Meet the Author Event - Valter Hugo Mãe

On March 22, 2024, in the crowded basement of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split, a “meet the author” event was held with the distinguished Portuguese writer Valter Hugo Mãe. The award-winning Portuguese author received the prestigious José Saramago Literary Prize in 2007, presented to him by Saramago himself, who called his writing a real “literary tsunami”.
The event was organized in cooperation with the Doctoral Humanities Studies Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split and the City Youth Theater, ahead of the premiere of the play The Worker's Apocalypse set to take place in the City Youth Theater.
The panelists of the literary event were: Paula Leal da Silva, the Ambassador of Portugal in Zagreb; Ivo Perkušić, director of the City Youth Theater and Assistant Professor Nina Lanović, Ph.D., Head of Portuguese Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. The panel was moderated by Associate Professor Antonela Marić, Ph.D., Head of Doctoral Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split. Actresses Mia Vladović and Ana Gruica Uglešić gave additional charm to the event by reading excerpts from the novel The Worker's Apocalypse.
The Dean, Full Professor Ina Reić Ercegovac, Ph.D. opened the event and extended a warm welcome to the Ambassador, the distinguished author and the entire ensemble of the City Youth Theater that supported the event. Paula Leal da Silva, the Ambassador of Portugal in Zagreb, then briefly presented Portugal, the history and specificities of this country. Valter Hugo Mãe recounted how he was especially flattered when he heard that Ivo Perkušić, the director of the City Youth Theater, wanted to stage this play because it meant a world theater premiere. In a pleasant atmosphere of socializing, he added that he feels a special connection with Croatia, which he has visited several times, and some of those trips were intended exclusively for writing new literary works. At the end of the literary event, the writer gifted several of his books with a signed dedication in the form of a drawing, and the director of the City Youth Theater invited all those present to the theater performance, which will take place in the coming days.