Prêmio Jabuti releases semifinalists with Itamar Vieira Jr
The Prêmio Jabuti released its list of ten semifinalists across 23 categories on Tuesday, setting the stage for the final selection of five nominees per category on October 14 and the winners ceremony on October 27 at Sala São Paulo. The announcement highlights a mix of literary mainstays, posthumous works, and a brand-new digital influencer category that excludes TikTok creators in favor of YouTube and Instagram personalities.
Literary Heavyweights and Returning Winners
The fiction selections feature prominent novelists returning for recent volumes of ongoing trilogies. Itamar Vieira Junior appears on the list for Coração sem Medo, alongside Milton Hatoum for Dança de Enganos. Other past winners returning to the semifinal stage include Eliana Alves Cruz for Meridiana, Cristovão Tezza for Visita ao Pai, and poet Adélia Prado with O Jardim das Oliveiras. Established authors breaking through for the first time in the competition include Marilene Felinto with the novel Corsária, Aline Bei with Uma Delicada Coleção de Ausências, Edimilson de Almeida Pereira with the poetry collection Porte Étoile, and Mar Becker with Noite Devorada.
Debut categories showcase emerging voices like Bruna Dantas Lobato, Fernanda Teixeira Ribeiro, Ernesto Mané, and Mariana Lobato Botter among first-time novelists. Meanwhile, the debut poetry category features exclusively independent publishers, landing four separate nominations for the Urutau publishing house. Posthumous recognitions also mark this year’s selection, with psychoanalyst Contardo Calligaris appearing across two categories. His book Aproveitar a Vida e Suas Dores contends in the essay category, while Coisa de Menino?, co-authored with Maria Homem, appears under health and wellness.
Non-Fiction, Biography, and Cultural Analysis
The health and wellness category brings together prominent analysts and researchers, including Ana Suy, Christian Dunker, Paulo Schiller, and physician Alexandre Kalache. Sociologist Jessé Souza also joins the category with Por que a Esquerda Morreu?: E o que Devemos Fazer para Ressuscitá-la. In the biography and reporting category, Michel Alcoforado’s best-seller Coisa de Rico runs alongside Ruy Castro’s Trincheira Tropical, which examines Rio de Janeiro during the Second World War. Quaest founder Felipe Nunes is recognized for Brasil no Espelho, while biographies of historical figures such as Roberto Marinho by Leonencio Nossa, Zuzu Angel by Virginia Starling, and Oswald de Andrade by Lira Neto round out the group alongside works covering Pelé and the evolution of Brazilian Protestantism.
The New Reading Promotion Category
A notable addition to the list is the reading promotion category created by the Brazilian Book Chamber to recognize digital influencers. The semifinalists include prominent YouTube and Instagram creators Pedro Pacífico (known as Bookster), Camilla Dias, Tatiana Feltrin, and the duo Afrofuturas, alongside the São Paulo state digital library BibliON and the podcast Peixe Voador on the Gamma application. Notably absent from the list are creators operating primarily on TikTok. The category finalists will be determined through a public vote following evaluation by a 12-person jury.
Awards Structure and Timeline
Winners across each of the 23 categories will receive a prize of R$ 5,000. The Book of the Year winner will take home R$ 70,000 and earn the opportunity to travel to one of the world’s four major international book fairs next year. The reduction from ten semifinalists to five finalists will take place on October 14, culminating in the awards ceremony on October 27 at Sala São Paulo.