The Luísa Ducla Soares Prize aims to “encourage children’s and youth literature in Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking world,” according to the organization, coinciding with the start of the Letra Corrida festival.
Luísa Ducla Soares, aged 86, expressed her enthusiasm about the prize encompassing “Portuguese-speaking countries, which are proof that the seed of this language, born in a small Iberian country, has grown and flourished into a rich variety of geographies, experiences, themes, and dialects.”
Marking 55 years of literary contribution, Luísa Ducla Soares emphasized that books and reading help develop “deep experiences that lack in the current digital communication dominated by easy and superficial immediacy.”
“We watch, with concern, the declining intelligence level of the new generation due to smartphones and computers, used as a basic source of rapid reading. Families, schools, and governments are trying to counter this grave situation,” she warned.
The inaugural Luísa Ducla Soares Prize will officially launch on April 2, 2026—International Children’s Book Day—known so far to be an annual award for unpublished works by “new authors from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.”
The monetary value of the prize, as well as the rules and application criteria, will be revealed in April.
The jury will include “three personalities of recognized merit,” with the award to be presented during the 2026 Letra Corrida—Infant and Youth Literature Festival in Coimbra, scheduled from November 23 to 29.
The second edition of the Letra Corrida Festival takes place this week, featuring over 40 hours of programming and 14 guests, including writers, illustrators, musicians, and storytellers such as Pedro Chagas Freitas, Clara Cunha, Isabel Zambujal, Sofia Fraga, and Sofia Vieira.
Meetings with authors, autograph sessions, book presentations, illustration workshops, and storytelling sessions are among the festival’s planned activities, organized by the company GoldenSkill.
Luísa Ducla Soares is one of Portugal’s most well-known children’s book authors. Her first book was “A história da papoila” (1972), published during the Estado Novo, earning her an award from the National Information Secretariat, which she declined due to conscientious objection.
Ducla Soares has authored dozens of stories, both original and retold from folk songs, as well as poetry, riddles, proverbs, tongue twisters, and nursery rhymes.
Her most recent published books include “E se fôssemos a votos?” (2024), illustrated by Rachel Caiano, “Mário Soares: No Caminho da Liberdade” (2024), with Susana Cavalinhos, and “Cada macaco no seu galho” (2025), with Carolina Branco.
Some of her life stories were shared in an autobiography published in 2020, aimed at her younger readers.
Luísa Ducla Soares received the Calouste Gulbenkian Prize for her complete works in 1996 and was a candidate for several prestigious international awards, including the Hans Christian Andersen and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
