Camões Prize

The Camões Prize (Portuguese, Prémio Camões, Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpɾɛmju kaˈmõjʃ]), named after Luís de Camões, is the most important prize for literature in the Portuguese language. It is awarded annually by the Portuguese Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Biblioteca^[1] (National Book, Archive an Libraries Department) and the Brazilian Fundação Biblioteca Nacional^[2] (National Library Foundation) to the author of an outstanding oeuvre of work written in Portuguese. The monetary award is of €100,000, making it among the richest literary prizes in the world.

Camões Prize
Country	Lusophone countries
Presented by	Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Biblioteca (Portugal) and Fundação Biblioteca Nacional (Brazil)
Reward(s)	€100,000
First awarded	1989

History

This award is considered the premier literary prize in the Portuguese-speaking world and is granted on the basis of the entirety of one's work.^[3]

The Camões Prize is awarded annually, alternating between the two countries, and based on decision of a specially designated jury. The award consists of a cash amount resulting from the contributions from Brazil and Portugal, and is set annually by mutual agreement.

The Camões Prize was first introduced by the Additional Protocol to the Cultural Agreement between the Government of the Portuguese Republic and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil, dated September 7, 1966, which creates the Camões Prize, signed in Brasilia on June 22, 1988, and approved in Portugal by Decree No. 43/88 of November 30, 1988.^[4]

This Protocol was replaced by a new one between the Portuguese Republic and the Federative Republic of Brazil, signed in Lisbon on April 17, 1999, approved by Portugal through Decree 47/99 in the official gazette of November 5, 1999.^[5]

The Laureates

Year	Author		Country	Genre(s)	Ref(s)
1989		Miguel Torga (1907–1995)	Portugal	poetry, short story, novel, drama, memoirs, essay
1990		João Cabral de Melo Neto (1920–1999)	Brazil	poetry
1991		José Craveirinha (1922–2003)	Mozambique	poetry, journalism
1992		Vergílio Ferreira (1916–1996)	Portugal	novel, short story, memoirs, essay
1993		Rachel de Queiroz (1910–2003)	Brazil	novel, short story, translation, journalism, drama, memoirs, children's literature	^[6]
1994		Jorge Amado (1912–2001)	Brazil	novel, short story, poetry, children's literature, biography, journalism
1995		José Saramago (1922–2010)	Portugal	novel, short story, drama, poetry, memoirs, journalism, children's literature
1996		Eduardo Lourenço (1923–2020)	Portugal	philosophy, literary criticism, essay
1997		"Pepetela"-Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos (1941 – )	Angola	novel, drama
1998		António Cândido de Mello e Sousa (1918–2017)	Brazil	literary criticism, literary theory, essay, poetry
1999		Sophia de Mello Breyner (1919–2004)	Portugal	poetry, short story, drama, children's literature, translation, essay
2000		Autran Dourado (1926–2012)	Brazil	novel, short story, essay, memoirs
2001		Eugénio de Andrade (1923–2005)	Portugal	poetry, children's literature, translation, short story
2002		Maria Velho da Costa (1938–2020)	Portugal	novel, short story, drama, essay, screenplay
2003		Rubem Fonseca (1925–2020)	Brazil	novel, short story, screenplay
2004		Agustina Bessa-Luís (1922–2019)	Portugal	novel, short story, drama, essay, children's literature, biography, memoirs
2005		Lygia Fagundes Telles (1923 – 2022)	Brazil	novel, short story
2006		José Luandino Vieira (1935 – ) – refused	Portugal /   Angola	novel, short story, journalism, children's literature, translation	^[7]
2007		António Lobo Antunes (1942 – )	Portugal	novel, short story
2008		João Ubaldo Ribeiro (1941 – 2014)	Brazil	novel, short story, journalism, children's literature, essay
2009		Arménio Vieira (1941 – )	Cape Verde	poetry, journalism
2010		Ferreira Gullar (1930–2016)	Brazil	poetry, short story, essay, art criticism, biography	^[8]
2011		Manuel António Pina (1943–2012)	Portugal	poetry, children's literature, drama, short story, journalism	^[9]
2012		Dalton Trevisan (1925 – )	Brazil	short story, novel
2013		Mia Couto (1955 – )	Mozambique	novel, short story, poetry	^[10]
2014		Alberto da Costa e Silva (1931–2023)	Brazil	history, poetry, memoirs, essay, biography	^[11]
2015		Hélia Correia (1949 – )	Portugal	novel, children's literature, drama, poetry	^[12]
2016		Raduan Nassar (1935 – )	Brazil	short story, novel	^[13]
2017		Manuel Alegre (1936 – )	Portugal	poetry, novel	^[14]
2018		Germano Almeida (1945 – )	Cape Verde	novel	^[15]
2019		Chico Buarque (1944 – )	Brazil	songwriting, novel, drama	^[16]
2020		Vítor Manuel de Aguiar e Silva [pt] (1939 –)	Portugal	essay	^[17]
2021		Paulina Chiziane (1955 –)	Mozambique	novel	^[18]
2022		Silviano Santiago (1936 –)	Brazil	novel, essay, literary criticism	^[19]
2023		João Barrento [pt] (1940 –)	Portugal	translation, essay	^[20]

