Why Picos Gêmeos?

An introduction

Hello, dear readers,

Thank you for dropping by and checking out my corner of Substack. The goal of this post is to share my hopes for this space as well as clarify what you might get out it.

The author in his garden.

A little about me

Friends call me Ollie. I’m a British Brazilian gay man who divides his time between a rural guesthouse in the Mantiqueira mountain range (two hours north of São Paulo, Brazil) and London, UK. The guesthouse belongs to my mother, who’s had dementia for the past 14 years. My brother and I share in her care and the running of the guesthouse, Pousada Dona Marica, named after my great-great-grandmother.

I graduated in 2000 from Concordia University, Montréal, Canada, with degrees in English Literature and History and then, for nearly 19 years, I lived in London, UK, with a career in the charity sector - first in higher education, then the arts, and finally fundraising for scientific research. I was lucky to have a few short stories, book reviews and creative nonfiction published during this period. Towards the end of my time in London, a new passion crept in: literary translation (Brazilian Portuguese and French).

In 2019, I decided to return to Brazil and help my brother with my mom’s care (until that point he did all the ground work and I helped financially from afar.) Then the pandemic hit… what was meant to be a temporary situation became permanent. Finally, in 2024, I returned to London on a one-way ticket.

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Why Picos Gêmeos?

Picos Gêmeos is a play on Twin Peaks, the nickname an old boyfriend came up with for my hometown in Brazil when he visited in 2000. The town in his view (and he wasn’t wrong) has as many strange going-ons as David Lynch’s fictitious town.

This is my hope for Picos Gêmeos:

• a place I can share Brazilian stories and my time in the guesthouse;

• explore the unfolding of my life in Europe;

• and share published fiction and non-fiction from the past, present, and hopefully future.

Pousada Dona Marica. Photo by the author.

Why Substack, and why subscribe?

All my content is free for three months upon publication. Afterwards, it goes into my archives and can be accessed via a subscription. I also offer some extra perks like bespoke postcards and letters for subscribers - not to mention my eternal gratitude for supporting me this way.

I have two sections to my newsletter: Messages from the Log and Damn Fine Coffee.  

• The Log is a play on the Log Lady from Twin Peaks, who always had a cryptic message for viewers and the FBI. Posts are published once every weekend and are accompanied by a photo, usually taken by yours truly. They are memories and fragments that are exactly 100 words long, inspired by Lydia Davis and Linda Barry.

• Damn Fine Coffee refers to Twin Peak’s Agent Cooper and his love for coffee (a love I share!) This section is for longer pieces, for reflections on literary translation and my journey as a writer. I’ll also share pieces published in the past in literary journals or blogs.

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I’ve been keeping diaries since my early 20s. As I re-read them now, there is so much I’d forgotten about. I’m grateful Young Ollie wrote so much down, from theatre reviews to daily routines. I hope whatever I write on Substack today will be just as fascinating and enjoyable for Very Mature Ollie in the future.

As for you, dear reader, I hope you’ll enjoy it too. I’ll try to keep things light and informal. If you have already subscribed, thanks and please feel free to share your thoughts and feedback, or even if you’d like to hear more about specific subjects. If you are brand new, please leave a comment below introducing yourself or drop me a hello via e-mail.

Best wishes,