Estoril Sol once again instituted, this year, the Fernando Namora Literary Prize, in honor of the great Portuguese Language writer, despite the complex pandemic crisis that the country is going through. The deadline for receiving competing works ends, for the second consecutive year, on the 31st of July, taking into account the constraints imposed by Covid-19. The Jury will be chaired by Guilherme D’Oliveira Martins.
The Fernando Namora Literary Prize, in its 24th edition, is intended to reward a work of fiction (novel or novel), by Portuguese author, published in 2020, provided that the writer has not been awarded in the three previous editions. Created by Estoril Sol in 1988, this prestigious award has a monetary value of 15 thousand euros, and is issued annually.
Francisco José Viegas, with his novel “A Luz de Pequim”, was the unanimous winner of the jury in 2020. In the minutes, the jury noted that “A Luz de Pequim” is a “novel evaluating past experiences and current uncertainties”, distinguishing itself as “a work that questions time and what we can do with it. What remains for us is, above all, a complex set of characters and their respective lives, with their achievements and failures”.
It should be noted that Mário de Carvalho (1996 and 2008) and Teolinda Gersão (2001 and 2015) were awarded twice. In previous editions were also distinguished João de Melo, Maria Isabel Barreno, Urbano Tavares Rodrigues, Manuel Alegre, Armando Silva Carvalho, António Lobo Antunes, Nuno Júdice, Miguel Real, Mário Cláudio, Luísa Costa Gomes, Gonçalo M. Tavares, Paulo Castilho, José Eduardo Agualusa, Bruno Vieira do Amaral, Afonso Cruz, Ana Cristina Silva, Carlos Vale Ferraz and Julieta Monginho.
The Jury, in addition to Guilherme D`Oliveira Martins, who presides, on behalf of the CNC – National Culture Center, also includes José Manuel Mendes, from the Portuguese Association of Writers; Maria Carlos Gil Loureiro, by the Directorate General for Books and Libraries; Manuel Frias Martins, by the Portuguese Association of Literary Critics; and, also, Maria Alzira Seixo, José Carlos de Vasconcelos and Liberto Cruz, invited individually, as well as Dinis de Abreu, representing Estoril Sol.
