Américo Rodrigues holds a master’s degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Aveiro and a bachelor’s degree in Portuguese Language and Culture from the University of Beira Interior. He is a native of the city of Guarda, where he served as a cultural animator and programmer at the Casa de Cultura da Juventude da Guarda/FAOJ (1979-1989) and at the Guarda City Council (1989-2005). He was the Director of the Guarda Municipal Theater (2005-2013) and the Coordinator of the Eduardo Lourenço Municipal Library (2015-2018). He was one of the founders of the collective Aquilo Teatro, the Luzlinar Association, and Calafrio, Cultural Association / Teatro do CalaFrio. He coordinated the poetry journals Aquilo (1982-1997) and co-directed the magazine Boca de Incêndio (2004-2006), among other publications. He is an actor and director of various theatrical works presented in several countries. He is also a creator of sound poetry, with several published discographic works. He has directed festivals such as “Ó da Guarda, festival de novas músicas,” “Correntes de ar,” Acto seguinte: Festival Internacional de Teatro da Guarda, “Dizsonante,” “jazz nas alturas,” “Ovni: objetos e formas animadas,” and more. He is the author of several works of theater, poetry, chronicles, essays, and literature for children. Since 2019, he has served as the Director-General of the Arts and has coordinated working groups for the revision of the model for supporting the arts, the regulation of the Portuguese network of theaters and cinetheaters (RTCP), and the implementation of the Portuguese network of contemporary art (RPAC), among others. In 2011, he received the cultural merit medal awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Portugal.