The launch of the commemorative book marking the 10th anniversary of Fólio — International Literary Festival of Óbidos — signals the start of a program that, over 11 days, celebrates milestones like the 900 years of Portugal and the centenary of José Cardoso Pires. The event will feature Nobel Laureate in Literature, Ládszló Krasznahorkai.
The Hungarian writer, recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, is known for his novels, short fiction, and screenplays. He has collaborated with director Béla Tarr and has published only his first novel, ‘The Satan Tango’, in Portugal through Antígona. He is set to release ‘Herscht 07769’ through Cavalo de Ferro and will attend the festival.
The festival’s inauguration will occur today at 5:00 PM, coinciding with the book launch supported by the European Commission Representation in Portugal. The book revisits moments, faces, and images that have defined the previous nine editions of the festival, and the 10th edition, running until the 19th, aims to chart the course for the next decade.
With the theme ‘Borders’, the festival will also commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Portuguese publisher Tinta-da-China, featured at Fólio with a tent in the Espaço Ó garden, hosting its own program on the resilience of independent publishers today.
The two-decade milestone of the publisher, established in 2005, will be honored with a retrospective exhibition and discussions with writers Carlos Vaz Marques, Pedro Mexia, Dulce Maria Cardoso, Valério Romão, José Pacheco Pereira, Rui Tavares, and Ricardo Araújo Pereira, among others.
Another highlight will be the celebration of 40 years since Portugal’s accession to the European Union, featuring literary panels, information sessions, an exhibition, and debates, the final one focusing on ’40 Years of Portuguese Culture and Language in the EU,’ involving Portuguese MEPs.
On the second day, the festival will commemorate the centenary of José Cardoso Pires, with a conversation between Ana Cardoso Pires and Ana Margarida Carvalho. On Sunday, José Ribeiro Castro, João Paulo Oliveira e Costa, and José Eduardo Franco will mark Portugal’s 900th anniversary.
In a celebratory year, Fólio’s 10th edition will spotlights two Nobel Literature laureates: Belarusian Svetlana Alexievich (2015) and South African J.M. Coetzee (2003). The former, author of ‘Voices from Chernobyl’ and ‘War’s Unwomanly Face,’ will discuss ‘Borders’ on Saturday, while the latter, known for ‘Disgrace’ and ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’, will return to the topic on the 17th in conversation with Alberto Manguel.
Throughout the festival’s 15 author panels, discussions will cover themes like ‘Existence’ (Cho Nam-joo and Lida Turpeinen), ‘Fear’ (Anne Applebaum and Raquel Vaz-Pinto), the ‘Other’ (Avi Shlaim and William Sieghart), ‘Silence’ (Fernando Aramburu and Irene Sola), ‘Identity’ (Valério Romão and Carmen Maria Machado), ‘Intimate’ (Tati Bernardi and Édouard Louis), ‘Family’ (Paul Murray and Marie NDiaye), ‘Memory’ (Luísa Sobral, Joanna Elmy, and Marta Pérez-Carbonell), ‘Literary Genre’ (Luísa Costa Gomes and Teolinda Gersão), ‘Real’ (José Eduardo Agualusa and Giovana Madalosso), ‘Freedom’ (Ricardo Araújo Pereira and Joana Marques), ‘Empires’ (Pierre Singaravélou and Pedro Aires Oliveira), concluding with ‘Death’ (Lionel Shriver, Rui Cardoso Martins, and Làszló Krasznahorkai).
The event will also include the presentation of the Fernando Leite Couto Literary Prize to Zacarias Nguenha and the 2025 National Illustration Prize to André da Loba.
Fólio Educa returns this year with the International Education Seminar under the theme ‘Educating: contemplating the school at the limit between maps and encounters,’ concluded by the Minister of Education, Fernando Alexandre.
In Folia, the Inatel Foundation has scheduled seven concerts throughout the festival, which also includes 21 exhibitions to visit.
The festival is organized by the municipality of Óbidos, in collaboration with the municipal company Óbidos Criativa, Ler Devagar, and the Inatel Foundation.
