Gonçalo M. Tavares

Portuguese Guest

Gonçalo M. Tavares was born in Luanda in 1970 and teaches Theory of Science in Lisbon. Since 2001 he has surprised his readers with the variety of books he has published and has won a number of impressive awards. In 2005 he won the José Saramago Prize for young writers under 35. In his speech at the award ceremony, Nobel Laureate José Saramago commented: ”In thirty years’ time, if not before, Tavares will win the Nobel Prize, and I’m sure my prediction will come true. . .JERUSALÉM is a great book, and truly deserves a place among the great works of Western literature. Tavares has no right to be writing so well at the age of 35. One feels like punching him.” JERUSALÉM was also awarded the Prêmio Portugal Telecom de Literatura em Língua Portuguesa 2007 and the LER/Millenium Prize. His novel LEARNING TO PRAY IN THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGY has received the prestigious Prize of the Best Foreign Book 2010 in France, putting him in the company of Salman Rushdie, Elias Canetti, Robert Musil, Orhan Pamuk, John Updike, Philip Roth, Gabriel García Márquez and Colm Tóibín. LEARNING TO PRAY was also shortlisted for the renowned French literary awards Femina Étranger Prize and Médicis Prize and won the Special Price of the Jury of the Grand Prix Littéraire du Web Cultura 2010. In 2011, Tavares received the renowned Grande Prêmio da Associação Portuguesa de Escritores, as well as the prestigious Prémio Literário Fernando Namora 2011. The author was also nominated for the renowned Dutch Europese Literatuurprijs 2013 and was on the Longlist of the Best Translated Book Award Fiction 2013. He was also nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin award 2013 and, most recently, for the Prix Jean-Monnet de Littérature Européenne 2015. MATTEO LOST HIS JOB was shortlisted for the prestigious Prix Femina 2016 foreign fiction. According to the Portuguese Book Institute DGLAB, Gonçalo M. Tavares is the third most translated Portuguese author, after Fernando Pessoa and Eça de Queiroz, with 226 publications worldwide. Tavares has also been awarded the 2026 Formentor Prize for Literature, considered a prelude to the Nobel Prize in Literature.