News from Berlin

News from Berlin - The Embassy of Portugal will host an event for the younger generation. It is never too soon to start dreaming, and this literary activity is targeted at children from 8 to 12 years old and the theme will be based on Portuguese and Swedish sailors, combined with an illustrated exhibition. On October 17th at 11.00, the Portuguese Embassy will open its doors for children to have a taste of travelling around the world through this captivating literature.

The aim of this event is to discover how Swedish and Portuguese stories have contributed to raising the imagination. The stories tell us about travel and discovery, adventures and mysteries surrounding seafaring, or the transatlantic peregrination. Some responses to these challenges will be given by the Swedish and Portuguese authors attending the event.

Vicky the Viking is part of the children’s book series by the Swedish writer Runer Jonsson. It tells the adventures of Vicky a young Viking boy who uses his wits to help his Viking fellows, showing the importance of brain over muscles. The Swedish author won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturepreis (German Children’s Book Award) for this book in 1965.

On the Portuguese side, the author Fernão Mendes Pinto will be attending the event. His work, Peregrinação, is an autobiographical memoir of his voyages. This manuscript from 1614 has been controversial since many events were considered exaggerated. Some aspects of the work can be verified, particularly through Pinto’s service to the Portuguese Crown and by his links with missionaries in that area. His stories of travelling to India, China and Japan were translated in the 17th century into 18 different languages and achieved great success.

The event is part of the Cultural Day of European Cultural Institutes in Berlin.

News from Berlin - Berlin Global