The jury, comprised of writers, professors, and essayists José Manuel Cortês, Maria João Reynaud, and Paula Morão, recognized in this work that “the author presents highly rigorous syntheses and exhaustive information on Portuguese poetry of the last fifty years, creating a network of European references that enriches this panorama,” complementing it “with monographic essays on some of the most important poets of the considered period.”
The jury also highlighted “a dense and elegant essayistic writing.”
“João Barrento rises to the highest degree in the memory of the patron of this award,” concluded the jury, as noted by APCL to the Lusa news agency.
This marks the second time João Barrento has received the Jacinto do Prado Coelho Essay Prize, having first won it in 1996 with the work “A Palavra Transversal. Literatura e Ideias no Século XX.”
João Barrento was born in Alter do Chão in 1940. He was a professor at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and is an essayist, critic, columnist, and translator. He has been honored with the German Cross of Merit and the Goethe Medal, among various awards, notably the Camões Prize in 2023.
Last year, the unanimously chosen recipient of this award was Diogo Ramada Curto, with his work “Um País em Bicos de Pés: Escritores, artistas e movimentos culturais.”
The date for the presentation of the Jacinto Prado Coelho Essay Prize, valued at 4,000 euros, “will be announced soon” at the premises of the Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Bibliotecas/Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo, which sponsors the award.
