The Municipality of Faro announces that writer Fernando Esteves Pinto has been awarded the António Ramos Rosa Grand Prize for Poetry, presented by the Portuguese Writers Association (APE) in partnership with the Municipality of Faro, for his work “Queda tão leve de tudo”, published by Húmus.
The decision was reached unanimously by the jury, chaired by José Manuel Mendes and comprising Ana Isabel Soares, Cândido Oliveira Martins and Manuel Frias Martins. In its statement, the jury highlighted the reflective depth and philosophical intensity of Fernando Esteves Pinto’s writing:
“…The award recognizes the essayistic fervor of Esteves Pinto’s verse, which persists in a philosophical search for what, in the poet’s words, ‘appears as revelation and wisdom.’ The distinguished work systematizes a poetics as a space for questioning human thought, through formulations that bring together ‘fear’ and a ‘profound awareness’ of the possibility of ‘[writing] in the air / the natural laws of balance.’
If, in the verse of António Ramos Rosa, ‘[t]he construction of the poem is the construction of the world,’ the mental world built by Fernando Esteves Pinto simultaneously reveals both the fracture and the power of that construction.” (press release from the Portuguese Writers Association, issued on April 27, 2026)
Established by the Portuguese Writers Association with the support of the Municipality of Faro, the prize aims to distinguish, annually, a work of poetry written in Portuguese, published in full and in its first edition. This year’s competition received 65 entries, all published in 2025.
The award carries a monetary value of €12,500. The public award ceremony, to be held in Faro, will be announced at a later date.
About the author
Born in Cascais in 1961, Fernando Esteves Pinto is the author of a diverse body of literary work, including poetry and novels. His titles include Na Escrita e no Rosto (poetry), awarded the Inasset Revelation Poetry Prize by the National Centre for Culture; Conversas Terminais (novel), supported by a Literary Creation Grant from the Ministry of Culture; Brutal (novel); O Carteiro de Fernando Pessoa (novel); A Caverna de Deus (novel), winner of the City of Almada Literary Prize; Área Afectada (poetry); and Arte Humana (poetry). He is also co-founder of the literary project LÓGOS – Biblioteca do Tempo.
