ShelfEvidentPrémio Camões
2025 Winner
Complete History
2020s
2010s
- 2019Leite Derramado
- 2018O Testamento do Sr. Napumoceno da Silva Araújo
- 2017Praça da Canção
- 2016Lavoura Arcaica
- 2015Montedemo
- 2014A Enxada e a Lança
- 2013Sleepwalking Land — Mia Couto
- 2012O Vampiro de Curitiba — Dalton Trevisan
- 2011O País das Pessoas de Pernas para o Ar — Manuel António Pina
- 2010Poema Sujo — Ferreira Gullar
2000s
- 2009O Poema, a Viagem, o Sonho — Arménio Vieira
- 2008Sargento Getúlio — João Ubaldo Ribeiro
- 2007Os Cus de Judas — António Lobo Antunes
- 2006Luuanda — José Luandino Vieira
- 2005As Meninas — Lygia Fagundes Telles
- 2004A Sibila — Agustina Bessa-Luís
- 2003Agosto — Rubem Fonseca
- 2002Maina Mendes — Maria Velho da Costa
- 2001As Mãos e os Frutos — Eugénio de Andrade
- 2000Ópera dos Mortos — Autran Dourado
1990s
- 1999Livro Sexto — Sophia de Mello Breyner
- 1998Formação da Literatura Brasileira — António Cândido de Mello e Souza
- 1997Mayombe — Pepetela
- 1996O Labirinto da Saudade — Eduardo Lourenço
- 1995Blindness — José Saramago
- 1994Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon — Jorge Amado
- 1993O Quinze — Rachel de Queiroz
- 1992Manhã Submersa — Vergílio Ferreira
- 1991Xigubo — José Craveirinha
- 1990Morte e Vida Severina — João Cabral de Melo Neto
1980s
About the Prémio Camões
The Prémio Camões is the most prestigious literary prize in the Portuguese-speaking world, awarded annually since 1989 for a lifetime body of work written in Portuguese. Jointly administered by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture and the Brazilian National Library Foundation (Fundação Biblioteca Nacional), the prize honors writers from any of the Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP) — Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste, and Equatorial Guinea. Named after the poet Luís de Camões, author of the epic Os Lusíadas, it carries a prize of €100,000.
Frequently Asked Questions
- The Prémio Camões is the highest literary honor in the Portuguese-speaking world, awarded annually since 1989 for a writer's lifetime contribution to literature in the Portuguese language.
- Any writer from a Portuguese-speaking country (the CPLP community: Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste, and Equatorial Guinea) who has produced a significant body of work in Portuguese is eligible.
- The prize is jointly administered by Portugal's Ministry of Culture and Brazil's National Library Foundation (Fundação Biblioteca Nacional), reflecting its Luso-Brazilian co-sponsorship.
- The Prémio Camões carries a prize of €100,000 (approximately $108,000 USD), making it one of the most valuable literary prizes in the Portuguese-speaking world.
- Luís de Camões (c. 1524–1580) is the most celebrated poet in the Portuguese language, best known for the epic poem Os Lusíadas (1572), which chronicles Vasco da Gama's voyage to India. He is considered the Portuguese equivalent of Shakespeare or Dante.
- Yes. Like the Premio Cervantes, the Prémio Camões recognizes a writer's entire career and body of work, not a single publication.
- A selection jury composed of representatives from Portugal and Brazil, along with literary experts, evaluates nominated writers and presents a recommendation to both ministries.
- In most years, yes, but there have been occasional delays in the announcement or ceremony due to administrative and political factors between the co-sponsoring governments.
- The prize has increasingly recognized writers from African Portuguese-speaking countries such as Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde, playing an important role in elevating and internationalizing African Lusophone literature.