What is the proper role of fiction in societies fighting for basic rights, fair labor practices, and human dignity? The Portuguese Communist Party held a conference on that very subject, called “Neo-realism: Cultural Expression of a People in Struggle.
The portrait on the cover of Eric A. Gordon’s recently released translation of Manuel Tiago’s short story collection The Slackers and Other Stories is of a young, devastatingly handsome soldier who turns out to be none other than the author himself as a young “slacker.