Rui Cardoso Martins
His first novel "E Se Eu Gostasse Muito de Morrer" ("Glad to Die") was published in 2006 and became an instant best seller in Portugal.
It also made the shortlist – top 3 – for the SPA (Authors' Society) literary prize in 2009, eventually won by António Lobo Antunes.
His third book, "Se Fosse Fácil Era Para os Outros", was published in Portugal by D.Quixote in 2012, and by Leya in Brazil in 2013.
[3] He also wrote several short stories, namely "The Progress of Mankind", "Animal Stomach" and "Espelho de Água" (the latter contributing to the first issue of Granta-Portugal).
In August 2015, he published the book “Levante-se o Réu/May The Defendant Please Rise” (Tinta-da-China), a collection of court chronicles edited for 17 years in the Público newspaper, with which he won two Gazeta de Jornalismo awards.
The 2nd volume, “Levante-o Réu Outra Vez”, published in May 2016, won the Grand Prize of the Portuguese Association of Writers – Loulé Municipal Council, (APE-CML) under the heading “Crónica e Dispersos Literários”.
The second novel, “Deixem Passar o Homem/Let the Invisible Man Pass” (D. Quixote, 2009) won the Portuguese Writers Association (APE/DGLB) Grand Prize.
The third novel, “Se Fosse Fácil Era Para os Outros/If It Was Easy Everyone Would Do It” (Dom Quixote, 2012) was published in Brazil and chosen as one of the books of the year by several national publications.
Filigrana, 2022) His short stories have been published in national and international literary magazines such as Ficções, Granta, Egoísta, Lettres Littéraires (from Budapest, Hungarian prize for the best foreign translation, 2007).
His short story Animal Stomach was published in the Spring 2019 issue (nº 60) of the literary and social studies magazine Massachusetts Review, USA.
Guest author in the magazine Granta Portugal, for which he wrote the short stories “Espelho da Água/Water Mirror” (2013) and “Salada Russa/Russian Salad” (2017), an account of a literary and real journey to Russia, one hundred years after the October Revolution.
Co-author, with his wife Tereza Coelho (journalist and editor, deceased), of the script for the feature film “Duas Mulheres”, by João Mário Grilo, produced by Costa do Castelo (2009).
Professor at the Screenwriting Atelier at the Lusófona University of Humanities and Technologies, Cinema, Video and Multimedia Communication course, since 2020, Lisbon.
Author of the screenplay “Guerras do Alecrim e Manjerona”, adaptation of the 18th-century opera by António José da Silva, “o Judeu”, directed by João Dias, staging (by cinema director) Pedro Costa, music by Músicos do Tejo.
He is co-creator and author of the historic RTP programs “Contra-Informação” (a portuguese “Spitting Images” which he wrote from its premiere in 1996 until its end in 2010), Co-author of “Herman Encyclopedia” and "State of Grace".
Co-author of the TV series “Conversa da Treta”, with José Pedro Gomes and António Feio (SIC).
Co-author of the first original concept that would give rise to the series “A Espia”, fiction about espionage in Portugal during World War II, premiered in 2020 on RTP1.
Among hundreds of reports, three stand out: Bosnian civil war — Sarajevo and Mostar, winter 1993; first free elections in South Africa, 1994; Peace Mission in Timor – Lusitânia Expresso, 1992.
He is a visiting professor at the Chair of Chronicle Art at FCSH, Department of Portuguese Studies, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
He was a columnist for Público newspaper from 1991 to 2016 with “Levante-se o Réu/May The Defendant Please Rise” (two Gazeta awards, from the Clube dos Jornalistas; APE Grand Prix 2016), “A Nuvem de Calças”, “Unidos Nunca mais”.
Interpretation by Maria Rueff (Golden Globe 2015), set design by Miguel Seabra and music by Rui Rebelo.
