The Casa da Escrita, known as Casa do Arco, is located on Rua Doutor João Jacinto. It was acquired in 1883 from the Viscounts of Espinhal by a professor at the Faculty of Medicine, the great-grandfather of João José Cochofel.
The house was acquired and renovated by the City Council and transformed into the Casa da Escrita, now dedicated to promoting writing and disseminating books and reading, in close collaboration with other areas of culture.
João José Cochofel was part of and promoted the first generation of writers of Coimbra neo-realism. He was a distinguished poet, essayist, literary and music critic, and a key figure in Portuguese neo-realism. His name is deeply linked to the renewal of Portuguese culture in terms of social and political commitment, civic militancy, ideological affirmation, and the search for a collective identity.
Thus, in the mid-20th century, that residence was the scene of gatherings where intellectuals, thinkers, and artists such as Joaquim Namorado, Fernando Namora, Paulo Quintela, Afonso Duarte, Miguel Torga, Carlos de Oliveira, Álvaro Feijó, Vitorino Nemésio, Fernando Lopes Graça, Michael Giacometti, José Gomes Ferreira, Mário Dionísio, Arquimedes da Silva Santos, Eduardo Lourenço, Mário Soares, and Maria Barroso, to name but a few. All of them, with their irreverence, contributed to transforming the muzzled society of that time.
Read moreAll the different rooms of the house are related to the practice and art of writing and appeal to the experience of producing texts. It has all the implements, devices (quills and ink bottles, pens, typewriters, computers), picture boards and photographs to inspire and support writing. Casa da Escrita also has an accommodation area that periodically lodges relevant writers of creative literature (mainly foreigners) who take part in activities of the House and add to and improve the living archive of this cultural space with the texts they create or engender. But writing doesn?t live in the house alone, all the nooks and resources of the garden relate to writing and to those who wish to read, think, talk and write (both using traditional and computer resources). The production of texts sometimes happens through the presence and testimony of guest writers, or during commentaries in watching films (documentary or fiction).
9h00-12h30 /14h00-17h30
Casa da Escrita also provides divers writing workshops and has organized diverse events in partnership with Associação Portuguesa de Escritores (Portuguese Writers? Association) and Plano Nacional de Leitura (National Reading Plan). Casa da Escrita is now involved in a project which aims to enhance the beauty of ?creative writing? and the dignity of ?functional writing?.
Rua Dr. João Jacinto, nº 8
3000-225
Coimbra