Catarina Sobral, author of the children’s book dedicated to Madalena Perdigão, part of the ‘Heroínas das Artes’ [Heroines of the Arts] series, has won the country’s biggest illustration prize.

The book ‘Fantasmas, Bananas e Avestruzes’ [Ghosts, Bananas and Ostriches], which deals with the theme of the law and is part of the children’s book collection ‘Missão: Democracia’ [Mission: Democracy], earned the Portuguese author the 2023 National Illustration Prize from the Directorate-General for Books, Archives and Libraries.

Dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April revolution, the collection brings together various generations of Portuguese authors, tackling issues that relate to the last 50 years of the country’s history, including themes such as elections, laws, dictatorship, citizenship, the Constitution, and the European Union.

Catarina Sobral (Coimbra, 1985) is the author and illustrator of the children’s book ‘Irrequieta, Madalena Perdigão’ [Restless, Madalena Perdigão] (2024), co-published by CAM – Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian and Tinta-da-china. According to ‘TimeOut’ magazine, the first book in the ‘Heroínas das Artes’ series ‘portrays Madalena Perdigão at her most essential: in her ability to adapt and re-adapt, to challenge the rules and try on everything plus a pair of boots, as is often the case in the avant-garde arts.’

The author is already working on the next issue of this collection, which will be dedicated to the artist and poet Ana Hatherly, who is strongly represented in the CAM Collection, with dozens of drawings, collages, an object, and a film from different periods of her artistic production.