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Azul Cobalto
A poetisa, ficcionista e jornalista portuguesa Maria Teresa Horta está lançando no Brasil ‘Azul Cobalto’, livro de contos editado pela editora Oficina Raquel (Rio de Janeiro). Uma das mais importantes figuras da literatura portuguesa, Maria Teresa Horta conjuga com perfeição a luta feroz pelas causas que defende e o fulgor da escrita. Com um vasto e diferenciado acervo literário que inclui poesia e prosa, a obra da escritora tem o erotismo e a intervenção social como temas constantes.
‘Azul Cobalto’ reúne 12 contos que foram publicados em Portugal: ‘Lídia’, ‘Calor’, ‘Uriel’, ‘A princesa espanhola’, ‘Com a mão firme e doce’, ‘Raízes’, ‘Laura e Juliana’, ‘Efémera’, ‘Eclipse’, ‘Leonor e Teresa’, ‘Transfert’ e ‘Azul Cobalto’. A pedido de Maria Teresa Horta, a obra foi editada no Brasil com o texto original, no português de Portugal, porque a autora descorda do acordo ortográfico assinado entre os países lusófonos.
‘Azul Cobalto’ reúne 12 contos que foram publicados em Portugal: ‘Lídia’, ‘Calor’, ‘Uriel’, ‘A princesa espanhola’, ‘Com a mão firme e doce’, ‘Raízes’, ‘Laura e Juliana’, ‘Efémera’, ‘Eclipse’, ‘Leonor e Teresa’, ‘Transfert’ e ‘Azul Cobalto’. A pedido de Maria Teresa Horta, a obra foi editada no Brasil com o texto original, no português de Portugal, porque a autora descorda do acordo ortográfico assinado entre os países lusófonos.
186 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Maria Teresa Horta
73 books146 followersMaria Teresa de Mascarenhas Horta Barros was a Portuguese feminist poet, journalist and activist. She is one of the authors of the book Novas Cartas Portuguesas (New Portuguese Letters), together with Maria Isabel Barreno and Maria Velho da Costa. The authors, known as the "Three Marias," were arrested, jailed and prosecuted under Portuguese censorship laws in 1972, during the last years of the Estado Novo dictatorship. The book and their trial inspired protests in Portugal and attracted international attention from European and American women's liberation groups in the years leading up to the Carnation Revolution.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 19, 2022
Maria Teresa Horta nasceu em Lisboa a 20 de Maio de 1937, e conta entre os seus antepassados a célebre Marquesa de Alorna.
Saltou para a ribalta com a publicação, em conjunto com Maria Isabel Barreno e Maria Velho da Costa, da obra Novas Cartas Portuguesas, que denunciava a repressão e a censura do regime do Estado Novo, exaltando a condição feminina e a liberdade de valores para as mulheres.
A obra ficou não só na história de Portugal como também teve repercussões internacionais. Nos anos 70, num país fechado sobre si próprio, as Três Marias deram a volta ao mundo.
Azul Cobalto é uma compilação de 12 contos, que foram reunidos numa edição brasileira, e que a pedido da autora foram publicados com o texto original.
A escrita da MTH conquistou-me, achei-a belíssima e de uma riqueza que mostra bem a pujança da língua portuguesa.
Não há contos maus nesta compilação, são todos muito bons, mas como sempre há aqueles que por um motivo ou outro se tornam os favoritos:
Lídia, trata-se de um conto fantástico que narra o processo de superação do medo de Lídia, a protagonista, e sua transformação em ser alado.
Azul Cobalto, a relação de amor e ódio que a filha sentia pela mãe.
Agora é arranjar tempo para as Novas Cartas Portuguesas e para as 1072 páginas de As Luzes de Leonor.
Saltou para a ribalta com a publicação, em conjunto com Maria Isabel Barreno e Maria Velho da Costa, da obra Novas Cartas Portuguesas, que denunciava a repressão e a censura do regime do Estado Novo, exaltando a condição feminina e a liberdade de valores para as mulheres.
