Behind the Stars, More Stars: The Tagus/Disquiet Collection of New Luso-American Writing

by Christopher Larkosh (Editor), Oona Patrick (Editor)

Presenting experimental and boundary-breaking prose from women, people of color, and LGBTQ writers, Behind the Stars, More Stars imagines a more diverse and inclusive Luso-American and Portuguese-American literary scene, which has traditionally been dominated by male voices. Since its first "Writing the Luso Experience" workshops were held in 2011, Dzanc Books's Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon has aimed to break silences within today's Luso-American communities. Disquiet faculty Katherine Vaz and Frank X. Gaspar appear alongside up-and-coming writers from the workshops, such as Traci Brimhall, Megan Fernandes, Hugo Dos Santos, and previously unpublished women writers.

264 pages, Paperback

Published March 5, 2019

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

You think you know the names and the stories that are going to come out of Portuguese American writers. Charming tales of village life, right? No. This wonderful collection of prose, which I read in three days, touches on everything from racism to sexual abuse, and the stories take place all over the world. We read about a single mother and her children cleaning toilets to survive, about people from the former Portuguese colony of Goa in India torn between two countries, and about a rainbow of adopted kids gathering for an annual reunion. Well-known Portuguese author Katherine Vaz grips our hearts with a little girl named Birdie, and another popular Luso writer Frank X. Gaspar echoes the late Jose Saramago with a story that is all one sentence. The authors are all connected by the annual Disquiet program in Lisbon, for which participants are chosen based on their work. Whether or not you’re Portuguese, these stories are worth reading.

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning collection, not to be missed by Luso-American readers and writers.