The Legislative Assembly of the Azores has created the Vitorino Nemésio Literary Prize, with no monetary value attached, to honor one of the “leading exponents of Portuguese culture” and “encourage literary creation,” which was published in the region’s Official Journal.

In the draft regulation, the Azorean parliament’s Social Affairs Committee decided to “establish the annual Vitorino Nemésio Literary Prize, with the aim of honoring the Azorean poet and writer, perpetuating his name in time and encouraging literary creation in the Portuguese language,” according to the publication in the Official Journal.

The Legislative Assembly considers Vitorino Nemésio, a native of Terceira island, as “one of the greatest exponents of Portuguese culture,” who “greatly elevated the culture and history of the Azores islands, as a brilliant poet, novelist, chronicler, academic and intellectual.”

“His work reflects the essence of Azoreanness, a word that the author created and which today represents, in a universal way, the concept of being Azorean or relating to the culture and history of the Azores, and is also used to express the feeling of affinity or love for the Azores.”

The draft regulations for the prize, which are subject to public consultation for the next 30 days, state that the “prize to be awarded to the winner will be the publication of up to 300 copies of the winning work, with reference to the prize appearing in the respective edition”.

The seller will also be “entitled to 10% of the copyright of the edition of the work”.

“Works of fiction, namely novels, novellas and short stories, and works of poetry” will be accepted into the competition, and in each edition, the prize will be “directed towards one or more genres to be defined annually” by the Regional Assembly.

Among the proposed evaluation criteria are the “originality of the themes developed,” the “mastery of the Portuguese language and grammatical correctness,” “literary coherence,” and the “liveliness of the plot.”

Vitorino Nemésio, poet, university professor, and novelist, was born in Praia da Vitória in 1901 and died in Lisbon in 1978.

His career included the novel “Mau Tempo no Canal” (1944), the works of poetry “Eu, Comovido a Oeste” (1940) or “O Verbo e a Morte” (1959), and the book of chronicles “Corsário das Ilhas” (1956).

in Açoriano Oriental, Paulo Simões-director

Editors Note: Professor Francisco Cota Fagundes has translated Mau Tempo no Canal to English: Stormy Isles. Poet Scott Edward Anderson is working on the translation to Engish of Corsário das Ilhas.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno.

A brief recording of Vitorino Nemésio and his famous TV program-Se Bem Me Lembro...