The concept underlying this festival is a synergistic achievement, catalyzing the resources of the municipalities that make up the consortium, making the best of each one of them profitable and empowered, in a joint effort to overcome adversities and, in the name of the regenerative word, where there are people there will be books, they will be in the most unexpected places, at the hand of those who want to read them, Portuguese and foreign writers will go to the most surprising places, books and words will again raise color through the blackness.
Writers Agustina Bessa Luís, Matilde Rosa Araújo, José Saramago will be honored at the 5th International Literary Festival of the Interior (FLII) – Words of Fire, in 2022. This tribute marks the centenary of their births and integrates the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Adriano Olive Belt. This time, the festival’s program is under the theme “Sibyls, rebels and geniuses”.
In partnership with local authorities, other public institutions, associations and companies in the region, Arte-Via Cooperativa, headquartered in Lousã, launches the fifth edition of FLII Words of Fire, in honor of the victims of the 2017 forest fires, under the motto “ Art and Culture as Reanimators of a Region and a People”, which will take place between June 16 and 19, 2022.
This festival has as patron His Exª. the President of the Republic. Its associated partners are the Center’s Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDRC), the Center’s Regional Directorate of Culture, the University of Coimbra, the General Directorate of Book, Archives and Libraries (DGLAB), the Portuguese Association of Writers and the School Libraries Network (RBE).
According to Ana Filomena Amaral, creator and coordinator of FLII, this is an inter-municipal event, hence its innovative character, which will take place in 11 municipalities in the region affected by fires, with the objective of taking books and writers to the most unusual places and unpredictable ones, such as factories, fields, beaches, churches, markets, pilgrimages, places where people work and live. In other words, books reach out to audiences because they too miss them.
With the transversal theme “Sibillas, rebels and geniuses”, because it is a festival of causes, it is intended to address burning issues for the future of the world, always keeping the environmental emergency as one of the privileged centers of discussion.
The FLII Words of Fire consortium brings together local authorities and cultural agents from the municipalities of Castanheira de Pera, Arganil, Miranda do Corvo, Lousã, Pedrógão Grande, Pampilhosa da Serra, Ansião, Alvaiázere, Penela, Tábua and Condeixa-a-Nova, in the districts of Coimbra and Leiria, with municipal libraries and school library networks being crucial in organizing this event.
The objective is to involve all development agents, from all participating municipalities and all local talent, in all activities to be carried out simultaneously: training actions, competitions, lectures, workshops, readings, book fairs, shows, multimedia, performances, installations and exhibitions, for and with all audiences of all age groups.
According to the writer Ana Filomena Amaral, the underlying concept of this festival is that of a synergistic realization, catalyzing the resources of the municipalities and other institutions that are part of the consortium, profiting and leveraging the best that each one has, in a joint effort to overcome the adversities.
And, in the name of the regenerating word, wherever there are people there will be books. They will be in the most unexpected places, at the hand of anyone who wants to read them, Portuguese and foreign writers will go to the most surprising places, books and words will once again bring color back to life amidst the blackness.
FLII Palavras de Fogo also has the partnership of several international counterparts: Fraktura (Croatia), FLIPoços, FliAraxá (Brazil), Ler – Salão Carioca do Livro (Brazil), Galway Literary Festival (Ireland), Vilenica International Literary Festival (Slovenia ), Book Worm (China), Chepén Chepén Poetry Festival (Peru), Ake Festival (Nigeria), Literature Festival (Jaipur), Literary Festival (Dubai) and FLIK. Mozambique, among others.
The coordinator of FLII – Words of Fire
Ana Filomena Amaral/Writer