A Literary Inheritance
By Imogen Sykes
Edited by Naomi Adam
Following the recent release of The Letters Page Volume 5, members of the web and production teams are taking a closer look at some of the letters that made it to print. Their reflections offer a sneak preview of the pieces included in the new edition, and the wide-ranging themes they explore. Today, we explore the city of Óbidos through Alexandre de Sousa’s beautiful descriptions of what it’s like to live in and amongst literary tradition.
Often, the act of inheritance entails a passing on of one’s wealth. A bestowing of money, property, or material possessions to build better foundations for those who come next. Certainly, these are the primary concerns when writing one’s will – who will have the house? The car? The monetary lump sum? There is likely to be little mention of a lifetime-long stamp collection, or even the letters from which they came. These items of great sentimental value are typically neglected when it comes to inheritance.
In Óbidos, however, there is a place for the sentimental – namely, the legacy of literature. Alexandre de Sousa, who writes from this charming medieval town in the latest print issue of The Letters Page, describes it as follows:
‘Viewed from outside, it is a fairytale landscape. […] From inside, it is a house with many doors. Every reader who comes here enters through one of them. Every writer who departs leaves a new one ajar for whoever comes next.’
Alexandre pictures Óbidos as a world of literature that readers and writers alike both inherit and impart, the literary legacy renewed with each passing of the baton. Its streets, filled with old churches converted into bookshops, libraries, literary cafes and the like reveal the paper tradition distilled from the town’s iconic stone ramparts. In his letter, Alexandre illuminates the Livraria Santiago bookshop and the Casa José Saramago municipal library as two of the town’s most impressive literary landmarks. Beyond this, it is the readers embarking on poetic walking routes, and the houses opened up for the Óbidos international literary festival FOLIO that potently speak of a community and culture eclipsed by words.
Reading and writing in Óbidos are more than just an old legacy handed down – they are an active cultural practice that is shared between generations, connecting young and old. One particularly important focus in the town is curating literary interest in schools and students; young people are given opportunities to involve themselves with the wider literary community through events like FOLIO, and unique activities like writing workshops. Even after school has finished for the day, students can find themselves continuing their literary excursions attending reading groups in neighbouring villages: Óbidos’ love of the page has inscribed itself far beyond its own medieval cobbles. Alexandre proudly states:
‘Literature has become a social practice, not a luxury – it’s bread and wine, the things we share at the table.’
Literature is memorialised in the town’s streets, certainly, but it lives in the people – and not just those local to it. Visitors are equally welcomed into Óbidos and invited to bask in its literary light. In his letter, Alexandre recalls a time he and his friend produced a ‘poetic map’ of the town, in which they used verses and memories in place of streets and monuments. Afterwards, they encouraged visitors to purposefully get lost in the nooks and crannies of Óbidos – an activity the French would refer to as flânerie – hoping they might better discover the town’s story their own way:
‘if you get lost, you always end up finding something. Every square is a chapter, every fountain a footnote, every cat an allegory.’
The joy, love and appreciation Alexandre and his fellow people of Óbidos have for their City of Literature is undeniable, and something that is extended to all those who happen upon its magic. Alexandre extends a hand to Nottingham in his letter as a sister city in ‘the network of creative cities’, relating the privilege he feels to live freely in and amongst books. His claim that living in a City of Literature, that listening to books in resistance to the incessant noise of modern life, helping to make the world ‘an inhabitable place’ is one that we can all agree with.
From inheritance, to sharing, to memories carried beyond its stone walls, the legacy of literature in Óbidos has knitted together a community that values stories – be it their creation, their consumption, or both – and that understands these stories as a key to happiness. In Óbidos, a book is more than just words on a page – it is an integral part of life.
Interested in making your own poetic map of a town? The Letters Page team are back in the office, and ready to read your real letters again. We publish stories, essays, poems, memoir, reportage, criticism, recipes, travelogues, and any hybrid forms, so long as they come to us in the form of a letter. We are looking for writers of all nationalities and ages, both established and emerging.
Your letter must be sent in the post, to:
The Letters Page, School of English, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
See our submissions page for more information.
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