The event brought to Oliveira do Hospital names such as Pedro Lamares, Diogo Faro, João Tordo, Poeta da Cidade (Pedro Freitas), Bru Junça, Cristina e Nuno Completo, and Rute Cancela, through the Bolinha de Música project. The program also included local creators and cultural agents, such as Associação Sons da Arte and the writer Fernanda Tavares, who presented the book “Simplesmente Sonhar e Amar”. The illustration exhibition “WeNature”, featuring works by students from the Agrupamento de Escolas de Oliveira do Hospital, was also part of the offerings.
The President of the Municipal Council, José Francisco Rolo, considered the outcome of the edition “very positive”, highlighting the diversity of the program and its ability to reach different audiences. He further emphasized the role of literature in “making us think” and the importance of culture in building a more dynamic and participatory community, arguing that “a book is a weapon that gives us a vision of the future in a time of some pessimism”.
José Francisco Rolo highlighted the municipal support for local authors, in prose, poetry, and historical or scientific works, as part of the municipality's editorial policy. The Councilor for Culture and Education, Luísa Correia, argued that “it is important to place books, literature, and thought at the center of Oliveira do Hospital's cultural life”, considering reading a “tool for freedom, knowledge, and the construction of citizenship”.
More than just bringing authors and shows to Oliveira do Hospital, the encounter aimed to create an experience of closeness with books and words, providing space for discovery, conversation, and sharing. Luísa Correia reinforced that the initiative fulfilled the ambition of having a House of Culture with full rooms and audiences of different generations, stating that “a city that reads is a city that thinks. A city that listens is a city that learns. And a city that values culture is a city that invests in people”.
The event was organized by the Public Municipal Libraries of Oliveira do Hospital, with the support of the Metropolitan Region of Coimbra, through the Realiza.te program.
