LAGOS READING CLUB, by José Garrido and José Carlos Barros

July 11 | 6:00 PM

Location: Municipal Library of Lagos Organization: CM Lagos Duration: 2h Age rating: M18 (limit of 25 participants)

All activities at the Municipal Library are free to participate, but prior registration is mandatory up to 48 hours before the event by calling 282 767 816, visiting the Facebook page of the Library, or emailing biblioteca@cm-lagos.pt. Each initiative requires a minimum number of participants. If this number is not reached, the activity may be canceled.

Theme for 2026: IN A PLEASURABLE PENANCE: THE RESCUE OF THE LANGUAGE. WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN PORTUGAL SINCE THE MILLENNIUM BUG.

There are several reasons that distance us from the language, from the use and enjoyment of (good) Portuguese. A natural propensity for welcoming other cultures, as well as the generalization of greater linguistic skills, is associated with increasingly careless translations in texts and subtitles, also due to automation. We propose an immersion, with delight, in a selection of works in Portuguese, from Portugal, published since the advent of the second millennium.

Book in reading: A Friend for Winter, by José Carlos Barros The sergeant Francisco Aniceto Gonçalves arrives in 1971 at the Village to head the GNR Post. During the bus trip, he mainly thought about the woman who left him without a reason he could understand and wondered if he would be able to rebuild his life in this new place. His presence is, however, immediately contested by two distinct groups, who warn him - in turn and in quite biased ways - about the dangers that lie beneath the apparent calm of the surrounding mountains. And the warning takes on special meaning when Rogério Afonso is murdered following disputes related to water theft, but which, in due time, the sergeant will discover have roots in a much older conflict. The discovery will also help him, interestingly, to unravel the mystery of his own life.

Between the 1950s and the present, A Friend for Winter revisits the recent history of our collective past, featuring a range of unforgettable characters, including members of a clandestine cell of the Communist Party, agents of the PIDE, men and women who find or lose love, revolutionaries who give up on their dreams, and failures who, despite everything, believe that it is always possible to start over and succeed.

Beautiful, profound, and moving, this novel, based on a true story of resistance to the dictatorship in the North of the Country, was a finalist for the LeYa Prize in 2012.

BIOGRAPHY: José Garrido has been in the Algarve for over 30 years, taking on the challenge of coordinating the Tourism Promotion of the Algarve Tourism Region and has never left. An avid reader since always, he has elevated this pleasure to the level of art and obsession over the last decade. Alongside short texts and various articles throughout his life, he has published more substantial works, recently releasing two novels. Attending literary events and participating in Reading Clubs have become part of a daily life increasingly engaged with books and writing. Taking on the programming of the Reading Club at the Municipal Library of Lagos for the 2025/2026 cycle was a natural, almost predictable step, just like his thematic proposal, "IN A PLEASURABLE PENANCE: THE REDEMPTION OF THE LANGUAGE," the (good) writing in Portuguese from the last quarter of a century.

Free parking - The Centro Cultural de Lagos and the Biblioteca Municipal de Lagos offer free parking at the Frente Ribeirinha park (Avenida dos Descobrimentos) for the audience of their shows/events. To receive this discount, the user must present, at the park's reception, a stamp obtained at the ticket office of the Centro Cultural de Lagos or the entrance of the Biblioteca Municipal de Lagos. This offer applies only one hour before and up to one hour after each show/event.