© Alfredo CunhaMia Couto //
The International Book Fair (FIL) of Guadalajara has granted the renowned FIL Prize in Romance Languages 2024 to the Mozambican author Mia Couto as the first African writer to win this award. The jury emphasizes “his remarkable literary work whose linguistic innovation makes us rethink the relationship between the members of the community of Portuguese-speaking countries, drawing attention and sensitivity to the African continent and its historical, cultural and geopolitical relations, and inviting us to recognise and approach the history and nature of the planet in a different way”. The prize honors the author’s lifetime achievement and consists of 150,000 U$.
In this edition, the FIL Prize for Literature in Romance Languages received 58 candidates from 20 countries. Past winners of this prize include Nélida Piñón (1995), Juan Goytisolo (2004), António Lobo Antunes (2008), Margo Glantz (2010), Claudio Magris (2014), Enrique Vila-Matas (2015) and Lídia Jorge (2020).
The prize will be handed over in the opening and concession ceremony of the Guadalajara International Book Fair on Saturday 30th November 2024.
