The Camões Prize (, ), named after Luís de Camões, is the most prestigious prize for literature in the Portuguese language. The prize was established in 1989 and is supported by the governments of Brazil and Portugal. It is awarded annually to the author of an outstanding body of work written in Portuguese. Winners are selected by a jury and have included writers from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Portugal. The monetary award is , making it among the richest literary prizes in the world. Past winners include Miguel Torga, Vergílio Ferreira, Jorge Amado, José Saramago, Eugénio de Andrade, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, and Chico Buarque.
History The Camões Prize was first introduced by the Additional Protocol to the Cultural Agreement between the Government of the Portuguese Republic and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil, dated 7 September 1966, which creates the Camões Prize, signed in Brasilia on 22 June 1988, and approved in Portugal by Decree No. 43/88 of 30 November 1988.
This Protocol was replaced by a new one between the Portuguese Republic and the Federative Republic of Brazil, signed in Lisbon on 17 April 1999, approved by Portugal through Decree 47/99 in the official gazette of 5 November 1999.
The first award was made in 1989, with the winner being Miguel Torga. In 2006, José Luandino Vieira became the first person to refuse the award.
Description The Camões Prize is considered the most prestigious literary award in the Portuguese-speaking world. It is awarded for a body of work that contributes to the dissemination and recognition of Portuguese language. It is awarded annually by the Portuguese Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Biblioteca (National Book, Archives and Libraries Department) and the Brazilian Fundação Biblioteca Nacional (National Library Foundation). The award consists of a cash prize contributed by Brazil and Portugal. The value of the prize is set annually by agreement between the two countries, and currently stands at .
Writers in Portuguese from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries are considered for the prize. The winner is chosen by a specially designated jury, with representatives from Brazil, Portugal, and African countries with Portuguese as an official language.
Past winners Year Author Country Genre(s) Ref(s) 1989 Miguel Torga (1907 – 1995) poetry, short story, novel, drama, memoirs, essay 1990 João Cabral de Melo Neto (1920 – 1999) poetry 1991 José Craveirinha (1922 – 2003) poetry, journalism 1992 Vergílio Ferreira (1916 – 1996) novel, short story, memoirs, essay 1993 Rachel de Queiroz (1910 – 2003) novel, short story, translation, journalism, drama, memoirs, children's literature 1994 Jorge Amado (1912 – 2001) novel, short story, poetry, children's literature, biography, journalism 1995 José Saramago (1922 – 2010) novel, short story, drama, poetry, memoirs, journalism, children's literature 1996 Eduardo Lourenço (1923 – 2020) philosophy, literary criticism, essay 1997 "Pepetela"-Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos (born 1941) novel, drama 1998 António Cândido de Mello e Souza (1918 – 2017) literary criticism, literary theory, essay, poetry 1999 Sophia de Mello Breyner (1919 – 2004) poetry, short story, drama, children's literature, translation, essay 2000 Autran Dourado (1926 – 2012) novel, short story, essay, memoirs 2001 Eugénio de Andrade (1923 – 2005) poetry, children's literature, translation, short story 2002 Maria Velho da Costa (1938 – 2020) novel, short story, drama, essay, screenplay 2003 Rubem Fonseca (1925 – 2020) novel, short story, screenplay 2004 Agustina Bessa-Luís (1922 – 2019) novel, short story, drama, essay, children's literature, biography, memoirs 2005 Lygia Fagundes Telles (1918 – 2022) novel, short story 2006 José Luandino Vieira (born 1935) – refused / novel, short story, journalism, children's literature, translation 2007 António Lobo Antunes (1942 – 2026) novel, short story 2008 João Ubaldo Ribeiro (1941 – 2014) novel, short story, journalism, children's literature, essay 2009 Arménio Vieira (born 1941) poetry, journalism 2010 Ferreira Gullar (1930 – 2016) poetry, short story, essay, art criticism, biography 2011 Manuel António Pina (1943 – 2012) poetry, children's literature, drama, short story, journalism 2012 Dalton Trevisan (1925 – 2024) short story 2013 Mia Couto (born 1955) novel, short story, poetry 2014 Alberto da Costa e Silva (1931 – 2023) history, poetry, memoirs, essay, biography 2015 Hélia Correia (born 1949) novel, children's literature, drama, poetry 2016 Raduan Nassar (born 1935) short story, novel 2017 Manuel Alegre (born 1936) poetry, novel 2018 Germano Almeida (born 1945) novel2019Chico Buarque (born 1944)songwriting, novel, drama2020Vítor Manuel de Aguiar e Silva (born 1939)essay2021Paulina Chiziane (born 1955)novel2022Silviano Santiago (born 1936)novel, essay, literary criticism2023João Barrento (born 1940) translation, essay2024Adélia Prado (born 1935) poetry2025Ana Paula Tavares (born 1952)poetry[cite web|date= 2025-10-08| title= Poeta angolana Ana Paula Tavares vence o Prêmio Camões 2025|url=https://veja.abril.com.br/mundo/poeta-angolana-ana-paula-tavares-vence-o-premio-camoes-2025/| website= Veja online|language=pt-BR]2026Lídia Jorge (born 1946)novel, essay
Winners by country CountryLaureatesFirst awarded 16 1989 15 1990 3 1991 3 1997 2 2009
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