Bruma Publications, the publishing arm of the PBBI Institute at California State University, Fresno, will be publishing a collection of poetry in English by Cape Verdean author Vera Duarte in the coming weeks. A collaboration with Letras Lavadas in the Azores, this publication is part of Bruma Publications’ project to publish a collection of Lusophone authors. Between Words is a collection of poems by Vera Duarte in English, which, according to Diniz Borges, translator of the work and director of Bruma Publications, is related to the need for more Portuguese-speaking authors translated into English. “We think this will be an important book for courses on Lusophone culture and literature that are taught in English at various universities in the United States, including California State University, Fresno,” he added: “It’s also a way of spreading Vera Duarte’s poetry among the Cape Verdean diaspora in North America, and trying to bring it to the American and Canadian population.” The book will be launched in Cape Verde during a meeting of Macaronesian poetry, from November 13 to 16, and then in other locations. The translator adds that: “with a distinctive poetic style and a passion for the transformative power of the word, Vera Duarte is a central figure in Cape Verde’s literary scene and an essential voice in Portuguese-language literature. Her voice must reach the Cape Verdean diaspora and other readers of poetry in the English language.”
The first book published by Bruma in this series of poets in translation was a bilingual edition of Ângela de Almeida’s Calligraphy of Birds, a project with Nona Poesia, released in December 2022. Since then, Through the Walls of Solitude, a poetry collection by Álamo Oliveira, was published in the Spring of 2023. Also, this November, Interior Snow by Alberto Pereira will be published, and in December, Rising of Shadows by José Pedro Leite.
In 2024, Bruma Publications with Letras Lavadas plans to publish several works in this series, most dedicated to the Azores. Pedro da Silveira, Madalena Férin, and J.H. Borges Martins, among others, will publish poetry collections in English. Some works of narrative fiction by Azorean authors are also in translation.
Also published in 2023 by Bruma Publications from the Press at Fresno State and Letras Lavadas, a bilingual anthology of Azorean poetry with 103 poets, Into the Azorean Sea, was published, which will soon be presented on the island of Terceira during the literary event and book fair titled “Outono Vivo” in Praia da Vitória, and the history book by Luís Mendonça in translation: History of the Azores: questions and answers.
Bruma Publications’ first book, Portuguese Folk Tales in California, was published in September 2022. It was written by Manuel Costa Fontes, a researcher and emeritus professor from Kent State University.
Bruma Publications is part of University Press, the publishing house of California State University, Fresno.

Vision and mission: Bruma Publications is the publishing project of the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) at California State University, Fresno, dedicated to disseminating works, including translations, of enduring scholarly and cultural value, foregrounding the Portuguese-American experience in California and the Western United States and its connection with the Azores and the Portuguese Speaking world. BRUMA will thereby extend PBBI’s mission to a community of readers throughout the world.