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I am very pleased to be here, in Casa de Mateus, today, the award the D. Dinis prize to António Manuel Pires Cabral, in honour of his two last books of poetry.

António Pires Cabral has deep connections with this region and its inhabitants. He has chronicled them in his vast and diversified work, using a language reminiscent of the roots he never abandoned, and bringing light to the soul of these lands he knows so well.

Pires Cabral is a writer who was recognized by Portuguese literati for the quality and excellence of his work, in poetry as in prose, short stories or plays, types of literature he has nurtured with equal mastery and success.

Verily, after Camilo Castelo Branco and Miguel Torga, few authors will have interpreted with such subtlety the realities of the provinces of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro.

Few will have been as sensitive to the majesty of this landscape and to the ancient memory of its peoples, influenced by so many different cultures.

Few will have been so heedful to the rigours and perseverance needed for man to earn a living in these lands.

The “Círculo de Leitores” Prize (a Readers Club), awarded more than 20 years ago to his first novel Sancirilo, was already proof that Pires Cabral had overtaken the frontiers of the culture of the north-east and defeated the always difficult challenge which is to bring readers to meet and feel the uniqueness of a region.

The D. Dinis Prize, which is being given to him today – and which has already been awarded to such important figures of our literature as Agustina Bessa Luís, Eugénio de Andrade, Sophia de Mello Breyner or Eduardo Lourenço – is the deserved acclaim and national recognition of a route marked by requirement, sensitivity and fidelity to his origins.

But António Manuel Pires Cabral is not only the talented writer to whom we are paying tribute today, an author with an established name in Portuguese literature and with work translated into foreign languages.

The dedication to the north-eastern region, which is apparent and visible in his literary work, has equally been steadfast in his activity both as a teacher and as a citizen involved in local life.

At the moment when we acclaim him as a poet, I would also wish to underline his commitment to the community in which he was born and in which he has lived, a commitment which has resulted in multiple activities and completed projects, either as a private initiative or in collaboration with local authorities.

In a region frequently forgotten and from which many of its natives have been obliged to emigrate, the role of those who have remained and preserved the local life, identity and heritage deserves to be applauded.

I thus congratulate António Manuel Pires Cabral for this prize, and wish him many future achievements.

I equally congratulate the Casa de Mateus Foundation, and its President, Dr. Fernando Albuquerque, which instituted this prize and is carrying out significant work for the benefit of literature, arts and regional development.

Thanks to the dedication and perseverance of its members, Casa de Mateus is today an obligatory landmark in the itinerary of our culture. I sincerely hope that it continues to be, as until now, a leader in artistic creation and dissemination, and that it will thus encourage similar initiatives to appear in Portugal.

Congratulations to Casa de Mateus. And many congratulations, once again, to the prize winner, the author António Manuel Pires Cabral.