Trust the Bluer Skies

Born in Angola and raised in Portugal, paulo da costa is a writer, editor, and translator living in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. He is twice the recipient of the 2020 James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction (in 2020 and 2023), the 2003 Commonwealth First Book Prize for the Canada-Caribbean Region, the City of Calgary W. O. Mitchell Book Prize, and the Canongate Prize for short-fiction.

“A haunting memoir about the perils and promise of returning home and the joy of leaving it forever changed.”—Foreword Reviews"Serves as a contemplative accounting of the ones we hold dear and the invisible threads that connect past and future."—Literary Review of Canada"In an engaging and affecting poetic language...Trust the Bluer Skies: Meditations on Fatherhood pushes us...to rescue the sacred energies that pave the way for genuine beings to emerge—beings beyond labels or enclosures, always seeking illumination.”—PRISM Magazine“Intimate and lyrical.” —Anthony De Sa, author of Children of the Moon"A luminous meditation on Portugal, family, childhood, and time: both evocative and wise." —Mark Abley, author of Strange Bewildering Time“Trust the Bluer Skies is a transcendentally, stunning meditation on parenthood, community, and place. Crackling with wisdom and honesty, da costa reminds us that better is possible if we’re only willing to imagine, if we’re only willing to try. Deeply observed, evocative, brave and full of promise. Memoir at its best.” —Ali Bryan, author of Coq“One man’s work to change the meaning of father—for himself, his son, and us.” —Richard Harrison, author of On Not Losing My Father’s Ashes in the Flood“A portrait of the intimate bond between a father and his young son. paulo da costa guides his four-year old and us, through Vale de Cambra, Portugal, revealing his strong ties to family, his heritage and culture, and the landscape of his youth. He steers us to what he values in life now, eschewing the trappings of mainstream culture in favour of a less consumptive, peaceful existence. Engaging, inspiring, and always tender, this is a memoir to savour slowly.” —Esmeralda Cabral, author of How to Clean a Fish: And Other Adventures in Portugal

• PrefaceThe Oak GroveThe Stones That Anchor UsEarthworms of the CosmosGrandfather Swallowed the CloudsBonesThe Day Nothing HappenedWallsInvisible WealthThe Colours of HappinessThree Pastries and One AppetizerThe Land of the LeavingThe Birthing StonesLearning to Shave, Learning to LeaveIn Search of SpringEnclosuresDeparturesAcknowledgements