Bruno Tolentino

Bruno Lúcio de Carvalho Tolentino (12 November 1940 – 27 June 2007) was a Brazilian poet and intellectual, known for his militant opposition towards Brazilian modernism, his advocacy of traditional forms and subjects in poetry, his loathing of popular culture and concrete poetry, his self-parading as a "member of the Brazilian patriciate" and by his being hailed by fellow conservatives as one of the most important and influential intellectuals of his generation. His work was awarded the Prêmio Jabuti three times, in 1994, 2000 and 2007.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Tolentino moved to Europe when he was 24 - something he later claimed to have done on the invitation of the Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti - at the advent of the Military Regime in Brazil. This European stay would last some thirty years. Amongst what he claimed to be his many important relationships in the European cultural scene was the English poet W. H. Auden - although Auden, in the 1960s,had long left England and was living in the USA. Tolentino was co-editor of the magazine Oxford Poetry Now, whose title was inspired by W. H. Auden's entirely distinct 1920s magazine Oxford Poetry. All four issues of Oxford Poetry Now had James Lindesay as chief-editor. Tolentino contributed to all four issues, and supported the magazine financially.

By his own account, while in England, Bruno Tolentino lectured in literature at the universities of Bristol, Essex and Oxford, until his conviction for drug smuggling in 1987. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison, but, in the event, served only thirteen months, which he spent at Dartmoor. During this time he organized language and literature classes for the prisoners entitled "Seminars of Drama and Literature".

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