Selected Poems of Corsino Fortes (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780914671114)

Corsino Fortes is a poet and a diplomat. Born on the Cape Verdean island of S縊 Vicente in 1933, his early work appeared in Claridade (Clarity), a journal that defined Cape Verdean literary identity from the later 1930s to 1960. Fortes' first full poetry collection Pao & Fonema (Bread & Phoneme) was published in 1974. The poet's use of Cape Verdean Creole - and not just standard Portuguese - is a powerful statement reinforcing the idea of the islands' distinctive African nature. Fortes studied in Portugal and spent much of his life abroad on diplomatic service - most notably in Angola and Lisbon.