Agustina Bessa-Luís
Revelation Literary Prize

With his original novel “Na Tua Mão” (In Your Hand), Hélder Teixeira Aguiar was unanimously awarded the 18th edition of the Agustina Bessa-Luís Revelation Literary Prize by the jury, chaired by Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins. The work will be published by Editorial Gradiva, currently merging with Guerra e Paz, as part of a partnership with Estoril Sol since 2008, the year the competition was launched in homage to the great writer.

The jury wrote in the minutes that the winning work “is an adventure novel of learning and overcoming challenges, featuring two brothers, aged 11 and 17, of Portuguese nationality, but living in the troubled regions of Venezuela. Pursued by drug cartels because of their journalist mother, who has since disappeared, these two young men attempt to cross the border into Colombia through the jungle. Along the way, they will learn about the world and the strength to overcome difficulties. Narrated alternately by the two brothers, this novel possesses a captivating freshness and a quality of language and narrative construction that hints at future literary endeavors of great value.”

Hélder Teixeira Aguiar was born in São João da Madeira in 1983. The son of an army officer and writer, and a teacher, he graduated in medicine from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 2008, and completed a master's degree at King's College London. He works at the ULS Entre Douro e Vouga as a family doctor at the USF São João and is part of the local palliative care team.