Escritaria Festival in Angola and Cape Verde, in 2023

Another edition of the Escritaria Literary Festival was held, last October, in Penafiel, in Portugal, this time as a posthumous homage to Ana Luísa Amaral. From this came the decision that replicas will be exhibited next year in Angola and Cape Verde, an announcement made by the mayor, Antonino de Sousa. The mayor explained that the Angolan cities of Benguela, Luanda and Huambo will host the festival between March and April, replicating the homage to the writer Pepetela in 2018.
Following the inauguration of a sculpture of Ana Luísa Amaral in a garden in Penafiel, Antonino de Sousa revealed that the initiative in Angola will take place in January and is the result of a partnership between the Piaget Institute and the Angolan government. The mayor added that Cape Verde will also embrace the Escritaria Literary Festival, with a plan of activities that will recreate the homage paid to Cape Verdean Germano Almeida in 2021. It is expected to take place in March or April next year. The programme is still being developed and contacts are being made. 

Internationalising Escritaria to Portuguese-speaking Africa

The idea of internationalising Escritaria to Portuguese-speaking Africa arose following the visit by Cape Verde’s Culture Minister to the 2021 edition. The mayor believes it is a big step to make the event a festival of «large dimensions in the Portuguese-speaking world». Edil, the city councillon, adds: «The idea we want to accomplish is to take to each of these destinations what happens here during this week. In these first actions, we will give special focus to those authors from the respective countries that have already been in Escritaria.»
The mayor also reveals he has received the Mayor of Bissau and discussed the possibility of honouring a Guinean writer in future editions of the Literary Festival. 
It should be noted that, since the debut of the Escritaria Literary Festival, celebrated figures such as José Saramago, Mia Couto, Urbano Tavares Rodrigues, Agustina Bessa-Luís, Miguel Sousa Tavares, António Lobo Antunes, Lídia Jorge, Mário de Carvalho, Mário Zambujal, Mário Cláudio, Pepetela, Alice Vieira, Manuel Alegre and Germano Almeida have been honoured.