A obra ficou não só na história de Portugal como também teve repercussões internacionais. Nos anos 70, num país fechado sobre si próprio, as Três Marias deram a volta ao mundo.
Azul Cobalto é uma compilação de 12 contos, que foram reunidos numa edição brasileira, e que a pedido da autora foram publicados com o texto original.
A escrita da MTH conquistou-me, achei-a belíssima e de uma riqueza que mostra bem a pujança da língua portuguesa.
Não há contos maus nesta compilação, são todos muito bons, mas como sempre há aqueles que por um motivo ou outro se tornam os favoritos:
Lídia, trata-se de um conto fantástico que narra o processo de superação do medo de Lídia, a protagonista, e sua transformação em ser alado.
Azul Cobalto, a relação de amor e ódio que a filha sentia pela mãe.
Agora é arranjar tempo para as Novas Cartas Portuguesas e para as 1072 páginas de As Luzes de Leonor.
April 26, 2022
"Azul Cobalto" é um livro composto por 12 contos inicialmente publicados em Portugal, mas compilados e editados no Brasil.
Maria Teresa Horta tem uma escrita muito particular e agradável. Uma escrita mágica.
Estes contos são sobre mulheres. Mulheres fortes e misteriosas. Os contos acabam por estar subtilmente interligados entre si, proporcionando uma leitura bastante agradável.
Maria Teresa Horta tem uma escrita muito particular e agradável. Uma escrita mágica.
Estes contos são sobre mulheres. Mulheres fortes e misteriosas. Os contos acabam por estar subtilmente interligados entre si, proporcionando uma leitura bastante agradável.
August 8, 2017
"assim como para estender a mão e ir pousá-la de leve na tua perna semi-estendida a meu lado, no carro que nos leva pela cidade desconhecida, estrangeiras naquele país imenso, escutando eu vagamente o que dizer na pressa de fugires a ti mesma ou me fugires, tão incerta que estavas e eu estou do que poderia ter acontecido, mas assim ficou, somente: a minha ao entre as tuas;
guardada ou detida?
Coisa que jamais descobrirei, perto que estou agora de saber um pouco mais de mim, mas a encontrar-me perdida, de um outro modo longínguo,
para sempre irremedialvemente sozinha."
Livro lindo de contos sobre o feminino. Uma das indicações mais lindas que eu recebi esse ano. Mulheres bruxas, mulheres que criam asas, mulheres e filhas, mulheres e mulheres, mulheres e útero, mulheres e solidão. Sinto fruirei esse livro por dias e dias...
guardada ou detida?
Coisa que jamais descobrirei, perto que estou agora de saber um pouco mais de mim, mas a encontrar-me perdida, de um outro modo longínguo,
para sempre irremedialvemente sozinha."
Livro lindo de contos sobre o feminino. Uma das indicações mais lindas que eu recebi esse ano. Mulheres bruxas, mulheres que criam asas, mulheres e filhas, mulheres e mulheres, mulheres e útero, mulheres e solidão. Sinto fruirei esse livro por dias e dias...
April 6, 2025
Portuguese poet and activist María Teresa Horta died on 4 February 2025 at the age of 87. She was one of the three Maria’s that published “Novas Cartas Portugesas” that led to their arrests in 1972 in the last days of the Estado Novo dictatorship. Apart from poetry she also wrote short stories and this book was published in Brazil in 2014.
Reading “Azul Cobalta” is like reading poetry. At times light and ephemeral; at times right to point. It’s often evocative and reflective. I also noted that there are flower references in every story. Make no mistake, all of these stories are tough to read. It’s not pretty: from physical violence to mental hardships. Women living under the male gaze. Young to old there is as much pain as there is joy. Forbidden and lost, tears and blood, loves lost and never found. A mother, a daughter, wife and lover. Historical and fictional. All bound into this slim volume of stories. Definitely to be read!
Lidia
A woman develops a disturbing disease. After her fever subsides she eats like an animal, abandons her clothes and stops talking. She has dreams of trees and flowers, “E as hortênsias, num colorido intenso.” Her husband who can’t cope, sends her to a hospital, where things change dramatically.
