Lagos Reading Club, by José Garrido and Afonso Cruz

17 October | 6pm

Location: Lagos Municipal Library Organised by: CM Lagos Duration: 2 hours Age rating: M18 (limit of 25 participants) All activities at the Municipal Library are free to attend but require prior registration up to 48 hours before the event via phone at 282 767 816, the Library's Facebook page, or email biblioteca@cm-lagos.pt. Each initiative requires a minimum number of participants. If this is not reached, the activity may be cancelled.

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

There are various reasons that distance us from the language, from the use and enjoyment of (good) Portuguese. A natural propensity for welcoming other cultures, along with the generalisation of greater linguistic skills, has been associated with increasingly careless translations in texts and subtitles, often automated. We propose an immersion, with delight, in a selection of works in Portuguese from Portugal, published since the dawn of the second millennium.

Book under discussion: A Boneca de Kokoschka, by Afonso Cruz During World War II, in Dresden, a Jewish boy named Isaac hides in the basement of a pet shop. Surviving the tons of bombs falling on the city, Isaac Dresner will build his life around books, recovering stories and creating new ones. This shows how fortuitous, unusual or insignificant events — including the existence of the Kokoschka doll — are as crucial in weaving our destinies as those we deem monumental.

This is a story about the importance of the other. The intertwined destinies of this novel illuminate how our relationships, encounters, creations and circumstances shape our identity, help us grow, and allow us, one day, to realise that the door of our cage is open, spread our wings and, without fearing freedom, conquer a bit of sky.

"In a pet shop, the most cages are concentrated. There is nowhere in the world built with as many restrictions as a pet shop. Cages are everywhere. And some are inside the birds, not outside, as people imagine. Because Bonifaz Vogel often opened the doors of the cages without the canaries escaping. The birds huddled in a corner, trying to avoid looking at that open door, turning their eyes away from freedom, which is one of the most frightening doors. They only felt free inside a prison. The cage was within them. The other, the metal or wood one, was just a metaphor."

Free parking - The Cultural Centre of Lagos and the Municipal Library of Lagos offer free parking at the Ribeirinha Front park (Avenida dos Descobrimentos) for the audience of their shows.