Promoted by the municipality of Leiria, the festival replaces the traditional Book Fair and, curated by Isabel Lucas and Nuno Artur Silva, aims to establish itself as “a time of meetings to enter the annual literary agenda,” the organization states in a statement. .
For ten days, Versatile’s programming invites you to reflect on “the progress made after April 25, the present and future challenges in the defense of freedom, equality and human rights”, through conversations, concerts, cinema , theater, poetry recitals or on a picnic with books.
The literary event will extend throughout the city center, with activities in squares, gardens, museums, restaurants and cafes, galleries, libraries and bookstores.
Leiria, who inspired The crime of Father Amaro of Eça de Queiroz and which saw the birth of authors such as Afonso Lopes Vieira, Francisco Rodrigues Lobo and Acácio de Paiva, intends that Versátil be “one more reason to discover the city.”
According to the organization, Dulce Maria Cardoso, Jeferson Tenório, Manuel Alegre, Rui Zink, Raquel Varela, Ana Margarida de Carvalho, André Carrilho, Valter Hugo Mãe, Maria Francisca Gama, Hugo Gonçalves, Luís Afonso, Isabel Meira, Andreia Brites, Manuel Fonseca , António Costa Santos, Regina Queiroz, Martim Sousa Tavares, Bruno Vieira Amaral, Paulo Moreiras, Rita Canas Mendes, Joaquim Vieira, Fernando Alves, Rachel Caiano, Lina, Luca Argel, António Jorge Gonçalves and Hugo Van Der Ding are some of the Names confirmed in this edition of Versatile.
The program grants a special space to family, children and youth audiences, in the logic of conquering new audiences for books, specifically through the presence of booktubers Is bookmakers.
Sam (1924-1993) will be remembered in the exhibition “Don’t Laugh. Humor is a very serious matter”, in reference to the hundred years since the cartoonist’s birth.
Versatile will also pay tribute to the director António-Pedro Vasconcelos (1934-2024), born in Leiria, and the centenarian poets António Ramos Rosa, Sebastião da Gama and Alexandre O’Neil.
In the context of the celebration of Portugal Day, the party will receive on June 8 the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who “is associated with this celebration of words, of the 500 years of Camões, of the importance of Literature in the construction of a cultural and literary identity of Portugal”, highlights the organization.
Source: Observadora
