Romance by Itamar Vieira Júnior wins the 2020 Oceanos Prize
According to the professor, literary critic and Portuguese judge Joana Matos Frias, present at the virtual presentation ceremony of the winners, “Torto plow is a rare and breathtaking novel because it is both absolutely local and absolutely universal”.
The second place in the award went to the novel ‘A Visão das Plantas’, by the Portuguese born in Angola Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida, published in Portugal by Relógio D’Água.
The third place went to ‘Carta à rainha louca’, by Brazilian Maria Valéria Rezende, published in Brazil by Alfaguara.
In addition to the three winning authors, José Rezende Jr’s novels ‘A cidade inexistente‘, Julián Fuks’ ‘A ocupação’, Julia de Souza’s ‘As durações da casa’, ‘As solas dos pés de meu avô‘, by Tiago D. Oliveira, ‘Autobiografia‘, by José Luís Peixoto, ‘Obnóxio‘, by Abel Barros Baptista and ‘Sombrio ermo turvo’, by Veronica Stigger.
The final jury, responsible for reading and evaluating the 10 finalists, which elects the three winners, was composed by the Portuguese teachers Joana Matos Frias and Carlos Mendes de Sousa, by the Santomean teacher Inocência Mata, by the Brazilian poet Angélica Freitas and by the Brazilian teachers João Cezar Castro Rocha and Viviana Bosi.
Oceanos is carried out in three stages of voting until reaching the winners. In all, 6,064 readings were taken by the three juries that succeeded in the selection of semifinalists, finalists and winners.
The total value of the Oceanos Prize amounts to 250 thousand reais (about 40 thousand euros at the current exchange rate). The author of the winning book will receive 120 thousand reais (19.2 thousand euros), the second 80 thousand reais (12.8 thousand euros) and the third 50 thousand reais (08 thousand euros).
The Oceanos Prize is sponsored by Banco Itaú and the Republic of Portugal, the support of Itaú Cultural, also responsible for the governance of the prize, and the Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries of Cape Verde, in addition to the institutional support of the Community of Countries Portuguese language.
