Fiction and fantasy literary festival in April in Lisbon

A book fair, lectures, film, exhibitions and even thematic areas dedicated to Harry Potter and Star Wars are some of the initiatives planned for the literary science fiction and fantasy festival, which starts on April 5 in Lisbon.

[dropcap type=”background”]T[/dropcap]his is the 2nd Edition of Contact – Literary Festival of Science Fiction and Fantasy, an initiative of Imaginauta, in partnership with the Library of Marvila and the Libraries of the Network of Municipal Libraries of Lisbon (BLX), which will take place in the next on April 5 and 6, at the Biblioteca de Marvila, organizers announced.

This free entry project features a book fair, sessions with Portuguese authors such as João Ventura, Joana Afonso, Fábio Veras and Luís Zhang, and book releases, as is the case of ‘The Chronicles of Byllard Iddo – The Battle “The Dark Side” by Bruno Martins Soares, “The Other Side of Z“, by Nuno Duarte (screenwriter), Joana MOSI Simão (art), “Antologia Winepunk” by Carlos Silva, João Ventura and Rogério Ribeiro , or ‘Amadis de Gaula – Book I’, by Carlos Silva.

For screenings scheduled for those days, a screening of Brendam and the secret world of kells (‘The Secret of Kells’), a 2009 film by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey, is scheduled to be screened. ‘It’s Hard to Be a God’, a 2013 film by Aleksey German.

During the two days of the festival there are also some lectures, one on “Imagination and the mind“, which questions the role of the imagination and the types of imagination that exist, another that confronts human intelligence with artificial intelligence, another still on the ‘Medieval Subversions in the Ice and Fire Chronicles’, around the work of George RR Martin, and, finally, one dedicated to the analysis of Robert Jordan’s ‘The Wheel of Time’.

There will also be three theme areas, each dedicated to a fictional universe, all with works in literary form.

The Harry Potter zone recreates J.K. Rowling’s wizarding universe, allowing visitors to take pictures with the pick hat or on the ‘9 3/4’ platform, but also learn spells and potions in the various activities developed within this area.

In the Steampunk zone, you can enter a ‘retrofuturist’ universe where the visitor can find his Victorian alter-ego and store it in a photograph, travel around the world in 30 minutes (or less), or embark on a train trip that will put their skills to the test.

There will also be a Star Wars themed area with games from Sabacc (Star Wars universe card game), demonstrations, choreography, workshops of the first form of combat (shii-cho), simulator and a shooting area where you can learn how to use a blaster with the mercenaries in the galaxy.

On the 5th, an interactive experience is planned in a collective puzzle format inspired by the ‘escape room’ genre and the Nordic live-action roleplay aesthetic created by Isaac Sanches.

For two hours, player-actors play the role of time-lost characters, locked in a magical space called the ‘House of Names’ that exists at the edge of space-time, and throughout the performance, they inhabit several bodies along the centuries.

This game takes place behind closed doors, without light, and the labyrinth of life stories is deciphered by reading with lanterns.

During these two days, there will also be space for the exhibition of works by authors such as Inês Andais, Artur Mósca and Fátima Abreu Ferreira, as well as to satisfy the hunger in a medieval tavern.

Recreating the atmosphere and the atmosphere of the time, the Medieval bar Trobadores offers mixed tables of cheeses and sausages, ham sandwiches and cheese from Serra, spinach pies and chicken pies, among other snacks, which can be accompanied by drinks like mead, lemonade with honey, soft drinks and water.