About me
Catarina Gomes was born in Lisbon in 1975. She is the author of four non-fiction books and the novel Terrinhas, for which she received the Agustina Bessa-Luís Revelation Prize.
In Coisas de Loucos [The Stuff of Madness], Gomes explores the life stories of eight psychiatric patients using the personal objects they left behind in a forgotten cardboard box in the former Miguel Bombarda asylum in Lisbon. The articles that gave birth to the book were awarded the Portuguese Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health Journalism Prize. The book was adapted for the theatre.
Furriel não é nome de pai [Furriel is not a surname] was the first book to tell the stories of the children Portuguese soldiers had with African women during the Portuguese colonial wars and left behind in Africa. Pai, tiveste medo? [Were you scared, Dad] addresses the way the experiences of former soldiers affected their children’s generation. All three of Gomes’ non-fiction books are included in the Portuguese government’s National Reading Plan. She has also written the book A finger smudged with ink and has short stories published in Granta magazine and in the book Contágios.
Catarina Gomes worked for almost 20 years as a journalist for the daily newspaper Público, receiving some of the most prestigious Portuguese journalism awards, including the Gazeta. Internationally, she was twice a finalist for the Gabriel García Marquez Journalism Prize and was awarded the King of Spain Prize for International Journalism.