by Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta, and Maria Velho da Costa (The Three Marias)

Maria Isabel Barreno (b. 1939), Maria Teresa Horta (b. 1937), and Maria Velho da Costa (b. 1938) were all born in Lisbon. Since all three names began the same way, the women came to be known collectively as “The Three Marias” when referred to in connection with their collaborative work. By the 1970s, they had already published individual works on women in contemporary Portugal. Maria Velho da Costa and Maria Isabel Barreno had both written novels (Maina Mendes [1969] and Os outros legítimos superiores [1970], respectively) that featured women defying traditional bourgeois patriarchal family structures. Maria Teresa Horta’s early literary career focused more on poetry, specifically erotic verse expressing women’s right to enjoy their sexuality, an assertion that also found its way into her collection of poems Minha Senhora de Mim...