Héctor Abad Faciolince and Javier Cercas celebrate the importance of words

The event took place at Praça dos Leões before an audience of about 1,200 people

Héctor Abad Faciolince and Javier Cercas took center stage at BABELL in a conversation marked by their friendship and a profound reflection on the role of language in literature. During the session, which took place on the evening of June 26 at Praça dos Leões before an audience of about 1,200 people, highlights included Héctor Abad Faciolince’s praise for Portugal, which he described as “the friendliest country in Europe,” and Javier Cercas’s reflection on creative freedom in writing, evoking Miguel de Cervantes and the idea that “do whatever you please,” which shaped his vision of writing.

This reflection paved the way for a broader conversation about the creative process and the authors’ relationship with language.

Héctor Abad Faciolince focused his remarks on the nature of the word and its rarity, arguing that literature arises precisely from this unique and unrepeatable material. For the author, writing is an exercise in constant transformation, in which reality is reorganized by language, gaining new meanings through fiction.

One of the most memorable moments of the session centered on the work of Javier Cercas, particularly his book God’s Madman at the End of the World. The author admitted that he found the Vatican’s invitation to write it strange, emphasizing how unexpected it was: “I don’t know why they asked me.”

Héctor Abad Faciolince also brought up the weight of memory in his writing, recalling the long creative process behind his book We Are the Oblivion We Will Become, a work that took about 20 years to write and served as a tribute to his father’s personal and political memory.

The conversation was moderated by João Gobern and featured readings by Pedro Almendra and Patrícia Queirós.