Estoril Sol relaunches Agustina and Fernando Namora Literary Awards
in the name of Portuguese Culture and Letters
Estoril Sol persists in renewing, this year, the attribution of the Fernando Namora and Literary Prizes, in homage to the two great writers, despite the adverse conditions affecting Europe, which is now in a crisis of complex contours and an uncertain outcome.
By keeping its cultural matrix untouched, Estoril Sol consolidates an already old relationship with Culture and, in particular, with Portuguese Literature. The jury, common to both Awards, will once again be chaired by Guilherme D‘Oliveira Martins.
It should be noted that, in accordance with the respective regulations, the deadline for receiving the original works of the 26th edition of the Fernando Namora Literary Prize and the 16th edition of the Agustina Bessa-Luís Revelation Literary Prize expires on 31 May.
The Fernando Namora Literary Prize, held annually, is reserved for published novels and has a value of 15,000 euros. Remember that it was Teresa Veiga, with the novel “O Senhor d`Além”, the winner in 2022.
The Jury found in the distinguished novel “O Senhor d`Além” a “clear and luminous writing” that gives us “a captivating story of people that are both ordinary and unique. The author’s stylistic sobriety, exemplary as a way of understanding artistic writing, structures a novel whose readability calls the reader to participate in the very narrative he is reading. Either for the remarkable ability to observe and describe, or for the quiet inventiveness, or for the admirable economy of the narrative”.
Chaired by Guilherme D `Oliveira Martins, the Jury is the same for the Revelation Award Agustina Bessa-Luís, which Estoril Sol institutes again, being awarded regularly since 2008.
With regard to the 16th edition of the Agustina Bessa-Luís Revelation Literary Award, the objective assumed, since its launch, is to favor the emergence of new values. It should be remembered that Estoril Sol abolished, since 2016, the rule that imposed the age limit of 35 years for competitors, which expanded the scope of the competition. However, it remains mandatory for the competing novel to be unpublished, and by a Portuguese author, “without any work published in the genre”.
The winning novel of the Agustina Bessa-Luís Revelation Literary Prize in 2022 was “The Promised War”, by Marco Pacheco. The Prize has a value of 10 thousand euros and, under the terms of the Regulation, the winning work will be published by Editora Gradiva, in accordance with the existing protocol with Estoril Sol.
About “The Promised War”, the jury considered it to be “a novel that, starting from the innovative business and social action of Francisco Grandella, builds a family and personal story of great human reach. The transition period from the 19th century to the 20th century until the First World War is signaled by situations of poverty that will determine the evolution of the protagonist”.
The Fernando Namora and Revelation Agustina Bessa-Luís Literary Awards were later joined by the Vasco Graça Moura Award – Cultural Citizenship, in honor of the writer, poet, and essayist, completing the cast of this annual contribution by Estoril Sol to Letters and Culture.
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