Pedro Mexia won the Grand Prix of Literature APE/CM de Loulé – Crónica e Dispersos Literários with his book “Lá Fora”, an edition of Tinta-da-China.
This prize, instituted by the Portuguese Association of Writers with the sponsorship of the Municipality of Loulé, has the value of 12 thousand euros and aimed to reward a work in Portuguese, by Portuguese author, published in a book and in the first edition in Portugal, in the year of 2018.
The decision to award the award to Pedro Mexia was taken unanimously by the jury, composed of Carina Infante do Carmo, Isabel Cristina Rodrigues and Liberto Cruz.
From the minutes of this decision, the judges consider that the winning work “is a chronicle book by an intellectual in today's world, observing that same world through art (literature, music, cinema) as something intimate and reclusive of itself. The elegance of the writing of the chosen work reverts to the rush of the aorist form and the collection in a book of the dispersed ones published in the press».
In previous editions, the Grand Prize for Chronicle and Literary Dispersed distinguished the authors Jose Tolentino Mendonca, Rui Cardoso Martins e Mario Claudio.
About Pedro Mexia:
Pedro Mexia was born in Lisbon, in 1972. He graduated in Law from the Catholic University. Literary critic and columnist for the newspapers “Diário de Notícias” and “Público”, he currently writes for the weekly “Expresso”. He is one of the members of “Governo Sombra” (TSF/TVI24), and co-author, with Inês Meneses, of “PBX”, a Radar program and podcast of “Expresso”. He was deputy director and interim director of Cinemateca Portuguesa.
He published six poetry books, anthology in “Menos por Menos” (2011), followed by “Once Everything is Lost” (2015). He edited the volumes of diaries “Out of the World” (2004), “Prova de Vida” (2007), “Estado Civil” (2009) and “Lei Seca” (2014), and the chronicles collections “Primeira Pessoa” (2006 ), “Nothing of Melancholy” (2008), “The Lives of Others” (2010), “O Mundo dos Vivos” (2012), “Cinemateca” (2013) and “Library” (2015). In Brazil, “I wanted more is that it rained” (chronicles, 2015) and “Contratempo” (poetry, 2016) were published.
He organized a volume of essays by Agustina Bessa-Luís, “Contemplação Carinhosa da Angústia”; the anthology “Verbo: God as Interrogation in Portuguese Poetry” (with José Tolentino Mendonça); and “O Homem Fatal”, selected chronicles by Nelson Rodrigues. He translated Robert Bresson, Tom Stoppard, Hugo Williams and Martin Crimp. Coordinates Tinta-da-china's poetry collection. In 2015 and 2016, he was part of the Camões Award jury.
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