Lagoa Municipal Council is going ahead with the 3rd edition of the Municipal Prize for Creation and Research, which, like the 1st edition, is dedicated to literary creation. This competition, promoted by the municipality, aims to award an annual prize to the author or authors of the best research on municipal themes or the best literary creation in this year’s edition. With this project, the municipality aims, among other things, to stimulate and enhance writing habits, promote creative writing, and publicize new authors. The literary works competing for the prize can be of various genres, such as poetry, narrative fiction, drama, comics, and children’s works.
The winner will receive a cash prize of 2,000 euros, and the jury may, if it sees fit, award an honorable mention, which is not entitled to a cash prize.
The jury for this edition consists of three people of recognized literary expertise: Anabela Cura, Pedro Almeida Maia, and Telmo R. Nunes.
Anabela Cura is a Portuguese/French teacher specializing in Portuguese literature, with extensive training and experience in book promotion and reading mediation. She is a member of the Lagoa School Board. As well as having been present at other Lagoa Municipal Library initiatives, she has worked in a hospital setting and is also a member of the “Histórias Requinhas” and, more recently, the “Canta Comigo, Leio Contigo” project, in partnership with Alda Casqueira Fernandes.
On the other hand, Pedro Almeida Maia has written in various styles, from music to chronicles, from essays to screenplays, and from poetry to short stories. He made his novel debut in 2012 when he won the Letras em Movimento Prize, and his most recent works have been included in the Regional Reading Plan or have received critical acclaim, especially “Ilha-América” (2020) and “A Escrava Açoriana” (2022). In the novella genre, he has published “Nove Estações” (2014), selected for the LabJovem Showcase, and “A Força das Sentenças” (2023), winner of the Manuel Teixeira Gomes Prize.
Telmo R. Nunes, on the other hand, writes for pleasure, with work scattered throughout the Azorean and continental, regional press; he is part of anthologies of short stories and poetic anthologies; he is the author of “Reflexões de Uma Quase Vida”, (Honorable Mention in the Gaspar Frutuoso Literary Prize, Ribeira Grande City Council), in 2009 and “Inês, A Dualidade de Uma Vida,” in 2012. In 2023, he published “O Lugar da Trindade” and “Outras Narrativas” by Letras Lavadas.
Competing works must be submitted from August 1 to September 2 under a pseudonym, by registered mail, with acknowledgment of receipt, to the municipality’s headquarters or can be delivered in person at the exact location. Five copies of each entry must be submitted. For more information, we recommend that you read the regulations for this competition, which are available on the municipality’s website.
It should be noted that the results of the winner of this year’s Municipal Prize for Creation and Research will be announced by December 2, 2024.
It should be remembered that the first edition of the Municipal Prize for Creation and Research, in 2022, was dedicated to literary creation, with the prize going to the work “O Menino de Prata que desejava Conhecer o Mundo” by Nuno Almeida.

in Diário dos Açores

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