Calor
The hot sensual heat of the day fills with images of the beach and even the vendor selling roses produces some very “hot” memories. “e só a rosa caída no tapete, desmanchada, desfolhada, perturba a organização da tarde.”
Leonor e Teresa
Teresa de Mello Breyner (1732-94) and Leonor de Almeida (1750-1839) were friends. Also known as Tirce and Alcipe, they loved each other’s company being big fans of literature. A happy day before things changed.
Uriel
Love is like a hunt. Hot and exhilarating. When it’s over, “ dorme, minha orquídea brava.”
A Princesa Espanhola
Carlota Joaquina,* princesa da Beira (1775-1830) spent every afternoon praying (bored to tears) in those stuffy chapels. At night vampires, werewolves and demons visited her dreams. “No me gustan los santos” she would cry. The scent of the gardens overwhelmed her. Her royal Portuguese fidalgas at the Palace of Queluz were stifling her.
She caught sight of an eagle drifting high in the wind. She needed to escape.
*she became Queen of Portugal when she married to João VI in 1816
Transfert
What gives us desire? What fills us with passion? What makes a woman wild?
“A tua mãe é uma maluco!” Did she take off with a man or she should be in a psychiatric hospital. Sexuality. Is it freedom or a prison?
The story references “Gabrielle d’Estrées et une de ses sœurs.” I saw the painting in the Louvre and is the cover of this book. She was the mistress of Henri IV of France and once again, another #Margot 17.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Raízes
Marquesa Leonor de Távora went to see a witch about Rei D. José. You see, she only wanted to rectify her name. Leonor and her entire Távora family were executed after being complicit in an assassination of the king in 1759. Can we really change our history?
Efémera
Ah, the green of the river stained with blue. “…olhávamos em silêncio o rio de um verde espesso manchado de azul-cobalto.” The narrator walks around Lisboa as her mother recites historical points of interest. She has an illness. We see the numbers on the wall. We also see the challenges of the daughter caring for her mother.
Com a mão firme e doce
One day Renata found her grandmother’s knife in the basement and cut herself with a firm and sweet hand. She was relegated to the safety of the upper floors. When Renata walked out of her house down to the beach. Her husband told her this wasn’t allowed, proibido. “Isso é rebeldia!” He shouted. Once books were burned; so too were women.
Her life was dead to her. She heard a metallic sound coming from her chest. What was that sound?
Eclipse
Living in the shadow of her extravagant mother, Laura kept saying, “Mais valia que ela tivesse morrido.” She had not died but maybe one day an eclipse will happen?
Laura e Juliana
Junot* embraced Juliana condessa de Ega (1782-1864) while Laura duquesa de Abrantes (1784-1838) kept a silent fury as a deceived woman. Juliana knew her luck would run out while Laura hatched her revenge. Can you blame Laura? Her husband attracted the ladies of the court. “Tenho por inimigas todas as mulheres que, conhecendo-me, tentam roubar o coração de meu marido.” This guy certainly has the looks. See link.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
*The same Junot who took Lisboa in 1807 on behalf of Napoleon. See “Carlota Ângela” by Camilo Castelo Branco
Azul-Cobalto
She had those eyes, cobalt blue.
“I should have killed her.” I should have drowned her in the bathtub. She reminded me of “those women” in Madama Butterfly. La Traviata, Madame Bovary.
A femme fatale? Perhaps she is more like her mother? Perhaps “A família era o seu único acidente real.”
Reading “Azul Cobalta” is like reading poetry. At times light and ephemeral; at times right to point. It’s often evocative and reflective. I also noted that there are flower references in every story. Make no mistake, all of these stories are tough to read. It’s not pretty: from physical violence to mental hardships. Women living under the male gaze. Young to old there is as much pain as there is joy. Forbidden and lost, tears and blood, loves lost and never found. A mother, a daughter, wife and lover. Historical and fictional. All bound into this slim volume of stories. Definitely to be read!
