Lisbon — The Angolan Ambassador to Portugal, Maria de Jesus Ferreira, congratulated Angolan poet and historian Ana Paula Tavares on winning the 2025 Camões Prize on Wednesday.
A press release from the Angolan Embassy in Portugal, to which ANGOP had access, the diplomat emphasized that it was with gladness and pride that she learned of the distinguished award of the 2025 Camões Prize by the Directorate-General for Books, Archives and Libraries of Portugal.
In the statement, Maria de Jesus Ferreira emphasized that this award - which recognizes Professor Ana Paula Tavares' vast literary work, including prose, poetry, and scientific texts - fills the entire Angolan community living in Portugal with pride, reflecting how the country's culture is embedded in and rightly valued by Portuguese society.
"The award of this prize is a fitting recognition of the importance of her vast literary work and its growing importance within the world of literature expressed in the Portuguese language," the ambassador emphasized.
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"Therefore, Professor Ana Paula Tavares, please accept, on my own behalf, on behalf of my family, and on behalf of all Angolan diplomats accredited in Portugal, warm congratulations and encouragement to continue to honor our country's name in promoting national culture in the Portuguese-speaking world", concludes the statement.
The Camões Prize has been awarded primarily to authors from Brazil and Portugal, and in the award's 36-year history. Only eight women were honored, of which Ana Paula Tavares now joins, becoming the ninth.
Brazilian authors Rachel Queiroz (1993), Lygia Fagundes Telles (2005), and Adélia Prado; Portuguese authors Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1999), Maria Velho da Costa (2002), Agustina Bessa-Luís (2004), and Hélia Correia (2015) and Mozambican Paulina Chiziane (2021), are among the women who have already been honored.
In addition to Brazil with a record of 15 winners and Portugal 14, the Camões Prize has also been awarded to three literary figures from Mozambique, two from Cabo Verde, and two from Angola, in addition to the Portuguese-Angolan author Luandino Vieira.
The Camões Prize for Literature in Portuguese, was established by the governments of Portugal and Brazil. The first award was in 1989 to the Portuguese writer Miguel Torga. In 2024, it honored Brazilian author Adélia Prado.
According to the text of the constituent protocol, signed in Brasília, Brazil on June 22, 1988, and published in November of the same year, the award annually recognizes "a Portuguese-language author who, through the intrinsic value of his or her work, has contributed to the enrichment of the literary and cultural heritage of the common language".
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The award's history records that the Portuguese-Angolan writer Luandino Vieira refused to receive it in 2006.
