The Port Book Fair starts today in the Gardens of the Crystal Palace, with more than 200 initiatives spread over 144 stands, where there will be no lack of theatre, concerts, dance, cinema, visual arts and conversations for 17 days.
© Lusa
21/08/2026
by
Lusa
A Feira do Livro opens its doors at 12 noon and in this 13th edition pays tribute to the 83-year-old Portuguese poet Inês Lourenço, with a specific program that crosses literature, music, cinema, theatre, dance and visual arts, proposing different readings of the work and the writer's path.
In particular, the dramatization of a poem on the tragedy of Gaza will be made today at 9 p.m. in the auditorium of the Almeida Garrett Library, followed by the opening, on Saturday at 12 noon, of the exhibition “In the Impalable Blade of Time”, built from the author’s personal archive, with the award of the Lillia de Honnage scheduled for 3 p.m.
This year's event also features prominent international presences, such as that of the Palestinian poet and journalist Mohammed El-Kurd, who participates in “Writing of Resistance: Palestine”, and the Franco-Morroquina poet and artist Rim Battal talks with Teresa Coutinho, programmer of the Port Book Fair, about body, identity, writing and performance.
The dramaturgie takes place with the Spanish Angélica Liddell, in a conversation dedicated to the role of poetry in her writing and scenic conception. French writer Marie Darrieussecq, Mexican poet Elvis Guerra and British singer, songwriter and actress Keeley Forsyth are other guests.
The programming also starts from the literature to reflect on some of the issues that go through the present, leading to “Conversation Cycles” topics such as gender violence, ancestry and identity or writing as a form of resistance, reads in the press release.
The Book Fair also offers daily concerts in the Acoustic Concha, while the programming aimed at the younger is reinforced this year, with 83 sessions that total 112 hours of activities for babies, children, young people and families.
Over the 17 days of the fair, with free entry, 21 conversations are scheduled, 20 concerts, seven round tables, seven special sessions, five initiatives in dialogue, eight shows, three exhibitions, a mural intervention and the 83 sessions the youngest and families.