The Prize, established by the Carlos Morgado Foundation and organized by Catalogus, is a competition for new literary voices.
The 2023 edition, in the short story category, without restrictions on setting or theme, written in Portuguese, covered all Mozambican citizens residing in Mozambique, or abroad, without a published book.
Contributing to the construction and projection of new literary voices in Mozambique and, at the same time, celebrating Carlos Morgado's contribution as a Mozambican citizen and defender of noble causes were the objectives defined in the Regulation.
Using a digital platform to submit short stories, the award received 143 submissions, of which 27 were repeated, 25 were rejected for not complying with the regulations and 91 were evaluated by the jury composed of the co-founder of FCM, Marina Morgado (President), the writer Suleiman Cassamo and literary translator Sandra Tamele.
The award distinguished, at an event on July 7, 2023, unanimously by the jury, the short story by Francisco Panguana Júnior, “The illegitimate defense of Adão” as the winner, considering it well achieved “for its literary quality, cohesion and coherence textual and creativity when portraying the story and characters”. The text crosses moments of magical realism and modern times, it is a journey through time and the contemporary dilemma that challenges change, said writer Suleiman Cassamo, representing the Jury. The winner was entitled to a prize including a finalist and winner certificate, monetary value, books by Mozambican authors and the right to copies of the collection of the 10 finalists, to be published.
The prize first distinguished 10 finalists, awarding them with a finalist certificate, books by Mozambican authors and the right to copies of the 10 finalists' collection, yet to be published.
Marco Morgado, co-founder of FCM, declared, at the event, his pride in the initiative, demonstrated by the number of submissions and thanked Catalogus for its support in the organization: “For us, the award is to continue next year, we are proud of the organization , due to the number of submissions and the scope – we reached almost the entire country!” And he added that this initiative is necessary to discover new talents in young Mozambicans and challenged female authors to submit more in the next edition.
For more information: Carlos Morgado Literary Prize