Loulé and the Portuguese Writers Association recognize the work of nonagenarian Helder Macedo

At almost 90 years of age, the writer Helder Macedo was once again distinguished for his work and joins the list of “notables” in Portuguese Literature who received the Grand Prize for Chronicles and Literary Dispersals, established by APE – Portuguese Writers Association and Loulé City Council .

The award ceremony took place on Thursday, May 29, as part of the celebrations for Loulé Municipality Day.

«Pretextos», the distinguished work, brings together 120 chronicles published by «Jornal de Letras», between 2006 and 2023, published in book form by Caminho, and is «simultaneously a chronicle and a literary dispersion», as noted by José Manuel Mendes, president of APE.

At the book's presentation, Carlos Albino, president of the jury, which also included professor Cristina Robalo Cordeiro and journalist and writer Francisco Duarte Mangas, said that the book reflects "a very particular perspective" of the author regarding his experience between two distinct worlds, Portugal and England, where he has lived for decades.

“He has managed to create a tapestry of admirable reflections, full of depth, philosophy, grace and a lot of humor. They are contemporary chronicles, proof of the creative vivacity of a professor, a great intellectual, who writes for everyone, as happens with writers who are truly solid and human. He writes from the world of culture, but his attention to the realities of life gives him a very rare scope”, considered Carlos Albino, the man who led the creation of this Prize.

Novelist, novelist, narrator, poet, «and above all a rare essayist, one who read Camões like no one else had ever read him», as noted by the president of APE, Helder Macedo had a career divided between writing and teaching.

He was a professor at Kings's College, holding the «Camões» chair, having «a long and refined dialogue» with Camões' work, with dozens of interviews and countless «memorable interventions» on the subject, with his book «Camões and other contemporaries» standing out, recalled Carlos Albino.

«A unifying figure, of exceptional temperament», with a singular importance in the Portuguese civic-cultural context, the author awarded in the 10th edition of the Grand Prize is, in the view of the president of APE, «a classic on the move, an author of the future, one who brings the time in which he was born transported to the times to come, while welcoming the memory of readers of different generations».

In his words of thanks for receiving the award, Helder Semedo said he felt “deeply grateful and flattered”.

In an award that distinguishes the chronicle, the author also spoke of the advantage of this literary genre: «these are works in which we have to respond to a more or less immediate request, we start from an idea or a more or less immediate style, and then some of our personal obsessions enter into these various recurrences».

Vítor Aleixo, Mayor of Loulé, thanked the laureate and also the partners in this journey of the APE/CML Grand Prize for Chronicles and Literary Dispersals, held for 10 editions, and which put Loulé on the map of Portuguese Literature.

“Every year, at the end of May, the most dignified newspapers and media outlets that are attentive to the cultural world highlight Loulé as a city that recognizes the chronicle as one of the relevant expressions of the world of communication and the literary world,” said Carlos Albino.

Remember the list of winners: