Culture as refuge in anxious times
At 90, the poet and honorary president of Portugal's Socialist Party (PS), Manuel Alegre, issued a quiet warning at the Jardim da Cascata of the Palácio de Belém: a people who lose their culture lose their identity. Speaking at the ninth edition of the Festa do Livro, a free book festival in the presidential gardens, Alegre argued that culture is the best nourishment in times of crisis — "and poetry, if I may say so."
He avoided domestic political commentary but acknowledged deep concern about the state of Portugal and the wider world. "What happens in the world also reverberates here," he told reporters, seated beside President António José Seguro. "We don't save ourselves alone; we have to save ourselves together. And Europe must save itself together, united."
"The world has not gone mad, but it has some madmen"
Pressed on whether the world had lost its bearings, the former vice-president of the Assembly of the Republic offered a measured reply: "The world has not gone mad, but the world has some madmen who are doing everything to drive the world mad."
Alegre attended the presentation of "Cantos de Tristeza (Tristia)," a translation of the Roman poet Ovid's exile writings by Carlos Ascenso André. The translator dedicated the work to Alegre, calling him "the voice of exile in Portuguese poetry" — a reference to Alegre's own forced departure during the Estado Novo dictatorship and his subsequent literary career exploring displacement, loss, and longing.
The event was presented by José Manuel Mendes, who acknowledged the presence of both the President and Alegre in the audience.
A presidency's cultural bridge
Alegre used the moment to praise the book festival itself, crediting former President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with creating it and Seguro with continuing it. He called the initiative — free to the public, held in the presidential gardens — "a very beautiful idea that dignifies our culture and dignifies the Presidency of the Republic."
The festival, running from 17 to 20 September in the Palácio de Belém grounds, is organized in partnership with the Portuguese Association of Publishers and Booksellers (APEL). This year's edition includes more than 300 publishing brands across 123 stands, with 68 cultural initiatives and appearances by nearly 400 authors. Musical highlights range from a tribute concert to writer António Lobo Antunes — performed by Katia Guerreiro and Vitorino Salomé — to shows by ÁTOA, NAPA, and a closing concert by GNR.
For Alegre, the setting carried particular weight. Ovid's Tristia, written during his banishment from Rome, is considered a foundational text of exile literature — a tradition the Portuguese poet embodies through decades of verse that trace the contours of separation, memory, and the pull of homeland.
