Lidia Jorge

Lídia Jorge, born in 1946 in Boliqueime in Portugal’s Algarve, is a Portuguese writer. She studied Romance languages and literature in Lisbon and spent several years in Angola and Mozambique during Portugal’s colonial war. After returning to Portugal, she taught at a secondary school, worked for the Ministry of Education and lectured in literature at the University of Lisbon. Her first two novels, The Day of the Prodigies (1980) and The Shore of the Sirens (1982), established her as an important voice in contemporary Portuguese literature. Other notable works include The Murmuring Coast, The Garden Without Limits and Mercy. Jorge has received numerous awards, including the Grande Prémio SPA/Millennium for lifetime achievement, the Prix Médicis étranger and France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.