The initiative is part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Editorial Fundza, based in the city of Beira. The selection resulted from a literary call made in November that culminated in the submission of 519 texts, with 25 short stories, 24 poems and 10 literary essays being selected.
Fifty-nine authors have been selected for three anthologies of short stories, poetry, and literary essays, aiming to promote exchange among authors from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and reveal new literary voices.
The initiative is part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Editorial Fundza, in the city of Beira. The selection resulted from a literary call made in November that culminated in the submission of 519 texts, with 25 short stories, 24 poems, and 10 literary essays being chosen.
In the short story category, Jeremias Moquito (Mozambique) stands out with the text “The Sonnet's Dream and the Promise of a Deceased Husband”; Mariana Braga (Brazil) with the work “The Revolt of the Commas”; and Gabriel Pereira Coelho (Portugal) with the short story “Those Whom the Wind Unteaches”. The three authors were awarded first, second, and third place, respectively.
In the poetry competition, first place went to João dos Santos (Portugal) with the text “Lost Children”. Manoel da Silva (Brazil), author of the poem “The Vampire”, secured second place, and Marlen Chaúque (Mozambique), with the poem “Time is a Dirty Glass”, came in third.
In the literary essay category, all entries were from Mozambique, with the following texts standing out, respectively, in first, second and third places: “The Heart in Flames: A Literary Essay on Álvaro Taruma's Creation of Fire”, by Noé Zaqueu; “Nostalgia as an Affective Poetic Tone in Otildo J. Guido's The Silence of the Skin”, by Daúde Amade; and “On the Back of the Scar: Memory, Humanity and the Intimate Labor of Survival”, by Júlio César Tomo.
The top three in each category, in addition to having their texts published in an anthology, will receive cash prizes.
Authors from eight countries participated in the competition: Mozambique, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, China, the United States of America, France, and Portugal. The texts were evaluated by a jury composed of essayists José dos Remédios, Cremildo Bahule, and Fernando Chicumule.
With this initiative, Fundza, created in the city of Beira on January 21, 2016, takes another step towards democratizing access to the publication of literary works in the country. Between 2021 and 2024, it promoted annual literary calls that revealed new voices in Mozambican literature. Since 2022, it has published more than 40 new authors from across the country. In 2023, it was distinguished by the Government of Mozambique, at the Gala of the Prize for Cultural and Creative Industries, as the best literary institution in the country.
(By MozaVibe)
