‘Sete Mulheres, Sete Musas’ offers, through comic art, “an opportunity for a different readership to appreciate and understand the poetic richness of Camões,” states the work’s coordinator, Alexandra Lourenço Dias, in the book’s introduction.
The stories feature scripts by Pedro Moura in a free adaptation of Camões’ lyrics, with illustrations by Amanda Baeza, Daniela Viçoso, Miguel Rocha, Jorge Marinho, José Smith Vargas, Rita Mota, and Susa Monteiro.
The anthology includes characters such as Leonor, Dinamene, Bárbara, and Violante, women immortalized by Camões in poetry. Their influence, notes Alexandra Lourenço Dias, “has resonated over five centuries in the history of literature and other areas of Portuguese culture.”
Although various adaptations of Camões’ work have already been published, this transition to the comic format “has the potential to attract a younger, more diverse audience,” with the selected artists showcasing different stylistic and visual sensitivities in their approach.
Editor José de Freitas from A Seita/Comic Heart explained that the book is part of the celebrations for the 500th birth anniversary of Luís Vaz de Camões and received support from the Camões Institute for Cooperation and Language in London, under the direction of Alexandra Lourenço Dias.
Luís Vaz de Camões, believed to have been born in 1524 and died in 1580, is regarded as one of the greatest figures in world literature, with his extensive body of work still holding a prominent place in the history of Portuguese culture.
Other comics adaptations of his life and work include “Os Lusíadas” by José Ruy in 1983 and a recent version of this epic poem, released in 2024 with a script by Pedro Moura and illustrations by several authors, including Daniel Silvestre and Miguel Rocha.
In the children’s and young adult segment, recommended by the National Reading Plan, publications include ‘Camões, o super-herói da língua portuguesa’ (2010) by Maria Alberta Menéres, ‘Os Lusíadas para gente nova’ (2012) by Vasco Graça Moura, ‘Barbi-ruivo: O meu primeiro Camões’ (2007) by Manuel Alegre, and ‘Luís Vaz de Camões: Um poeta genial’ (2024) by Ana Maria Magalhães and Isabel Alçada.
