Mozambique: Gibson João wins poetry award in Portugal

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Mozambique: Gibson João wins poetry award in Portugal

9:29 CAT | 26 Mar 2025

File photo: Gibson Joao/Facebook

The Mozambican poet Gibson João is one of the winners of the 17th edition of the José Luís Peixoto Literary Prize, awarded annually by the municipality of Ponte de Sor, in Portugal, with his unpublished work “Em Vogais” (“In Vowels”).

Gibson João takes home a cash prize of €1,000 (more than 69,000 meticais). His work will also be published in Portugal with the author entitled to 50 copies.

“This victory is a milestone for Mozambican literature, which has recently shown itself to be vibrant and promising, with new authors increasingly promoting their country beyond its borders,” João said.

João was not the only winner in the category for authors not born or resident in the municipality of Ponte de Sor, as the award was also granted “ex aequo” to the Portuguese author Paulo Carvalho Ferreira, from Barcelos, who won over the jury with “Almanaque dos Dias Ímpares”, in a year in which no prize or honourable mention was awarded for the category of authors born or resident in that municipality.

The José Luís Peixoto Literary Prize is open to Portuguese-speaking writers and was created to honour the Portuguese writer of the same name, a native of the municipality. It aims to encourage literary creativity among young people, as well as to promote a taste for writing, an activity essential for intellectual development.

This is the second award won by Gibson João, who is from Inhambane province. In 2023, he shared the Fernando Leite Couto Literary Prize with Óscar Fanheirofor “Da casa: o seu litoral murmuro”. The prize allowed him to participate in a one-month literary residency in the city of Óbidos, in Portugal, where he was also part of the program of the 2023 Óbidos International Literary Festival.

Source: Notícias