Lídia Jorge receives today Austrian State Prize for European Literature

The award of the award to Lydia Jorge was announced last June by the Austrian Government, and the delivery will take place today at a ceremony at the Salzburg Festival.

“Lídia Jorge is one of the most prominent writers in contemporary European literature; her work is as versatile and branched as significant and omnipresent are her themes,” said Austrian Minister of Culture, Andreas Babler, quoted by the announcement of the award on 16 June.

The Austrian ruler then recalled that, throughout his career, Lydia Jorge has fought, through his writing, for a “highly poetic form, for the equality of peoples”.

The jury was composed by Cristina Beretta, Thomas Keul, Thomas Macho, Marlene Streeruwitz and Andrea Zederbauer.

The jury states that “the criticism of European colonialism is one of the basic themes of Lydia Jorge’s literature, such as the analysis of social inequality and poverty, discrimination against women, racism and the 1974 Carnation Revolution”.

Born 80 years ago in Boliqueime, Algarve, Lídia Jorge debuted in 1980 with the novel “O Dia dos Prodigios”.

With nearly ten and a half novels, his bibliography also includes collections of short stories, children's literature, essays, theaters, poetry and chronicles.

Lídia Jorge received several Portuguese and international literary awards, including the FIL Prize for Literature in Romantic Languages, in Guadalajara, in 2020, one of the most important in Latin America, the Medicis Prize for Best Foreign Book published in France in 2023, for his latest novel, “Misericórdia”, and the Pessoa Prize in 2025, for his work.

In early June, the Portuguese Government awarded him the Medal of Cultural Merit.

Last day 02, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport announced Lídia Jorge as the winner of the Camões 2026 Award, the most important in Portuguese.

Last year, Lydia Jorge presided over the June 10 celebrations.