Orlando João da Cruz Bica

Poet and civil servant. Son of small merchants settled in the parish of Estoi, where he still resides. He studied at Escola Comercial Tomás Cabreira, but did not complete the General Commercial Course. A nervous stutter prevented him from expressing himself correctly, which led him to retreat into deep shyness, hindering his academic progress. He was a football player. He was employed as a clerk at the Municipal Water and Electricity Services, later moving to the staff of E.D.P - Electricidade de Portugal. He frequently contributed to newspapers and magazines in the Algarve. A simple man without ambitions, he never attributed more value to his work than that of his own humility. Recently, Orlando Bica experienced a curious phenomenon, which he attributes to divine grace: the complete recovery of his speech and the disappearance of his stutter. For this reason, he has appeared in public, speaking at conferences and colloquia about his recovery. He published several collections of poems in book form. He wrote a book on football practice, which had some success in specialized circles. He has two unpublished plays.