Lidia
A woman develops a disturbing disease. After her fever subsides she eats like an animal, abandons her clothes and stops talking. She has dreams of trees and flowers, “E as hortênsias, num colorido intenso.” Her husband who can’t cope, sends her to a hospital, where things change dramatically.
Calor
The hot sensual heat of the day fills with images of the beach and even the vendor selling roses produces some very “hot” memories. “e só a rosa caída no tapete, desmanchada, desfolhada, perturba a organização da tarde.”
Leonor e Teresa
Teresa de Mello Breyner (1732-94) and Leonor de Almeida (1750-1839) were friends. Also known as Tirce and Alcipe, they loved each other’s company being big fans of literature. A happy day before things changed.
Uriel
Love is like a hunt. Hot and exhilarating. When it’s over, “ dorme, minha orquídea brava.”
A Princesa Espanhola
Carlota Joaquina,* princesa da Beira (1775-1830) spent every afternoon praying (bored to tears) in those stuffy chapels. At night vampires, werewolves and demons visited her dreams. “No me gustan los santos” she would cry. The scent of the gardens overwhelmed her. Her royal Portuguese fidalgas at the Palace of Queluz were stifling her.
She caught sight of an eagle drifting high in the wind. She needed to escape.
*she became Queen of Portugal when she married to João VI in 1816
Transfert
What gives us desire? What fills us with passion? What makes a woman wild?
“A tua mãe é uma maluco!” Did she take off with a man or she should be in a psychiatric hospital. Sexuality. Is it freedom or a prison?
The story references “Gabrielle d’Estrées et une de ses sœurs.” I saw the painting in the Louvre and is the cover of this book. She was the mistress of Henri IV of France and once again, another #Margot 17.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Raízes
Marquesa Leonor de Távora went to see a witch about Rei D. José. You see, she only wanted to rectify her name. Leonor and her entire Távora family were executed after being complicit in an assassination of the king in 1759. Can we really change our history?
Efémera
Ah, the green of the river stained with blue. “…olhávamos em silêncio o rio de um verde espesso manchado de azul-cobalto.” The narrator walks around Lisboa as her mother recites historical points of interest. She has an illness. We see the numbers on the wall. We also see the challenges of the daughter caring for her mother.
Com a mão firme e doce
One day Renata found her grandmother’s knife in the basement and cut herself with a firm and sweet hand. She was relegated to the safety of the upper floors. When Renata walked out of her house down to the beach. Her husband told her this wasn’t allowed, proibido. “Isso é rebeldia!” He shouted. Once books were burned; so too were women.
Her life was dead to her. She heard a metallic sound coming from her chest. What was that sound?
Eclipse
Living in the shadow of her extravagant mother, Laura kept saying, “Mais valia que ela tivesse morrido.” She had not died but maybe one day an eclipse will happen?
Laura e Juliana
Junot* embraced Juliana condessa de Ega (1782-1864) while Laura duquesa de Abrantes (1784-1838) kept a silent fury as a deceived woman. Juliana knew her luck would run out while Laura hatched her revenge. Can you blame Laura? Her husband attracted the ladies of the court. “Tenho por inimigas todas as mulheres que, conhecendo-me, tentam roubar o coração de meu marido.” This guy certainly has the looks. See link.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
*The same Junot who took Lisboa in 1807 on behalf of Napoleon. See “Carlota Ângela” by Camilo Castelo Branco
Azul-Cobalto
She had those eyes, cobalt blue.
“I should have killed her.” I should have drowned her in the bathtub. She reminded me of “those women” in Madama Butterfly. La Traviata, Madame Bovary.
A femme fatale? Perhaps she is more like her mother? Perhaps “A família era o seu único acidente real.”
April 29, 2025
This poignant collection of short stories by the late Portuguese poet and activist Maria Teresa Horta, who passed away in February 2025, is a moving tribute to the resilience of women. At times lyrical and ephemeral, at others sharp and unflinching, the stories explore themes of love, violence, and endurance. Though often difficult to read, they are rich with emotional truth and subtle symbolism, forming a powerful and lasting legacy from one of Portugal’s most fearless literary voices.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews