Amazon Brazil and Companhia das Letras announce Tiago Costa's work “Via Pública” as the grand winner of the 1st Kindle Black Voices Award

The inaugural edition of the Kindle Black Voices Award, an initiative by Amazon Brazil in partnership with Companhia das Letras, crowned Tiago Costa's book “Via Pública” as the winning work. Authors, journalists, agents, and literary influencers gathered at Cineclube Cortina in São Paulo yesterday (17th) for the event celebrating and honoring independent Black authors in Brazilian literature. The judging panel consisted of Bianca Santana, writer and columnist for Folha de S.Paulo and author of the book “Quando Me Descobri Negra”; Luciany Aparecida, professor and author of “Mata Doce,” the winning book of the 2024 São Paulo Literature Prize; and Science Fiction and Afrofuturism writer Ale Santos, author of the book “O Último Ancestral.”.
 

The award recognizes and celebrates original Brazilian novels by Black authors in the Fiction genre, published via Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Amazon's free self-publishing tool. As the winner of the inaugural edition, Tiago Costa will receive R$ 35,000 in prize money and an advance on royalties. The book will also be edited and printed by Companhia das Letras. In addition to Tiago Costa's work, the award finalists were: “Amiga com Piscina” by Daiana de Souza, “Borda Infinita” by Tássia Nascimento, “Febre Inocente” by J. Oliver Jr., and “Olhos Rubros de Sal” by Márcia Moura. The finalists will have their books published as audiobooks by Audible in Brazil.

“We are very proud to announce ‘Via Pública’ as the winning work of the first edition of the Kindle Black Voices Award. This award is essential to celebrate and amplify the voice of independent Black authors in Brazil, promoting representativeness and diversity in our literary landscape. Through KDP, we democratize publishing, allowing talents like Tiago to flourish and their stories to reach a wide audience. It is Amazon's commitment to ensure that all voices find their space,” says Ricardo Perez, leader of Amazon's book business in Brazil.

As the award's partner publisher, Companhia das Letras highlights the quality of the finalist novels which, while very different from each other, presented a rich panorama of Brazilian literature today. “For those of us who believe in diversity as an ethical imperative, it is very rewarding to be a partner in an award that brings together Black authorship from all regions of the country and across the most varied literary styles. We thank the hundreds of Black authors who participated, congratulate all the finalists, and salute Tiago Costa for his achievement. Companhia das Letras believes in the power of the word and is committed to ensuring that all stories find their readers. After all, writing is creating worlds within the world – and a publishing house is, in essence, a place where worlds meet,” declares Fernando Baldraia, diversity editor at Companhia das Letras.