The writer Mário Cláudio is one of the nine winners of the Guerra Junqueiro Lusofonia Literary Prize 2023, the organization, the City Council of Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Bragança district, announced today in Porto.
The Portuguese writer will receive the award at a ceremony on July 6 this year, in Freixo de Espada à Cinta, as part of the closing ceremonies of the centenary of the death of Guerra Junqueiro (1850-1923), revealed Avelina Ferraz, curator of the award, contacted by the Lusa agency.
Aimed at distinguishing writers from the nine members of the Portuguese-speaking countries (PALOP), the award also went to José Luís Mendonça (Angola), Cida Pedrosa (Brazil), Daniel Medina (Cape Verde), Odete Costa Semedo (Guinea-Bissau), Laureano Nsue Nguema Mibuy (Equatorial Guinea), Paulina Chiziane (Mozambique), Inocência Mata (São Tomé and Príncipe) and José Ramos Horta (East Timor).
The award is intended to be “a discussion tool for deepening intercultural relations between the various Lusophone territories and peoples, weaving a network of neurons linked by a common language”, curator Avelina Ferraz told Lusa.
“The aim is to be an integrating element, helping to strengthen cultural ties, promote cooperation between Portuguese-speaking countries and peoples, translation of works, exchange of knowledge and experiences, contributing to the preservation and enhancement of Lusophone identity,” he added.
According to Avelina Ferraz, at the ceremony to announce the 2023 laureates, which took place today in the district of Porto, the 2022 prize – previously announced – was given to the São Toméan writer Conceição Lima, who is in Portugal.
Promoted as part of the Freixo International Literature Festival (FFIL), the Guerra Junqueiro Literary Prize has been held since 2017 in Freixo de Espada à Cinta, the birthplace of Guerra Junqueiro (1850-1923), and the host town of the prize in Portugal.
The Guerra Junqueiro Literary Prize was extended in 2020 to Lusophony, with the Guerra Junqueiro Lusophony Literary Prize.
The first edition of the Guerra Junqueiro Literary Prize honored Manuel Alegre (2017), followed by Nuno Júdice in 2018, José Jorge Letria in 2019 and Ana Luísa Amaral in 2020. In 2021, in Portugal, the prize was awarded to Hélia Correia.