The twelfth edition of the Azores Fringe, the international arts festival with its epicenter on the island of Pico, kicks off on May 17. The opening event welcomes one of the country’s most awarded contemporary writers to the mountain island and Portugal’s highest point for the first time.

He is best known as a writer, but Valter Hugo Mãe is also an artist, editor, television presenter and singer, “a true chameleon in the world of the arts”, notes Terry Costa, artistic director of MiratecArts and founder of the Azores Fringe Festival. “Valter Hugo Mãe will be with us not only as a participant in the festival but as a featured guest, for his body of work, to encourage our collaborators to produce more and better.” The MiratecArts association will present the writer with the Atlante Prize, symbolizing persistence and daring in the art world. “In conversation with the author of ‘Deus na Escuridão’, his latest novel, published by Porto Editora, we hope to learn a little more about his writing, the reason for the themes, and the whys of writing today, and much more,” says Terry Costa.

The Madalena Auditorium Library is hosting dozens of artists to celebrate “an artistic explosion from the Azores to the world.” Admission is free, and the doors open at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 17, for the official start of the twelfth edition of the Azores Fringe Festival.

The Fringe is part of the international movement of artists supporting artists and features workshops, talks, performance art, theater, music, dance, film and video, exhibitions, live painting, book launches, and a craft fair. For more information about the program, which runs until June, visit azoresfringe.com and follow MiratecArts and the Azores Fringe Festival on social media.