“A ship is a piece of floating space” --Sally Ashton

So said Michel Foucault in Different Spaces.

I arrived in Lisbon Saturday by airship—the jet—a kind of airborne floating space, “a non-place going places,” a placeless place that is at once threshold and destination, neither “here” nor yet “there,” time traveling between zones, continents, and consciousness, across 5600 miles and hours that expanded, contracted. I flew,

to “—Lisbon, the Tagus, and the rest—
A useless onlooker of you and of myself,
A foreigner here like everywhere else, —”          
                Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

Disquieted, I came to Disquiet: Dzanc Books International Literary Program, a brand new, two week literary and cultural conference held in Lisbon, where I will teach and be taught, engage with the heritage of Portuguese literature, contemporary writers, and the rich and vibrant Portuguese culture.

I will bring highlights, hoping to prove a more useful onlooker than the native son Pessoa, above, suggests. It has taken these few days to disembark from traveling’s “non-place,” but I feel on terra firma today and look forward to bringing news of Lisbon to you. But now, “The morning unfurls itself upon the city,” and I’m off to find breakfast before my workshop begins. How about a little music to go out on.

 

Comments

[Kelly Cressio-Moeller]

Cool quote from Michel Foucault! Looking forward to your always engaging reportage and musings, Sally. Good your jet legs are settling, your 'ship' anchored in Lisboa. Thanks for the fado - Cesaria's a fave any time of day. Happy teaching...and learning...and sharing.

kcm

[The Best American Poetry]

I'm jealous. I was in Portugal as a young teenager. It was the first place I had grilled sardines; a kind of gazpacho that was like no other, and better, than any I've had since; a croissant; and real coffee (not all in the same meal). We traveled the country and at one point stayed in a hotel on a hillside. In the morning, I could hear the "bread man" pushing his metal cart filled with fresh loaves up the hill. The bread looked as if it had been a big disc of dough folded in half and it was delicious. I still have a beautiful cotton blanket and a sweater from Portugal. What a wonderful place. And the boys were beyond handsome. I'm looking forward to your posts, Sally. Thanks.
Stacey

[Lisa]

Hi Sally, thank you for that incredibly beautiful song. Like Stacey, I wish I could be there, too. I had a magical trip to Portugal in my late 20s with a girlfriend of mine who was "given" a two-week trip to anywhere of her choosing from her law firm as a reward for winning a case. She got to take a friend. She chose Portugal and Me. I was very lucky! I hope you will go to the Algarve. OMG is that ever beautiful. And I am forgetting the name of the northern forest area (see my post today on menopause!) Anyway, have a fantastic time at the conference and please send more music if you have time!

[Pushpa]

Needless to say, Sally, I'll be enjoying your experience in Portugal vicariously.

Thank you for that gorgeous piece of music-Saudade.

Saudade: the feeling of missing something you love while knowing that its likelihood of return is unknowable and entirely left to fate...Beautiful, isn't it? I read this in a Portuguese blog...

[Marjorie]

Poetry in Portugal--lovely! Brings back memories of my trip to Spain and Portugal last October, where I experienced Fado music--sad, melancholy tunes which evoked emotional reactions without even understanding the words. Wish I were there!