Italian Writer Antonio Tabucchi -- RIP

Antonio Tabucchi (1943-2012)

Antonio Tabucchi, an Italian fiction writer whose novels and other writings were well known in European literary circles, died recently in Lisbon.

While there's something of a tradition of Italian intellectuals leaving Italia to pursue their careers, Tabucchi was unusual in that he chose Portugal as his home away from home. According to New York Times obit editor Margalit Fox's well-written notice about Tabucchi's passing, the writer's fascination with Portugal began when he was a teenager. He was not a native Portuguese speaker, but trained himself to become expert in its literature. This background informed his novels which, as Ms. Fox relays the story, are suffused with a uniquely Portuguese mood called saudade. The word refers to a state of mind which blends "nostalgia, wistfulness and a yearning for what is lost, evanescent and perhaps unattainable," according to the Times obituary.

Tabuccih's works have been translated into English and published by New Directions; some are available for purchase from IndieBound.