Dr Alan Freeland: Narrating Empire: Eça de Queirós, King Solomon Event

Alan Freeland was a Senior Lecturer in the University of Southampton where he was responsible for Portuguese Studies. His work on 19th-century literature and Eça de Queiroz includes 0 Leitor e a Verdade Oculta: Ensaio sobre Os Maias (The Reader and the Hidden Truth: Essay on The Maias), Lisbon, IN-CM, 1989, Eça de Queirós – Correspondência Consular (Lisbon, Cosmos, 1994) and the critical edition of Eça de Queiroz, As Minas de Salomão (IN-CM, Lisbon, 2008). He has also written many journal articles and contributed to essay anthologies, a particular focus being perceptions of England in late 19th century Portuguese literature. He is also the author of the first Portuguese language course for BBC Television, Discovering Portuguese (BBC Books, 1987 - Revised Edition, 1995).

Eça de Queiroz is one of the most important authors of Portuguese Literature. He was born in 1845, in Póvoa de Varzim, although he spent most of his life abroad as a diplomat. He died in Paris on 16 August 1900 leaving a remarkable literacy legacy, the masterpiece of which is the novel Os Maias, which has since been translated into 23 languages.