“NoOn World Portuguese Language Day, on which the Camões Prize is awarded to the Mozambican writer Paulina Chiziane, the President of the Republic underlines the inestimable value of our language, recalls that we share it with more than 260 million speakers around the world and that it is also official language of the CPLP countries”, reads a note published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic.
“We celebrate a generous language that welcomes an incalculable diversity of voices, a language of culture that we all use to speak, write, read, study, think, create and communicate”, concludes the note.
Mozambican writer Paulina Chiziane today received the Camões Prize, awarded in 2021, at a ceremony held at the National Coach Museum, in Lisbon.
When awarding the prize, the jury, which unanimously elected the Mozambican writer, justified the choice with “her vast production and critical reception, as well as the academic and institutional recognition of her work”.
Paulina Chiziane was born in Manjacaze, Mozambique, in 1955. She studied Linguistics in Maputo. She currently lives and works in Zambézia.
Established by Portugal and Brazil in 1988, and awarded for the first time the following year, the Camões Prize is the most prestigious award in the Portuguese language.
Annually, it pays tribute to a writer who, through his work, contributes to the enrichment and projection of the literary and cultural heritage of the Portuguese language.
The date of May 5 was officially established in 2009 by the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) to celebrate the Portuguese language and Lusophone cultures.
In 2019, the 40th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) decided to proclaim May 5 as World Portuguese Language Day, making it the sixth language in the world with that status.
This year, the celebration takes place under the motto “Realities, Challenges and Opportunities in the Portuguese Language Space: Literacy, Science, Culture and Economy”.
Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste are the nine Member States of the CPLP.
Also Read: Writer Paulina Chiziane calls for decolonization of the Portuguese language
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