The Birdcage Archives

Thursday, 2 June 2016

Premio Camões Prize for 2016

Hello Gentle Reader

The Camões Prize is the most prestigious Portuguese language literary prize. It has been awarded to writers from Mozambique, Brazil, Angola, Portugal, as well as Cape Verde. Writer who have received the award, have been Mia Couto from Mozambique, and Pepetela from Angola, as well as Jose Saramago, who would later go on to become a Nobel Laureate in Literature.

This years Camões Prize has gone to the Brazilian Writer Raduan Nassar. What makes Raduan Nassar, unique in winning this award, is how small his bibliography is. Nassar, has only three books to his name; two short novels, and a collection of short stories. In nineteen-eighty four, Raduan Nassar ceased to write, as he no long found literature of interest, and turned his attention to agriculture – specifically speaking, chicken farming. However in two-thousand and eleven donated the farm land to the Federal University of São Carlos, under the clause, that the land would be developed into another campus. After wards Nassar is reported to have small local charities, and retired to a small farm.

For those interested in reading Raduan Nassar’s work in English, his two novels have been translated earlier in this year, in January (2016). They are: “Ancient Tillage,” and “A Cup Full of Rage.”

“The Guardian,” newspaper in the UK reviewed “A Cup Full of Rage,” and commented on its short length, but stated despite the length, the novel packs a rewarding punch, to those willing to peck it, out between the cracks of the ‘Meganovels,’ surrounding it.

Congratulations are in order to Raduan Nassar for winning this year’s Camões Prize.


Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read


M. Mary

No comments:

Post a Comment