On June 14, the Lisbon Book Fair hosted the launch of the 2nd volume of "Biographies in the Feminine", by Maria Ondina Braga.
This edition was the responsibility of researchers Isabel Cristina Mateus (University of Minho, CEHUM) and Claire Williams (University of Oxford) and Isabel Cristina Mateus and Cândido Oliveira Martins (Portuguese Catholic University - Braga, CEFH) coordinated the complete work.
The event was attended by the Director of the Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda, Dr. Duarte Azinheiro, who spoke of the opportunity for this book to be included in the State publishing house's plan due to its quality, while also highlighting the support provided by the Municipality of Braga.
In a more personal and emotional approach, the writer Lídia Jorge highlighted some of the stereotypes that prevented the writer from being recognized in depth for a long time, as well as underlining the manifest qualities of the re-edition of Ondina Braga's work and, above all, the novelties that this volume of Biographies in the Feminine contains for today's reader.
At the end of the session, Isabel Cristina Mateus put the process of preparing this volume into context and drew attention to the lengthy work of discovering and organizing the unpublished works that are now being published. "When we highlight the important work of the "Três Marias (Novas Cartas Portuguesas)" and commemorate the 50th anniversary of April, Maria Ondina Braga must recognize herself in this important process of transformation of mentalities, culture and Portuguese literature."
