The city of Viseu will host the new Viseu International Literary Festival from October 2 to October 11, featuring authors from across Portugal and abroad.
Organisers presented the 10-day event, known as FLIV, during a news conference on Wednesday, announcing a programme of 218 sessions held across multiple venues in the city.
Event curator Teresa Adão explained that the festival will focus heavily on the historic city centre, particularly Rua Direita and the Mercado 2 de Maio market, which will host the main book fair. Activities will also take place in local schools, nursing homes, day care centres, and a hotel.
Viseu, located in central Portugal in the historical Beira Alta region, is the capital of the Viseu District. The city's historic centre retains medieval landmarks and public market squares, including the Mercado 2 de Maio.
Featured Authors and International Guests
Adão highlighted the presence of several prominent writers, including Gonçalo M. Tavares, José Luís Peixoto, Dulce Maria Cardoso, Ana Paula Tavares, Ondjaki, António Torres, and Marco Lucchesi, while stressing that all participating guests are important.
The organisation confirmed a wide range of writers, illustrators, musicians, journalists, and communicators. Confirmed participants include Rafael Gallo, Leila Ferreira, Fabrice d'Almeida, Ángel de la Calle, Luís Osório, Margarida Davim, Ana Cristina Pereira, Paulo Ferreira, Pedro Chagas Freitas, Mário Augusto, Mário Lúcio, Paolo Capodacqua, Pedro Abrunhosa, Daniel Kondo, Isabel Ponce de Leão, Ariana Cosme, Dionísio Vila Maior, and Carlos Neto.
Among the featured guests, Tavares and Peixoto are among Portugal's most widely translated contemporary novelists, while Ondjaki is an award-winning Angolan writer and Torres is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Singer-songwriter Pedro Abrunhosa is a prominent figure in Portuguese popular music.
Adão confirmed that participants will represent Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Spain, France, and Italy. Organisers are also attempting to secure a guest speaker from China.
Festival Programme and Special Initiatives
The festival features 174 participants, including authors, moderators, musicians, illustrators, and actors. Over the 10 days, the schedule includes 35 debate panels, 18 book presentations, eight book launches, eight concerts, and three exhibitions.
Of the total sessions, 92 will take place in schools across all local parishes. Adão noted that these school sessions were specifically selected by educational leaders rather than imposed by publishers. Viseu writer José Rodrigues will lead a novel initiative bringing participating authors into local nursing homes and day centres for older residents.
Nuno Bico, president of the Viseu Parish Council, announced that the festival will host the first national meeting of bookstagrammers, gathering digital content creators and cultural influencers from social media networks.
Two Stage Structure and Municipal Support
Adão explained that the festival is structured in two distinct phases. From October 2 to October 7, the schedule focuses on local Viseu writers to highlight their work within the community. From October 8 through the end of the festival, the international element expands while national Portuguese writers participate throughout.
Adão, who curates FLIV alongside Paulo Santos and Luísa Paolinelli, said the goal is to place Viseu on the international book fair circuit. She added that because multiple sessions will run simultaneously, visitors will choose events based on their preferences, creating a cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Viseu Mayor João Azevedo welcomed the return of the book fair as a long-awaited event for local residents. He stated that the municipality considers promoting book reading an essential obligation for education and culture, adding that this inaugural edition serves as a foundation for building a nationally and internationally recognised annual festival.
FLIV is a joint initiative organised by Adão, Santos, and Paolinelli in partnership with the Viseu Parish Council and the Viseu City Council. The parish council is investing 100,000 euros in the festival with financial support from the city council.
