Between November 14 and 23, Utopia Literary Festival returns to Braga with an expanded program that brings together some of the biggest names in national and international literature.
One of the highlights is Tolentino de Mendonça’s debut with a play, commissioned by the Municipality of Braga in the context of Braga 25 Portuguese Capital of Culture. Working with director John Romão and actor Albano Jerónimo, the Portuguese poet and theologian presents the play “Sala de jantar” on November 15, at Espaço Vita.
Premiering at Capela Imaculada, the text embodies a reflection on food as an act of relationship and revelation. Crossing autobiography and philosophy, this theatrical proposal invites us to question perceptions and challenge appearances, in a contemporary time marked by image saturation. Albano Jerónimo thus presents himself as a man tormented by memory, desire, and a thirst for transcendence.
In addition to this milestone, the first day of the festival will feature the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah. The award-winning author will return the following day, November 15, for a joint session with the renowned Mozambican writer Mia Couto, recently awarded the 2025 PEN/Nabokov Prize for International Literature, becoming the first Portuguese-language author to receive this award.
In the dialogue between literature and music, the highlight will be the session “Letras de Canções” (Song Lyrics) on November 23, featuring singer Dino D’Santiago—one of the spokespersons for the official launch of the Portuguese Capital in January—and writer D. H. Machado.
On November 22, Ricardo Araújo Pereira and Frederico Lourenço, essayist, poet, and professor of Classical Studies, will present the book “Bíblia VI” in a relaxed conversation where religion intersects with the limits of humor. Before that, on November 16, the Espaço Vita Auditorium will host the premiere of the play “Ponto de Fuga” (Vanishing Point), created by musician and conductor Martim Sousa Tavares, in a proposal that crosses music, words, and movement.
To close the festival with humor, in a union between literature and cinema, Utopia will host, for the first time, the screening of a film, showing the documentary “Uma Nêspera no Cu” (A Loquat in the Ass), directed by Gabriela Soares and inspired by the comedy show of the same name by Bruno Nogueira, Nuno Markl, and Filipe Melo.
The program also has a strong focus on children, where the youngest can enjoy stories, workshops, and sung readings.
The complete Utopia program can be found on the festival website.