Portuguese American Journal

Portuguese American Journal

Featured Stories
Honor | Writer João Pedro Vala recipient of the PEN/O. Henry Award Space | Portugal launches satellites honoring national literary figures Community | 2026 International Portuguese Music Awards (IPMA)  Community | Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho remains on paid leave FLAD | Carlos Costa Neves appointed director of the Luso-American Development Foundation
 

Honor | Writer João Pedro Vala recipient of the PEN/O. Henry Award – New York, NY

Portuguese writer João Pedro Vala has been awarded a prestigious PEN/O. Henry Award for his short story “Inês,” a recognition widely regarded as one of the highest honors in English-language short fiction. The first Portuguese author to receive that distinction, his short story ‘Inês’ was selected for inclusion in the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories anthology. […]

Space | Portugal launches satellites honoring national literary figures – Santa Barbara, CA

Portugal successfully launched six satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, US. The mission reinforces Portugal’s growing role in the global space economy, while also strengthening strategic, scientific, and economic links across the Atlantic. Among the satellites are four named after some of the nation’s most celebrated literary figures […]

Community | 2026 International Portuguese Music Awards (IPMA)  – Providence, RI

The International Portuguese Music Awards (IPMA) will return on Saturday, April 25, 2026, for its 14th annual edition at the Providence Performing Arts Center, bringing together leading artists from across the global Portuguese-speaking world.  The event, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and hosted by Daniella Ruah and Ricardo Farias, will be broadcast internationally, continuing its mission […]

Community | Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho remains on paid leave – Los Angeles, CA

Alberto M. Carvalho, the Portuguese-American superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), remains on paid administrative leave following a federal investigation involving the nation’s second-largest school system.  The move comes after agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed search warrants at Carvalho’s residence and district offices in late February 2026, in […]

FLAD | Carlos Costa Neves appointed director of the Luso-American Development Foundation – Portugal

The Board of Trustees of Lisbon based, Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) appointed Dr. Carlos Henrique da Costa Neves, 72, to the Executive Board, chaired since January 15, 2026, by José Manuel Durão Barroso. Born in Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira, Azores,  Costa Neves holds a degree in Law from the University of Lisbon. He has held […]

Essay: Holy Ghost Feasts in the California Diaspora – By Reinaldo Silva

05 May 2021

This essay aims at analyzing the traditions associated with the observance of the Holy Ghost celebrations in the California diasporic communities and the way in which these festivities have been an impulse for some of the literary writings produced by three American writers whose ancestors hailed from the island of Terceira, namely the following ones: […]

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Posted in Arts&Culture, Azores, Books, Community, Featured, Heritage, Organizations, People, Portugal, Religion, World

May 5th: ‘World Portuguese Language Day’ celebrated in 50 countries – Portugal

05 May 2021

The World Portuguese Language Day is being celebrated in 50 countries with more than 159 cultural activities worldwide. Portuguese is one of the few languages in the world with the status of a “global language” since it has more than 10 million speakers among the more than 7,000 living languages. This year, the Portuguese city […]

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Posted in Arts&Culture, Community, Featured, Heritage, Organizations, Portugal, World

Book: ‘Sea Loves Me: Selected Stories’ by Mia Couto – Editor’s Note

04 May 2021

Known internationally for his novels, Neustadt Prize-winner Mia Couto first became famous for his short stories. Sea Loves Me includes sixty-four of his best, thirty-six of which appear in English for the first time. Covering the entire arc of Couto’s career, this collection displays the Mozambican author’s inventiveness, sensitivity, and social range with greater richness […]

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Posted in Books, Featured, Heritage, Mozambique, People, Portugal

How Free? The pressures on press freedom – by Len Port

03 May 2021

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres promotes World Press Freedom Day annually on 3rd May to raise awareness of the fundamental importance of press freedom and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Journalists and media workers are […]

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Posted in Featured, Heritage, Organizations, People, Portugal, World

Frank Ferreira: Legally challenging Portugal’s electoral system – Interview

23 April 2021

By Carolina Matos, Editor Frank Ferreira is a proud Portuguese American, with dual citizenship, who believes that Portugal’s (including the Açores and Madeira) current electoral system is impractical, injurious, unfair, discriminatory, and unconstitutional for the Portuguese living abroad. In short, what we have is an abridgement of constitutional rights. Ferreira also believes that the solution […]

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Posted in Community, Featured, Heritage, Interviews, Organizations, People, Politics, Portugal, World

Book: ‘Pessoa: A Biography’ by Richard Zenith – Editor’s Note

23 April 2021

Like Richard Ellmann’s James Joyce, Richard Zenith’s Pessoa immortalizes the life of one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. Eighty-five years after his wrenching death in a cramped Lisbon apartment, where he left more than 25,000 manuscript sheets in a wooden trunk, Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) remains one of the most enigmatic and underappreciated poets of the twentieth century. Celebrated […]

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Posted in Arts&Culture, Books, Featured, Heritage, People, Portugal, World