editor, Patricio Ferrari has translated the works of Fernando Pessoa and Alejandra Pizarnik, among others.
"""Arguably, the four greatest poets in the Portuguese language were all Pessoa using different names."" -- NPR ""Pessoa’s amazing personality is as beguiling and mysterious as his unique poetic output."" -- William Boyd ""As searing as Rilke or Mandelstam."" -- The New York Times"