José Saramago
We are saddened to learn of the passing of Portuguese Nobel Prize-winning novelist José Saramago, a true favorite of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
José Saramago (b. 1922) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. That very same year, Lisbon was hosting the World Expo, and the Frankfurt Book Fair was hosting Portugal as the Guest of Honor.
Many authors were present for the occasion. Little did anyone know that a soon-to-be Nobel Prizewinner was among them.
Peter Weidhaas tells the story this way in See You in Frankfurt:
More than 40 Portuguese writers came to Frankfurt to present their work, and we intentionally included the Portuguese language authors from Africa and the Americas among them. There were lectures about Portuguese film and screenings of such films, translator workshops sponsored by the Gulbenkian Foundation with poets like Luís Filipe Castro Mendes, Fiama Hasse Pais Brandão, Fernando Pinto do Amaral, all whose very names seem poetic. And of course there were exhibitions on Fernando Pessoa and on topics like “Portuguese as a World Language.” These latter included José Eduardo Agualusa from Angola, Germano Almeida from Cape Verde Islands, Mia Couto from Mozambique, Teolinda Gersão from Portugal, and João Ubaldo Ribeiro from Brazil. The most popular and most heavily attended were the purely literary discussions, such as the roundtables led by Curt Meyer-Clason on Portugal—“Poetic Reflections of a Country” with Pedro Tamen, Fiama Hasse Pais Brandão and Manuel Alegre; then, moderated by Ralph Roger Glöckler, the reading of “Place and Country” with Mário de Carvalho and José Riço Direitinho. There was the introductory theme, “Lisbon—A Literary Portrait,” a reading and discussion with Lidia Jorge, João de Melo, Maria Velho da Costa, and moderated by Wilfried F. Schoeller. There was a reading as though in dialogue, led by Ray-Güde Mertin, of “Paths of the Contemporary Novel,” as trod by Agustina Bessa-Luís, Almeida Faria, José Saramago and Maria Velho da Costa.
José Saramago was already on the way to the airport when the news reached us that he had won the Nobel Prize for literature that year. We sent someone chasing after him and his wife, who were intending to fly home, and were able to catch them just before check-in. He returned to the Fair. We improvised a press conference, which was heavily attended by the world press and many international television groups, all wanting to interview the new Nobel Prize winner. In the evening this writer and everyone interested in Portuguese literature celebrated this extraordinary event with great gusto. This was a fabulous conclusion to the Portuguese guest country program at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Read more from the BBC: Nobel-winning author Jose Saramago dies at 87
