The soap opera “Doze Dias”, by Brazilian Tiago Feijó, was the winning work in this year's edition of the Manuel Teixeira Gomes Literary Prize, a competition promoted by the municipality of Portimão.
According to the local authority, "in the opinion of the trio of judges", the winning novel was distinguished by having "a complex and original narrative structure, which demands from the reader extra attention".
The novel contains in its pages «moments of prose poetry, of a philosophical-existentialist nature, that reflect the duality of man in his relationship with others and with himself, in a story of connection, simultaneously distant and fundamental, between a needy child and his absent father, now on the verge of death».
The trio of judges is composed by writer Maria do Vale Cartaxo (winner of three editions of this literary competition), by professor Hugo Mariano and by writer Pedro Cantinho Pereira.
According to the synopsis of “Twelve Days”, the story revolves around “a father and a son who have not seen each other for fifteen years, separated by a mutual and persistent indifference, broken only once a year, when the father calls the son to congratulate you on your birthday. But chance will try to put an end to this cold estrangement».
«One morning, Mr. Raul wakes up with a strange pain that prevents him from getting out of bed. Alone and abandoned, he has no choice but to call his son and ask him for help. Antônio travels 200 kilometers with the intention of taking his father to the hospital and returning to the sameness of his life, but the unfolding of events keeps him for twelve days in the hospital, as the patient's only companion, in the saga that the unexpected illness will become of his unfortunate parent».
Tiago Feijó explains that «in this novel of unraveling the fears and pains of the other, these two characters, during the twelve days that they will remain together, will have the last opportunity to know themselves and forgive each other, in a journey in search of lost time».
«The deconstruction of the plot, which jumps from chapter to chapter to random days, highlights and exposes the affective labyrinth of which we are all made. At the end of this intense whirlwind of twelve days, neither forgiveness nor revenge will be above the miracle of acceptance of the other», explains the writer.
The public presentation of the winning work of the competition took place on December 7 at the Manuel Teixeira Gomes Municipal Library, as part of the Portimão City Day commemorations, and had the participation online the author, born in May 1983 in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza.
Graduated in Classical Letters from Unesp – Universidade Estadual Paulista, Tiago Feijó won the Ideal Literature Club Award 2014, is the author of the book of short stories insolitudes (7 letters, 2015) and the novel ruined house diary (Penalux, 2017), and has published texts in several magazines and literature blogs.
For this year's edition of the Manuel Teixeira Gomes Literary Prize, 76 works by Portuguese authors and other Portuguese-speaking countries were received, who applied for the monetary prize of one thousand euros and the edition of 300 copies of the winning work.
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