The nominees for the FFIL 2020 edition are Raul Calane da Silva (Mozambique), Lopito Feijóo (Angola), Tony Tcheka (Guinea-Bissau), Jorge Carlos Fonseca (Cape Verde), Olinda Beja (São Tomé and Príncipe) Sidney Rocha (Brazil) and Ana Luísa Amaral (Portugal).
"The FFIL thus makes official the presentation of the Guerra Junqueiro literary award in the seven countries of Lusophony, where Portuguese is the official language", indicated to Lusa the curator of the award, Avelina Ferraz, of the November publishing house.
According to the promoters of the literary initiative, which brings together the municipality of Freixo de Espada and Cinta, in Portugal, and Editorial Novembro, the promotion of a Portuguese-speaking community contributes decisively to individual and collective, material and intellectual development.
For her part, the mayor of Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Maria do Céu Quintas, said that "there are very sensitive times and more than ever [it's necessary] to support culture and writing and speaking in Portuguese".
"The FFIL is already a cultural movement of reference for the region, where the life and work of Guerra Junqueiro play an important role," Maria do Céu Quintas said.
The FFIL begins on July 24th with the presentation of the Guerra Junqueiro Literary Prize to the poet Ana Luísa Amaral, in a "more intimate and conditioned access" space, which will take place in the garden of the Silk Museum and the Territory.
This fourth edition will make official the holding of the FFIL Lusofonia, which will take place in November of this year, if the evolution of the pandemic allows it, in Cape Verde.
To mark "this solemn moment", Freixo de Espada Cinta will count on the presence of the Secretary of State of the Portuguese Communities, Berta Nunes, the Ambassador of the Republic of Cape Verde in Portugal, Eurico Correia Monteiro, and the ambassadress Manuela Jorge Brito, representing the city of Praia.
"To think about the FFIL Lusofonia project is to praise the defense and valorization of the Portuguese language as intangible cultural heritage. We want to approach the Portuguese of today through a broader vision, with the due value attributed to the regional or local dimension", said Avelina Ferraz.
The event, this month, also includes a conversation with writers Lídia Praça and José Manuel Barata-Feyo, on the river beach of Congida, in Freixo de Espada à Cinta. This meeting is scheduled for 11am on July 25th.
The literary prize has been awarded since 2017, as part of that festival, which takes place in the birthplace of the writer Guerra Junqueiro.
In 2017 the prize was awarded to the poet Manuel Alegre, in 2018 to the poet Nuno Júdice and in 2019 to José Jorge Letria.
