The jury unanimously decided to award the prize to the work, selected from 59 manuscripts submitted by Portuguese-language authors from Portugal, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, and Mozambique. The decision was based on its "poetic and agile approach, literary attention to prosaic elements of daily life, fluency of language, originality and sensitivity, and thematic and formal structure that gives coherence to the unpublished work, providing a ductile reading".
Two Honorable Mentions were also awarded. The first, to the original “Longe da Ferida” by Ande Alencar (under the pseudonym Pedro Vaz), for "sophistication in literary resources and capacity for stylistic innovation". The second, to the collection of short stories “Microcosmos” by Maria Teresa Meireles (signed as Maria Helena), for the "unusual and subtle irony with which more or less banal or curious situations of daily human relationships are explored or staged".
The jury for the 16th edition consisted of Ana Margarida de Carvalho (Portuguese Writers' Association), Maria Paula Mendes Coelho (Portuguese Association of Literary Critics), and Sandra Isabel das Candeias Guerreiro Dias (researcher and Invited Associate Professor at the School of Education of Beja).
The first prize includes a monetary award of four thousand euros, and the winning work will be published by the Municipality of Santiago do Cacém. The award ceremony will take place on October 17, at 4:00 PM, at the Manuel da Fonseca Municipal Library in Santiago do Cacém.
By creating this prize, the Municipality of Santiago do Cacém pays homage to the writer Manuel da Fonseca, an essential figure in Portuguese literature, and his work, especially the short story. Simultaneously, the prize aims to discover new creators in the Portuguese language, distinguishing original short story collections by adult authors from Lusophone countries.
