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Honourable President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, My Dear Friend,
Dr. António Lobo Antunes,
Honourable Authorities
Honourable Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are gathered here, in this magnificent Jerónimos Monastery, symbol of the opening of Portugal to the world and of its involvement with other peoples, to award a Prize that carries the name of a Poet, possibly the greatest that ever expressed himself in a Language which today is the heritage of eight sovereign States.

Camões is himself, a symbol.

It would be difficult for anyone to better personalize an addiction to the origins and, at the same time, to universal values. It would be difficult for any other individuality to better cherish the potential of the Portuguese language as a means of communication in the four corners of the earth and, at the same time, the language in which the identity of each of our countries is made up of and given assertion, and the diversified sensitivity of each of our citizens is expressed.

When giving the name of Camões to this Prize, its founders knew how to assert the universal vocation of the Portuguese language, sufficiently mature and stamped by centuries of History, and flexible enough to mould itself to cultures as different as those which use it for transmission.

The international projection of authors distinguished by this Prize proves that Portuguese continues to be, apart from a global means of communication, a live language which is renewed and transformed in exceptional literary works.

The best proof of the vitality and dynamics of our language is, anyway, the several literatures that are developed in its interior, a multifaceted mirror of the diversity of lands, cultures, different ways of viewing the world and taints that inhabit the area of Lusitanian heritage.

It is this Prize that I have great pleasure in awarding today, together with President Lula da Silva, to author António Lobo Antunes, following a decision taken by a jury of specialists from the several countries with Lusitanian heritage.

The reasons for such a decision were, in due time, disclosed by the jury. We can all imagine that it was not a difficult task, given the vast and internationally recognized literary curriculum of António Lobo Antunes.

His work has grown and become diversified throughout the last three decades. Translations and editions of his novels, press criticisms and academic papers which are dedicated to his work, national and, above all, international prizes which consecrate him as a universal author, are repeated everywhere.

His personages picture the generality of the Portuguese and, simultaneously, the human being in all its complex forms.

The originality of his writing and the inventiveness shown by the sophisticated construction of his stories are a clear instance of the strength of the Portuguese language in this dawn of the 21st century.

All of us, Portuguese speakers, are grateful to him for his great contribution to the prominence of our language. Through his books, the Lusitanian heritage proves that it is not a nostalgic area of remembrance of the past: it is, and must continue to be, above all, a dynamic area of cultural creativity and of production of knowledge, an area which has its own voice in a world of accelerated uniformity.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I know this is a moment of joy and that we are celebrating the most prestigious literary Prize awarded to a work in Portuguese.

We cannot however forget that the prominence of Portuguese and its assertion in the world, in conditions that allow our peoples to reap the inherent benefits, is equally a task and a responsibility.

The Conclusions of the VII Summit of the CPLP Heads of State and of Government set us clear objectives, which imply everyone’s commitment to strengthen means for the promotion and valuation of the Portuguese language. We must now evolve from words to actions.

Only a resolute policy for the preservation and promotion of the Portuguese Language will do justice to our forefathers and to those that, such as António Lobo Antunes, to whom we are today awarding the Camões Prize, continue to enrich it and to testify to its universal qualities.

Only a true policy for Portuguese Language will allow each of us to continue saying, in the future, with the words and the sincerity of Clarice Lispector: «I think and feel in Portuguese, and only this language can ever satisfy me».

Thank you very much.