The publisher has announced a new program in celebration of World Book Day, aimed at “giving a voice to national fiction and encouraging reflection and debate on current issues through essayistic works to seek answers to an increasingly complex world.”
The initiative aims to support the writing of two distinguished projects, as specified by the group in a statement, highlighting that the support is available to “Portuguese citizens, or residents in Portugal, who write in Portuguese and demonstrate literary talent and voice.”
Each selected writer will receive a grant of 7,500 euros, distributed in two installments: half upon signing the contract of acceptance and the other half upon submission of the manuscript developed with the respective grant.
Clara Capitão, editorial director and co-general director of Penguin Random House Portugal, emphasized the “unprecedented” nature of this initiative among Portuguese publishers, stating that the group’s size mandates a contribution to make the literary creation landscape progressively more appealing and dignified.
“Instead of rewarding already written works, we decided to create conditions for new works to be written. This initiative stems from recognizing the need to foster national literary creation and results from active listening to writers, who repeatedly highlight the lack of incentives and precariousness of their creative conditions,” explained the editorial director in the statement.
According to Clara Capitão, the mission of these grants is “to affirm literary work as a central element of a vibrant culture and provide financial incentives for authors and future authors to dedicate themselves to the books they wish to write.”
The program is set to launch in 2025, with applications accepted from May 6 to June 30. The selected grant recipients will be publicly announced by September 25, and the acceptance of the work will proceed through the end of that month. The final manuscript deadline is March 30, 2026.
Applicants must be over 18, write in Portuguese, and have not published any books under the Penguin imprints.
Interested individuals can register online here.
