Claudio da Silva wins UCCLA-CMLisboa Literary Revelation Award

Born in Angola and with Portuguese nationality, Claudio da Silva is the big winner of the tenth edition of the UCCLA-CMLisboa Literary Revelation Award: New Talents, New Works in Portuguese Language, with the book “Boi“.

The announcement was made on May 5th – World Portuguese Language Day – at the Palácio Galveias, in Lisbon, and within the scope of the Lisbon Literary Festival – 5L.

It is worth mentioning that the jury also granted an honourable mention to the work “Depois que Deus morrer”, a novel-essay written by Carla Pereira.

The event featured speeches by the Municipal Director of Culture of the Lisbon City Council, Laurentina Pereira, the Head of the Division of the Lisbon Library Network, Edite Guimarães, the Deputy Secretary General of UCCLA, Ambassador Paula Leal da Silva, and the Culture Coordinator of UCCLA, Rui Lourido.

Rui Lourido gave an overview of the award and presented other cultural initiatives carried out by UCCLA. Regarding the award, he gave an account of the geographical scope of the award, the winners of previous editions, and the literary genres of the entries, among other information. For Ambassador Paula Leal da Silva, this award marks the “celebration of the Portuguese language within the scope of the Lisbon Literary Festival – 5L”, stating that “the municipal value is also a national value”. “Portuguese is a global and cultural language”, and this award represents “the most important in terms of literary revelation, in the Portuguese language, having a broad and truly representative international dimension”, she added.

The jury’s reasoning in awarding the winners of this edition was highlighted by the Deputy Secretary General of UCCLA. Regarding the work “Boi”, “This object is not for sale. Synopsis: By far the best candidate. Faceted prose, literary awareness, narrative mastery, fictionality and irony regarding what literature can do – Portuguese and critical literature – has been missing prose like this for a long time, drawn from the best diction of masters such as Rúben A., Luiz Pacheco, and Manuel da Silva Ramos. Example: the opening of the book, the dynamiting of the book project, the suspicion that literature is a minefield”.

Regarding the work “Depois que Deus morto” it is a “Powerful, intimate and meditative narrative, with few characters, whose lines of action sometimes seem to happen in a real reality, sometimes in another parallel, metaphysical reality, Depois que Deus Morreu is a happy case of a well-constructed and brief construction of an acute narrative, neither a short story nor a novella”.

After reading the jury’s arguments, the Ambassador declared the 11th edition of the UCCLA-CMLisboa Literary Revelation Award open.

Despite having worked in various cultural fields, this is the first time that Claúdio da Silva has “transformed it into a closed literary object,” she said. The book is “a kind of police investigation, in search of a ghost author. “Boi” because it is a mythical animal.”

It is worth mentioning that, as part of the presentation of the winners of the UCCLA-CMLisboa Literary Revelation

The Award: the following events will take place:
– May 20, at 10 am, at the CPLP headquarters in Lisbon;
– June 21, at 5 pm, at the Lisbon Book Fair, Auditório Sul, with the launch of the book Boi.

Biography of the winners:

Cláudio da Silva, born in Huambo, Angola, in 1974. He is a director, playwright and theatre actor. He has a degree in Portuguese and Applied Foreign Languages ​​and a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre. He received the SP/RTP award for Best Cinema Actor for his performance in the film Desassossego by João Botelho (2011) and the SIC/Caras Golden Globe for Best Theatre Actor for his performance in Se Isto é Um Homem by Rogério de Carvalho (2021). He is a collaborator of the Cultural and Ecological Association Palettentheater Kollektiv.

Carla Pereira was born in Braga, Portugal, in 1983. She studied Philosophy, a subject she taught until she decided to pursue physical exercise, an area in which she currently works, mostly with young people. She has always been amazed by words, especially by their ability to join together, creating other worlds. Depois que Deus morto was her first book.

10th edition of the UCCLA-CMLisboa Literary Revelation Award

The Award’s capacity to attract authors continues to expand, encompassing participants from several continents and totaling, in this edition, 14 countries of residence, including Portuguese-speaking countries. We received works in Portuguese from Africa (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique), America (Brazil), Asia (East Timor), Europe (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland) and Oceania (Australia).

This edition received 249 entries, and Brazil continues to be the country with the largest number of entries, followed by Portugal and Mozambique, reaffirming the strong participation of Portuguese speakers in these territories. Since its creation, the Prize has established itself as the main initiative for literary revelation in the Portuguese-language space, receiving hundreds of entries annually.

The competition maintains its commitment to encouraging writing among young people – 42% of participants are under 40 years old – while promoting intergenerational dialogue, with senior writers between 70 and 80 years old. In terms of gender representation, women account for 32% of the competitors, as in the previous edition, reiterating the gradual growth in female participation.

With these numbers, the UCCLA-CML Literary Revelation Prize reinforces its importance as a promoter of the discovery of new talents, promoting cultural diversity and literature in the Portuguese language on a global level.

Jury members:
Domício Proença – Brazil
Germano Almeida – Cape Verde
Hélder Simbad – Angola
Inocência Mata – São Tomé and Príncipe
José Pires Laranjeira – Portugal
Luís Carlos Patraquim – Mozambique
Luís Costa – East Timor
Tony Tcheka – Guinea-Bissau
Yao Jing Ming – Macau
João Pinto de Sousa – Representative of the 800 Years of Portuguese Language Movement
Rui Lourido – Representative of UCCLA

UCCLA-CMLisboa Literary Revelation Award

The UCCLA-CMLisboa Literary Revelation Award aims to recognize and support new literary talents in the fields of prose fiction (novels, novellas, short stories and chronicles) and poetry, in the Portuguese language, by writers who have never published a literary work.

This award was created by UCCLA in 2015, together with the Movement (2014), 800 Years of the Portuguese Language. It is in partnership with the publisher Guerra e Paz, which is responsible for publishing the award-winning work, and the Lisbon City Council, within the scope of the Lisbon Literary Festival – 5l.

Winners of previous editions:

• Publications by Guerra e Paz:
• 9th edition: Cantagalo by Fernanda Teixeira Ribeiro (Brazil)
• 8th edition: Breviary of Fear and Malice by Leonel Araújo Barbosa (Portugal)
• 7th edition: Calligraphy by Alexandre Siloto Assine (Brazil)
• 6th edition: Amadeu’s Dream by Leonardo Costa Oliveira (Brazil)
• 5th edition: The Heteronym of Pedra by Henrique Reinaldo Castanheira (Portugal)

Publications by A Bela e a Fera:

• 4th edition: Praças by António Pedro Serrano de Sousa Correia (Portugal/Angola)
• 3rd edition: Distant Balance by Óscar Maldonado (Paraguay/Brazil)
• 2nd edition: Dog’s Diary by Thiago Rodrigues Braga (Brazil)
• 1st edition: Once Upon a Time There Was a Man by João Nuno Azambuja (Portugal)

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