'We (Don't) Read' Festival begins in Manhouce determined to "Resist"

Organized by the Integrated Rural Development Association of the Serras do Montemuro, Arada and Gralheira (Adrimag), with the Parish Council of Manhouce and the municipality of São Pedro do Sul, the festival is an act of cultural and community resistance in the interior of the country, and this year pays particular attention to women and their ability to mark the resilience of communities, according to the published program.

The first day features the conversation 'Women and Resistance', between the doctor, teacher and anti-fascist resistance fighter Isabel do Carmo and the researcher Rita Rato, former PCP deputy and current director of the Aljube Museum - Resistance and Freedom, in Lisbon.

'Literature, Resistance and Feminism' is another of today's conversations, in a meeting between researcher Lorena Travassos, translator Joana Neves and writers Gisela Casimiro and Madalena Sá Fernandes.

On the first of two days of the festival, the documentary 'Women and Resistance' will also be shown, edited by Sofia TC Gomes, and a staged reading of the play "The Man on the Bicycle", about the resistance to the dictatorship, written by the playwright and lawyer Jaime Gralheiro (1930-2014), originally from S. Pedro do Sul.

Sunday, the second and last day of the festival, is marked by the conversation '(r)Existing is Winning', between the editor João Concha, the writer Nuno Gomes, the poet, translator and researcher Ricardo Marques and the professor Francisco de Almeida Dias.

There will also be an interview with journalist Teresa Dias Mendes and photographer Homem Cardoso, 'The Man with the Camera'.

The program also includes, among other initiatives, a tribute to the bookseller José Pinho (1953-2023), who supported the creation of the festival, the 'Caminhada Poética Passos em Volta...', next to the Teixeira River, the folklore and singing workshop with the Rancho Folclórico de Manhouce, a 'poetic duel' between Nicolau Santos and Fernando Alvim, and activities for children, in partnership with the Municipal Library of São Pedro do Sul, which involve storytellers and illustration workshops.

The festival closes with an "intimate and resistant" concert by Gisela João, on Sunday night.

According to Professor Marisa Araújo, the festival's organizer, "making this rural adventure happen is, in itself, an act of resistance, or madness, or both."

For the coordinator of the São Pedro do Sul Local Social Development Contract project, coordinated by Adrimag, "the context in which 'A Gente (Não) Lê' emerges is important: "A literary festival in a village, high up in a harsh mountain range, where everything is far away and difficult, is either a dream or madness. But going to Manhouce and remaining as if nothing happened is impossible. Therefore, it makes sense to dream and make a literary festival happen in a village where everything sings. According to Isabel Silvestre [the voice of the Manhouce Singing Group], even the stones sing in Manhouce."

Marisa Araújo also highlights the villagers' actions in organizing the festival: the women's embroidery on the quilts that will adorn balconies and windows, the singing rehearsals, the preparation of the riverside trails, and the cooking in iron pots, the bread baked in the communal oven. "Each of these ancestral gestures," concludes the cultural organizer, "are also acts of resistance."

The 'A Gente (Não) Lê' festival, with free entry, is 'headquartered' at the Manhouce Primary School, which also hosts the "Livro Conduto" book exchange initiative - any leftovers will be donated to the local library.

Read Also: Writer Amin Maalouf wins FIL Prize for Literature in Romance Languages