A prolific novelist, dramatist, poet, and literary critic, José Régio is the leading figure of the Presença movement, which dominated the Portuguese literary scene from 1927 until 1940--that is, between the Orpheu generation and neorealism. The Presença writers had a deep concern with psychological and metaphysical questions and adopted an aesthetic posture based on the well-known axiom "art for art's sake." They did not accept any form of compromise with religious, political, or ethical principles, because they believed that such an attitude would affect artistic freedom and authenticity. For them, literature had to be completely personal and sincere in order to be genuine.

Régio was born José Maria dos Reis Pereira in Vila do Conde, in the north of Portugal, on 17 September 1901 to José Maria Pereira Sobrinho and Maria da Conceição Reis Pereira. Pereira spent...