Livraria Lello, one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world, is in the run for the Bookstore of the Year title

There is, in Porto, one of “the most beautiful bookshops” in the planet. The place’s name is Livraria Lello, known for its allure and century old house whose very beginnings were meant to thrive and put this bookshop in the A-List of the most creative and innovative in the world. So, it is with no surprise that the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2021 shortlisted “Livraria Lello” as one of the finalists for the coveted Bookstore of the Year title.

The competition is said to be fierce as three of the most outstanding bookstores in the world are in the run for the2021 Excellence Award. There are three shortlisted bookshops from across the Globe; Livraria Lello (Portugal), Avid Reader (Australia) and Cărturești (Romania). The Bookstore of the Year title will be jointly granted by the London Book Fair and the Publishers Association.

“It is especially gratifying to receive this nomination in such a particular year as 2020 was. We are honoured to inspire other bookshops all over the world, through our example, to reinvent themselves and show resilience to overcome difficulties that the book sector is enduring”, affirmed Lello’s chairperson of the Board of Administration, Aurora Pedro Pinto.

“Given all the difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is even more necessary to promote reading and thinking habits, for readers and author’s sake; we turned challenges into inspiration and have launched initiatives that will for ever be imprinted in our history”, explains Aurora Pedro Pinto.

Livraria Lello had to close doors for a period of two and a half months, last year; and because it deems books as essential goods, it opened a sort of community window to meet readers’ needs: the bookshop even offered readers some of the major classics of universal literature, in a drive-thru system. This first drive-thru book gifted more than 10 thousand books.

Also, Lello promoted the most participated Literary Competition ever, amid the pandemic, launching a competition in the short story category, which received over 5600 applications, from 39 countries. The six winner short stories were published in the book “Contos da Quarentena”, published by the Livraria Lello in Portuguese, English and Spanish.

Andy Ventris, London Book Fair Director, referred that the 8th edition of these awards shortlisted people and entities that “better demonstrated passion that boosts the publishing industry at world level”.

Lello Bookstore is the only Portuguese institution to enter the competition, and the winners will be selected by a commission set up by experts in the sector. The winners will be announced this month of May.