This show will be about one of the world's greatest rock bands that you never heard of, Rádio Macau. Why haven't you heard of them? Well, they're Portuguese, and the rock traditions of other countries, outside of England, don't travel easily to our country. It's our loss.

Go here to listen.

If you're short on time, you could also read Scott Eposito's essay on Horacio Castellanos Moya and the New Politcal Novel at  The Quarterly Conversation, or this 2009 interview with New Directions.

Born in Honduras and raised in El Salvador, Castellanos Moya spent twelve years as a journalist in Mexico City and has lived in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Spain, Tokyo, and Germany. He currently lives in Pittsburgh. 

His other books currently available in English are  The She-Devil in the Mirror (New Directions, 2009),  Dance with Snakes (Biblioasis, 2009), and the recent  Tyrant Memory (New Directions, 2011).

An excerpt from Tyrant Memory is available, along with an interview with Chad W. Post, at Read This Next.

Then there's Colson Whitehead's “Occasional Dispatches from the Republic of Anhedonia”:

I was gonna play in the Big Game and give it my best shot. It was not the National Series of Poker, it was the World Series of Poker, and I would represent my country, the Republic of Anhedonia. We have no borders, but the population teems. No one has deigned to write down our history, but we are an ancient land, founded during the original disappointments, when the first person met another person. I would do it for my countrymen, the shut-ins, the doom-struck, the morbid of temperament, for all those who walk through life with poker faces 24/7 because they never learned any other way. For the gamblers of every socioeconomic station, working class, middle class, upper class, broke-ass; the sundry gamers 12 stories below, tossing chips into the darkness; for the Internet wraiths maniacally clicking before their LCDs in ill-lit warrens in Akron, Boise, and Bhopal, who should really get out more; for all the amateurs who need this game as a sacred refuge once a month, seek the sanctuary of draw and stud, where there are never any wild cards and you can count on a good hand every once in a while. For Big Mitch and Methy Mike, Robotron and the lady with the crimson hair, the ones who would kill to go to Vegas and will never make it there, my people all of them. Did I sound disdainful of them before? It was recognition you heard. I contain multitudes, most of them flawed.

Plus, I've always wanted to wear sunglasses indoors.

 The whole thing is available for free and you can read it from anywhere in the world. 

Philip Graham wants you to come to Lisbon. He wants you to be there so that you'll know what he's talking about in his dispatches for McSweeney's, now collected and expanded on his most recent book, The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon, published by University of Chicago Press, 2009. Julia Keller of the Chicago Tribune called it "like a living thing, filled with desire and uncertainty and joy and regret. . . the perfect companion as one contemplates those mysteries, those ceaseless journeys outward and inward.” You can read excerpts on his website (and stick around for his engaging blog).  

His essay The Pleasures of Saudade is a friendly primer on the diverse and exciting contemporary Portuguese music scene, complete with videos and links to music you will be very happy to have brought to your attention and very sorry to have gone this long without hearing.

Another reason to come to Lisbon: Philip Graham will be there. We're thrilled to welcome him to the faculty for DISQUIET 2012. 

The author of seven books, including two short story collections (Interior Design and The Art of the Knock) and The Vanishings, a collection of prose poems, Graham is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, two Illinois Arts Council grants, and the William Peden Prize in Fiction, as well as fellowship residencies at the MacDowell and Yaddo artist colonies. His novel How to Read an Unwritten Language (Scribner, 1995; paperback, Warner Books 1997), was nominated and longlisted for an International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. He's also co-authored two memoirs with Alma Gottlieb,  Parallel Worlds, which won the 1993 Victor Turner Prize, and a second volume, Braided Worlds, forthcoming in 2012. A Portuguese translation of The Moon, Come to Earth will be published by Editorial Presença in February 2012.

He currently teaches in the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in writing, and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he is co-founder and non-fiction editor of the  literary/arts journal Ninth Letter.

You can read Camden Luxford's recent interview with Philip about his experiences in Lisbon here, and Philip's thoughtful essay on reading, Every Day I Open a Book, on The Millions. Or, check out this video essay about Lisbon he made for Ninth Letter: Bring Me the Head of Diogo Alves! 

We're really glad to have Philip on board, and suspect you will be, too.

Since its founding, Guernica has made a name for itself by taking art and politics equally seriously and championing intelligent long-form journalism, thoughtful essays, and accomplished poetry and fiction from established and new writers. A magazine whose contributors come from all over and whose essays, poems and stories have been reprinted in Best American Essays and received multiple awards, including the Caine Prize (for E.C. Osondu's story “Waiting”) and Dzanc Book's Best of the Web, Guernica is remarkable for the quality of its attention -- for its commitment to clear, incisive writing and careful thought.

It's a cliché by now that the Internet, with its customizable distractions, makes it easier to ignore the world around us. Guernica is the other side of the story-- a genuinely global online magazine dedicated to keeping our eyes open. We're stoked that Guernica exists and is thriving (and was named by Esquire as an example of the online renaissance in literary publishing). They're the perfect partner for the International Literature Award. 

Speaking of which, deadline is January 31, 2012; details here. Repeat: the winner will be published in Guernica and receive a full scholarship (tuition, airfare, and lodging) to the July 2012 DISQUIET International Literary Program.

"This whole experience was almost too good—it's been nearly impossible to readjust to regular life! I particularly loved how we were welcomed into what seemed like privileged circles, how we were engaged by both the academic literary establishment as well as marvelous Portuguese writers."

—Caitlin Myer

We're still working on our new site design, but you don't have to wait any longer! Applications are now being accepted for DISQUIET's 2012 International Literary Program (July 1- July 13 2012), the Dzanc Books/Guernica DISQUIET International Literature Award, and program scholarships from the Luso-American Development Foundation. Poetry, fiction, and non-fiction are equally welcome. Application instructions are here.

The deadline for contest and scholarships is January 31, 2012. Please direct any questions or problems with the website to disquietinternational@gmail.com.

We look forward to reading your applications!

In the meantime, Chad Post has an appreciation of Antonio Lobo Antunes in the most recent issue of The Quarterly Conversation. Check it out here.

If you're feeling nostalgic for 2011, excited about 2012, or just hungry for some pasteis de nata, you can always come to our Facebook group for support. We've also set up a new page on Facebook, just in case it turns out to be useful. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello!

We'll be updating soon with more information about DISQUIET 2012.