On a biennial basis, Manuel da Fonseca Tale National award, established by Santiago do Cacém City Hall back in 1995, distinguishes a collection of original tales, written in Portuguese by a native author from any Portuguese-speaking country, and to the winning work, selected by the jury and edited the year following the competition, will be awarded a pecuniary value of 4000 euros. The submition stage of the competing works has already begun and will last until April 30th. The contest not only pays tribute to the Alentejo writer (1911-1993), an inescapable figure of the Portuguese literature, but also to his work, through the narrative form of tale, in which the author revealed all his excellence. In the previous edition, which was the 12th, the winning tale, that deserved the unanimity of the jury, was Um Fiel Jardineiro e Outras Histórias (A Faithful Gardener and Other Stories), authored by Maria de Fátima Ferreira Rolão Candeias, under the pseudonym Mnemósine.
