News & Events
The Duke of Parma Project Showcased at the AVTIA Transnational Meeting
30 March 2026
As part of the Transnational Project Meeting for the AVTIA project (Audiovisual Translation for Inclusion and Accessibility, Erasmus+ Project 2024–2026), held at the G.E. Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology in Târgu Mureş, Romania, on 26–27 March 2026, Prof. Enrico Martines was invited as a Guest Lecturer to present the workshop “Best Practices in Research Projects: Fernando Pessoa’s The Duke of Parma.” The coordinator of the project “Fernando Pessoa’s The Duke of Parma: An Unpublished Shakespearean Tragedy” presented the project’s characteristics, its origins and rationale, its structure, the research team, the objectives, the methodologies, and the results achieved. He also referred to two spin-off projects arising from the main one. The first, already underway, is “The Unveiling of Fernando Pessoa’s Literary Legacy: The Duke of Parma,” conducted at the University of Parma by Dr Carlotta Defenu under the supervision of Prof...
Observador offers comments on the conference 'Unveiling the Duke of Parma'
07 March 2026
‘Calligraphy, types of paper and an online tragedy: the “never-ending” work on Fernando Pessoa's unfinished play’ is the title of a detailed report by the Observador journalist, who took part in the two-day event in Parma dedicated to Fernando Pessoa's incomplete tragedy. Rita Cipriano's article begins as follows: 'The University of Parma recently hosted a two-day conference that brought together experts to discuss the previously unpublished work The Duke of Parma. This tragedy, which had never been published before, is now available online. [...] The digital archive The Duke of Parma, which allows users to browse the play's manuscripts and read the respective transcripts, was unveiled under the arches and chandeliers of the historic University of Parma's historic ‘Hall of Philosophers’. This took place on 23 February as part of the international conference Unveiling The Duke of Parma, which brought together experts from different fields in the Italian city for two ...
International Conference 'Unveiling The Duke of Parma'
13 February 2026
The international conference ‘Unveiling The Duke of Parma’ will take place on 23 and 24 February 2026. This event will mark the culmination of the research project, 'Fernando Pessoa's Duke of Parma: An Unpublished Shakespearean Tragedy', which has involved specialists from the universities of Parma, Lisbon, Bogotá (Los Andes) and La Sapienza. The scholars will present their findings on Fernando Pessoa's unfinished tragedy from a variety of scientific perspectives. These will then be discussed by external specialists, including academics from Lisbon, Coimbra and Nottingham universities, the Huygens Institute in Amsterdam, the Finnish Literature Society, and Padua and Bologna universities. The proceedings will begin with Jerónimo Pizarro and Nicolás Barbosa discussing transcribing Pessoa's manuscripts as an interpretative activity with Carlos Pittella. Next, João Dionísio and Maria Sousa will analyse the types and organisation of the documents in the dossier and their rela...
Observador announces conference on The Duke of Parma.
07 February 2026
"The unpublished play that Fernando Pessoa worked on for 30 years will finally be published" is the title of a detailed article by Rita Cipriano which presents the reasons for interest in Pessoa's unpublished tragedy, the methodology and objectives of the research project funded by the University of Parma, and expectations for the conference on 23 and 24 February. Observador introduces its article as follows: "A unique conference will take place in Parma at the end of February. Organised by the city's university, the meeting will see the launch of the digital archive of The Duke of Parma, an English tragedy by Fernando Pessoa. The play forms part of a lesser-known aspect of the poet's legacy and has never before been published. Full disclosure of the text will enable an analysis of a work that Pessoa intermittently developed over more than 30 years — the longest period he devoted to a single literary project." Find out more at this link. ...
The Duke of Parma in the Luso-Brazilian Review
14 April 2025
Number 2 of Volume 61 of the LBR (University of Wisconsin Press, 2024) published a dossier of articles dedicated to Fernando Pessoa's unpublished tragedy. The dossier is the result of the communications presented at the international conference, The Duke in Parma, which took place in Parma on 17 March 2023. The study of this play raised a number of preliminary issues, which were discussed at the event. Following the presentation of the dossier and the research project edited by Enrico Martines, the special issue of the journal includes seven articles. Diego Saglia examines the connections between Pessoa's Shakespearean tragedy and the neo-Renaissance trend that dominated 19th-century English literature. Teresa Filipe identifies the English and Italian literature available in Pessoa’s personal library to determine possible sources of inspiration for The Duke of Parma. Nicolás Barbosa focuses on Fernando Pessoa’s theatrical production, assessing the position of this play with...
