Prêmio Jabuti – Romance Literário

Brazil · Since 1959 · For books in Portuguese

Brazil's oldest book prize, awarded each year in São Paulo by the Câmara Brasileira do Livro; its novel category (Romance Literário since 2020) honours a novel in Portuguese published in Brazil the year before. Until 2017 the jury ranked three books and only the first is listed as winner here, except 2000–2003, when the archive ranks none and all three are winners.

The idea for the prize took shape at the Câmara Brasileira do Livro in the late 1950s, and the jabuti, a tortoise, was chosen as its symbol. At the first ceremony, in 1959, Jorge Amado won the novel prize for Gabriela, Cravo e Canela. In 2010 Chico Buarque's Leite Derramado was named Book of the Year although it had placed second in the novel category; a petition asked him to return the trophy. The publisher Record left the prize that year, criticising its voting system. In 2018 the prize was reorganised: 29 categories became 18 in four areas, each with a single winner, and the novel prize was split into literary and entertainment novels. In 2019 a two-stage shortlist was introduced: ten semifinalists, then five finalists. The Book of the Year is chosen from the category winners; its purse fell from 100,000 to 70,000 reais in 2023.

Winners in English

13 of 34

Years on this site

2000–2026