Winners per country

•   Portugal – 14
•   Brazil – 14
•   Mozambique – 3
•   Angola – 2
•   Cape Verde – 2

References

1. "Arquivo de Notícias, na categoria Prémios". Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Bibliotecas (DGLAB) (in Portuguese). DGLAB. 2019-05-22. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
2. "Prêmio Camões de Literatura". Biblioteca Nacional (in Portuguese). Biblioteca Nacional. 2019. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
3. Standish, Peter (26 March 1997). "Prizes". In Verity Smith (ed.). Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature. Routledge. p. 1252. ISBN 978-1-135-31425-5.
4. "Decreto n.o 43/88" (PDF). Diário da República. November 11, 1988. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
5. "Decreto n.o 47/99" (PDF). Diário da República. November 5, 1999. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
6. "Rachel de Queiroz". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
7. Lucas, Isabel (2006-05-25). . Diário de Notícias. Archived from the original on 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
8. Schiavo, Leda. "Literature: Year In Review 2010: Portugal". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
9. Queirós, Luís Miguel; Coelho, Alexandra Lucas (2011-05-12). "Manuel António Pina ganha prémio Camões" (in Portuguese). Publico. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
10. Andrade, Sérgio C. (2013-05-27). "Mia Couto é o vencedor do Prémio Camões 2013". Publico. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
11. Carvalho, Cláudia Lima (2014-05-30). "O Prémio Camões 2014 é o brasileiro Alberto da Costa e Silva" (in Portuguese). Publico. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
12. Queirós, Luís Miguel; Gomes, Kathleen; Coutinho, Isabel; Lucas, Isabel (2015-06-17). "Hélia Correia é a vencedora do Prémio Camões" (in Portuguese). Publico. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
13. Marques, Ana Cristina (2016-05-30). "Raduan Nassar vence Prémio Camões de 2016" (in Portuguese). Observador. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
14. Luís Miguel, Queirós (2017-06-08). "Manuel Alegre é o vencedor do Prémio Camões" (in Portuguese). Público. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
15. "Cabo-verdiano Germano Almeida vence Prémio Camões 2018" (in Portuguese). Observador. 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
16. "Chico Buarque é o novo ganhador do prêmio Camões de literatura" (in Portuguese). Folha de S. Paulo. 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
17. "Vítor Aguiar e Silva é o vencedor do Prémio Camões 2020". Notícias ao Minuto (in Portuguese). 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
18. "Prêmio Camões vai para escritora moçambicana Paulina Chiziane". Folha de São Paulo (in Portuguese). 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
19. "Prêmio Camões 2022 vai para Silviano Santiago, crítico e autor de 'Machado'". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
20. "Ensaísta e tradutor João Barrento vence Prémio Camões 2023". www.dn.pt (in European Portuguese). 2023-10-10. Retrieved 2023-10-11.