First chair in Portugal dedicated to Saramago is “good news” for Pilar del Río – Observador
The president of the José Saramago Foundation, Pilar del Río, said that it is “a joy” and “good news” the first chair in Portugal that has the writer as a patron, found this Friday at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro.
This is also one of the main initiatives in the national territory under the celebration of the centenary of José Saramago, which starts this month.
This first chair in Portugal is a joy, a hope, good news in times when there is not much good news”, said Pilar del Río.
It is the first in Portugal, but he stressed that “there are already many chairs” around the world.
Pilar del Río said that this will be a “whole year not of homage to Saramago, but of cultural news”, ranging from music to cinema and theatre. It is intended, he stressed, that the commemorations are plural and celebration of culture in a time after the pandemic.
This Friday, in Vila Real, the act of constitution of the chair at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) was signed.
When the only Nobel Prize in Portuguese Literature gives us the honor, through the foundation bearing its name, of establishing a chair in the field of Portuguese language studies, I think that today we have taken another small step of affirmation in the region, in the country and in the . world”, emphasizes the dean of UTAD, Emídio Gomes.
The chair will be developed within the scope of the School of Human and Social Sciences at UTAD and its areas of expertise are teaching, research and cultural action.
Will have the support of Lello Bookstore, in Porto, as a center for the development of studies through which masters or doctoral students will pass and all those who want to develop knowledge within the scope of Saramago’s work.
Activities will be carried out in various spaces and places in Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, but also throughout the Portuguese territory and will be partnerships with various entities.
Within its scope, cycles of get-togethers and meetings with the community, school, seminars, courses, classes and plays will take place and seek to involve the adult community, as well as children, families, schools, universities, local authorities .
There will be activities like colloquia on the thought, action and work of José Saramago and other authors, namely those who have received or will receive the José Saramago Literary Prize.
The promoters of the initiative highlighted José Saramago’s connection to the Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro region and recalled the “traveller’s route”, as Saramago calls himself in his book “Viagem a Portugal” (1981), which begins in Miranda do Douro, extends throughout the northeast of Trás-os-Montes and extends through the northern territory.
The administrator of Livraria Lello, Aurora Pedro Pinto, highlighted the “affective” connection to Saramago. “Since we are a book house, Saramago’s books occupy a special place in such a way that we opened a room exclusively dedicated to Saramago”, said the responsible.