A Darker City- The Lisbon of Cesário Verde

As we wander through the bustling streets of modern Lisbon, the very fabric and geography of the city makes us aware of the other cities that lie beneath. Let us take you back to the Lisbon of the nineteenth century through the urban poems of Cesário Verde (1855-1886), much admired by the later and better-known Fernando Pessoa. Behind the carapace of cosmopolitan streets, fancy shops and restaurants, discover a darker, somewhat suffocating city of poverty and decadence described with extraordinary vividness.
Commentary by Fernando Pinto do Amaral, readings by Jonathan Weightman and Amanda Booth, piano accompaniment by Pedro Fontainhas.

The event will also include photographs of nineteenth century Lisbon.