Speech by President Lula when presenting the Camões Prize to Adélia Prado

It is my great joy to take part in the Camões Prize ceremony for the beloved Adélia Prado, represented here by her son Eugênio Prado.

It is not by chance that I use the word “joy”.

Adélia taught us that “life is more often happy than sad” — a timely and necessary lesson.

In times of economic crises, climate catastrophes, wars, and pandemics, not succumbing to discouragement is an act of resistance.

It is in hopelessness, fear, and resentment that hatred thrives as a political project.

Adélia inspires us to do politics as she writes poetry.

People are at the heart of her writing, just as they should be at the center of any government action.

Her poems celebrate the presence and care with which a mother prepares coffee for a father who is working late, or with which a husband cleans a fish alongside his wife.

It is also with presence and care that we govern.

Presence in the form of quality public policies and services.

Care for the most vulnerable and for the environment.

The raw material of Adélia Prado's poems is the experience of everyday life — lived out in kitchens, balconies, and backyards.

Her poetry is a tribute to reality, whose concreteness is now crumbling within virtual platforms and digital networks.

In a context of denialism, lies, and misinformation, the truth that overflows from Adélia's work is an important call to reality.

It is also Brazil’s reunion with itself, especially with the part of its soul that was forged on the sidewalks and houses of Minas Gerais.

We owe a lot to Minas Gerais — land not only of Adélia, but of many others who have contributed so much to literature in the Portuguese language.

They say that, to reach the universal, one must start in one's own village.

Adélia has said that all human passions are in Divinópolis, her hometown.

Remembering the common humanity that unites us is the main weapon against xenophobia and racial discrimination.

Respecting the dignity of those who migrate in search of a better life is recognizing that there are more similarities than differences between us.

Adélia's verses reveal the divine that inhabits all things.

Her God is not one who recriminates and excludes, but who welcomes and includes. Adélia's Jesus Christ is the one who says "love one another."

In a world where the female voice is still often muffled or silenced, Adélia has pioneered a traditionally male domain and paved the way for other "unfolding" women like her.

I hope that Portuguese-speaking literature continues to be enriched by increasingly diverse and plural perspectives.

Adélia Prado's work is a window into the hearts of all Brazilians and lovers of Portuguese, this language with words as beautiful and unique, as special and simple as saudade [missing someone or something in a bittersweet, nostalgic way], coragem [courage] and resistência [resistance] — words that describe Adélia's power and the strength of Brazil.

Congratulations, Adélia, and thank you for teaching us — from inside and outside the classroom, in verse and in life — to think, feel, and dream.

Thank you very much.