Mozambique: Daúde Amade wins Eugénio Lisboa Prize

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Mozambique: Daúde Amade wins Eugénio Lisboa Prize

8:22 CAT | 03 Jan 2025

File photo: Noticias

Mozambican writer Daúde Amade has won the 8th edition of the National Press/Eugénio Lisboa Prize. Writing under the pseudonym Jorge Nyembete, Amade competed with his unpublished novel Rogilda, ou Breviário de Agonia.

In addition to a monetary award of €5,000, the prize includes the publication of the winning work under the auspices of the National Press.

According to the jury—comprising Lucílio Manjate (President), Sara Jona, and Paula Mendes—the novel stands out for its timely plot, set in an ambivalent time frame that combines the chronological and psychological experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic in Mozambique and globally.

“From this choice emerges a predominantly psychological and immersive novel, whose action is centred within the confines of a house. Within this time and space, the work challenges readers to courageously recall the individual and collective experiences of the pandemic, the consequences of which remain visible on humanity’s face,” the jury noted.

The jury also praised the novel for its “fluid and introspective narration, which unfolds through the use of flashbacks and the skillful alternation between first- and second-person perspectives. The investment in poetic and vivid language is remarkable. The poetic and visual qualities of its language are reflected, respectively, in the description of the protagonist’s inner world, which inspires profound philosophical and existential reflections, and in the intertextual evocation of names and works from Mozambican and universal literature and music. These choices result in a polyphonic, cohesive, and assured novel that demonstrates Daúde Nossi Amade’s sharp awareness of the literary craft.”

Daúde Amade was born in Maputo in 1993. He is a teacher, writer, and essayist with a degree in Philosophy Teaching with a focus on History from Universidade Pedagógica. He also pursued a degree in Mozambican Literature at Eduardo Mondlane University.

His works have been published in arts and philosophy magazines, as well as in national and international anthologies, including: Um Natal experimental e outros contos, vol. 1 e 2 (Gala-gala edições, 2021 and 2022), Ubuntu: Literatura e ancestralidade (Gala-gala edições, 2022), Mazamera sofreu (Editora Kulera, 2023), and Crónicas de Yasuke (Editora Kulera, 2024).

The jury also awarded an honorable mention to the manuscript Na Boca do Hipopótamo, written by Changamire Dombo, the pseudonym of Mozambican Jeremias Macaringue. “It is a novel that reflects the growing investment in detective fiction, particularly among the new generation of Mozambican writers.”

The National Press/Eugénio Lisboa Prize, established in 2017 by the National Press-Casa da Moeda (INCM) in partnership with Camões – Portuguese Cultural Centre in Maputo, aims to select high-quality unpublished works in prose, thereby promoting the Portuguese language and Mozambican literary creativity.

Source: Noticias