Francisco Guedes, a pivotal figure in Portugal’s literary scene, was a co-founder of the Húmus publishing label and the Correntes d’Escritas Festival in Póvoa de Varzim. Known for his involvement with the Asa publishing house and various other festival projects, he was also an author in his own right.
“As an editor, he worked often with little-known names and small print runs, enhancing the diversity of Portuguese literary production. Correntes, our most successful literary festival, reinvented ways of engaging with writers and cultivating audiences,” remarked President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in a statement on the Presidential website.
Francisco Guedes passed away on Monday at the age of 75, as announced by Húmus, the publishing house he co-founded and for which he coordinated the 12catorze collection.
Born in Matosinhos, Porto district, in July 1949, Guedes was the son of actor João Guedes and brother of actress Paula Guedes. He created the Correntes d’Escritas literary festival, which he proposed to the Póvoa de Varzim City Council in 1999, leading to its first edition in 2000, with Guedes continuing as its organizer and director.
Guedes played a foundational role in other literary festivals in northern Portugal, including LeV – Literature in Travel, first held at the Florbela Espanca Municipal Library in Matosinhos in 2006, and FLiD – Douro Literary Festival, which held its sixth edition last year at the Espaço Miguel Torga, São Martinho da Anta, Sabrosa, Vila Real district.
His connection to the world of books began in 1986 with Edições Asa, where he remained as an editor until the mid-1990s. He was pivotal in unveiling new authors and in special publications, such as the catalog dedicated to artist Gracinda Candeias, “A Pintura na Pele” (1992).
In the 1990s, Guedes ventured into publishing numerous books with the newspaper Público, focusing on Portuguese gastronomy. Using his name and the pseudonym Dulce Salgado, he explored various culinary themes, infusing them with introductions and annotations of literary merit.
His gastronomic works continued with Dom Quixote in the early 2000s, producing titles like the “Annual Guide to Portuguese Restaurants,” “Traditional Portuguese Recipes,” and “100 Ways to Cook Cod and Other Fish.” He carried this theme to other publishers, expanding to titles such as “202 Ways to Cook Pork” with Livros d’Hoje, and “123 Recipes of Portuguese Cuisine – Soups, Açordas, and Migas” with Húmus.
Publishing remained a cornerstone of his career, with works like the poetry anthology “A poesia é tudo,” created in partnership with the Póvoa de Varzim City Council as part of Correntes d’Escritas, and joining the founding group of Húmus editions.
Since 2020, he coordinated the 12catorze collection at Húmus, publishing works by authors such as António Hess, José Guardado Moreira, Ricardo Belo Morais, Isabel Cristina Pires, António Carlos Cortez, António Cândido Franco, Francisco Duarte Mangas, José Viale Moutinho, Fernando Mora Ramos, Jacinto Lucas Pires, Francisco Luís Parreira, Gaëlle Istanbul, António Cabrita, and others.
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