The book “Volta aos Açores em quinze dias. Diário de Bordo de uma viagem para (Não) esquecer” [Around the Azores in fifteen days], written by José Pedro Castanheira, journalist and IHC researcher, was awarded the Maria Ondina Braga Grand Prize for Travel Literature, attributed by the Portuguese Writers Association.

The work, which was published by Tinta da China in 2022, “goes beyond mere journalism (even if it is the most brilliant) to become the sharing with the reader, always challenged, of a rich experience of human coexistence and others, from the most elementary to the most profound”, according to the minutes of the award jury.

With an extensive and award-winning journalistic career, José Pedro Castanheira joined the IHC in June 2019. As a journalist, he has devoted himself to investigative journalism, particularly on the recent history of Portugal and the former colonies. He is the author of more than a dozen books, of which we highlight “Jorge Sampaio. Uma biografia”, a biogrphy of the late President Jorge Sampaio (in two volumes), and “A Queda de Salazar. O princípio do fim da Ditadura” [The Fall of Salazar] (co-authored with António Caeiro and Natal Vaz).

The jury, which unanimously awarded the prize, was coordinated by José Manuel Mendes, accompanied by Cândido Oliveira Martins, Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins, and Paula Mendes Coelho. This was the sixth edition of this prize which, in 2022, was awarded to António Mega Ferreira.