Brazilian poet Adélia Prado wins the Camões Prize

Regarded as the main decoration in lusophone literature, the Camões Award was created in 1989 by Brazil and Portugal.

Brazilian writer Adelia Prado has won the Camões Prize, the most important in the Portuguese language. The award is awarded by the Portuguese and Brazilian governments.

From the house where she lives in Divinopolis, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, Adelia Prado thanked the jury for the award in writing, in a simple way.

“It is with great happiness and emotion that I received a phone call on Wednesday (26th) from the Portuguese Minister of Culture informing me that I had been awarded the Camões Prize.”

She is the eighth woman to receive the Camões Prize since it was established in 1989.

Life Story

Born in 1935, she was born in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, where she still lives today. She studied teaching and philosophy.

She was the first in her family to see the ocean, to study at university and to dream of writing a book," reads the biography of Adélia Prado published by the Griffin Prize organisation, which recalls that the writer studied Philosophy and Religious Education at the local university and taught until 1979, and in the 1980s she was cultural attaché in the city where she still lives.

The poet, short story writer, and novelist began writing at the age of forty. Adelia became known after she recited some poems to the poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade. He was impressed and sent the texts to the publisher.

“He discovered it and today it is the Brazil that was discovered in Adelia Prado, in her work. The triumph of free poetry and the content that represents her loyalty. Loyalty to the woman who is, to the mission of poetry, to Brazil,” says Marco Lucchesi, head of the National Library.

Today, her influence is felt across borders, both in Brazil and in the region. On Instagram, Adélia Prado reads poems and receives tens of thousands of “likes”, answering questions from readers.

Adélia Prado's poetry has a religious character. Her anthology “Tudo que Existe Louvará”, published in Portugal, has a preface by D. Tolentino Mendonça.

The jury for the 2024 Camões Prize was made up of professors Clara Crabbé Rocha, Isabel Cristina Mateus, Francisco Noa, Cleber Ranieri Ribas de Almeida, Deonísio da Silva and Dionísio Bahule.

According to the jury, “Adélia Prado is the author of a very original oeuvre, spanning decades, with an emphasis on poetic production”.

The President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, congratulated the Brazilian poet. In a note published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic, the Portuguese head of state recalled that Prado “knew how to unite, in a personal and unmistakable way, the Christian worldview, womanhood and everyday colloquialism, always with a captivating grace and lyricism”.