Portimão celebrates literature with the Manuel Teixeira Gomes Literary Prize
9 December – 6:00 pm at Manuel Teixeira Gomes Municipal Library
As part of the official programme marking City Day, the Manuel Teixeira Gomes Municipal Library will host, on 9 December at 6:00 pm, the award ceremony for the Manuel Teixeira Gomes Literary Prize and the presentation of the winning works of the 2025 edition.
In the year that marks the 101st anniversary of Portimão’s elevation to city status, the municipality reaffirms its commitment to encouraging literary creation and honouring the life and legacy of Manuel Teixeira Gomes — distinguished writer and former President of the Republic, whose ties to the city and the Algarve run deep.
The first prize, valued at €3,500 and including the publication of 300 copies, was awarded to O Arquivo das Ondas by Filipe Miguel de Freitas Mendes. The second prize, worth €1,000 and also accompanied by the publication of 300 copies, went to Cenas Cortadas by Francisca Kelly Carvalho dos Santos. The third prize, which ensures the publication of 150 copies, was awarded to Bella: A menina que escutava com o corpo, by Lara Passini Vaz-Tostes.
Presentation of the winning novellas and their authors
O Arquivo das Ondas, by Filipe Miguel de Freitas Mendes — a journalist based in Santarém for more than two decades — was praised by the jury for its compelling narrative on memory, emotional inheritance and the enduring strength of human bonds in the face of distance and oblivion.
Meanwhile, Cenas Cortadas, by Kelly Carvalho dos Santos, offers a profound reflection on erasure, power and resistance within Brazil’s 1940s artistic milieu. Kelly C. dos Santos is a Brazilian author focused on research and the creation of atmospheric narratives, exploring the boundaries between trauma, memory and the supernatural.
Finally, Lara Passini Vaz-Tostes — a Brazilian writer and researcher with a background in Law and currently specialising in Philosophy and Legal Theory — presents A Menina que Escutava com o Corpo, a delicate portrait of communication, affection and belonging.
