Brazilian poet Adélia Prado wins 2024 Camões Prize

Brazilian poet Adélia Prado is the winner of the 2024 edition of the Camões Prize, the most important award for Portuguese-language literature. The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon (Jun. 26) by the National Library Foundation.

The achievement also marks a special week for the author, considered to be the greatest Brazilian female poet alive. Six days ago, Prado was awarded the Machado de Assis Prize, the highest honor of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and one of Brazil’s most traditional.

“It was with great joy and emotion that I received a phone call today, June 26, from Dalila Rodrigues, Portugal’s Minister of Culture, informing me that I had been awarded the Camões Prize. I was still celebrating having received the Machado de Assis Prize from the Brazilian Academy of Letters, and now I’m doubly delighted. I’d like to share my joy with all lovers of the Portuguese language, this powerful source of creation,” the winner says in a statement to Agência Brasil.

Born in the city of Divinópolis, Minas Gerais state, Adélia Prado is 88 years old. As well as being a poet, she has also worked as a teacher, philosopher, novelist, and short-story writer. Her first poems were published in newspapers in her hometown and in state capital Belo Horizonte.

Reading Prado’s originals impressed poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902–1987), who sent them to be published in book form in 1975. Entitled Bagagem, the book of poems drew critical attention for its originality and style.

Her 1978 book O Coração Disparado won the Jabuti Prize for Literature, awarded by the Brazilian Book Chamber. In 1981, she published Terra de Santa Cruz.

Prado’s intellectual production also includes prose, including Solte os Cachorros (1979) and Cacos para um Vitral (1980).

The author, who also wrote for children, also deals with topics linked to the Catholic faith, among which God, family, and the perspective of women.

The newest Camões prize winner is preparing a book for release soon, Jardim das Oliveiras, named after the a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives—the place where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus Christ prayed on the eve of his crucifixion.

The poet has also adapted to the digital world, so that part of her work is available on social media. On Instagram, visitors can listen to her talk about her work or simply recite poetry.

The prize

Created in 1988, the Camões Prize is designed to recognize Portuguese-language authors who, through their entire body of work, have contributed to the enrichment of the language’s literary and cultural heritage. The accolade was named after Luís Vaz de Camões, one of Portugal’s greatest poets.

The winner will receive a prize of 100 thousand euros. The amount is funded by the two institutions that organize the Camões: the Portuguese Ministry of Culture and the National Library Foundation, linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Culture.

Among the 36 recipients of the Camões Prize are 15 Brazilians, 14 Portuguese authors, three Mozambicans, two Cape Verdeans, one Angolan, and one Luso-Angolan author.