Mallorca literary prize: Tavares warns of fear

On Mallorca, Portuguese writer Gonçalo M. Tavares receives the Premio Formentor de las Letras, worth 50,000 euros, on Sunday, 1 November — and warns that fear can make people easy to lead. He speaks at the award ceremony at the Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor, on Cabo de Formentor.

Tavares likens the news to carbon monoxide, saying it leaves people struggling for air. In his account, a large group gripped by fear may follow a dangerous path without resisting.

Books can offer “oxygen” instead, he says. He warns that a loss of richness in language and imagination can give rise to forms of fascism that start small but spread widely. Writing, for him, is a way to watch what happens in the world without staying silent.

Tavares also pays tribute to past winners. The prize and its accompanying literary talks run at Cabo de Formentor from 1 to 3 November, returning to Mallorca after moving between venues from 2021. At the ceremony, guitarist Pedro Mateo performs works by Frédéric Chopin, Manuel de Falla and Alberto Ginastera.

Topics: Culture

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com