Writer, translator and editor Alberto Manguel, left, and Lisbon's Mayor Fernando Medina, right, pose for a photo at The Archive Room in Lisbon Town Hall on Sept. 11, 2020.Supplied
Argentine-Canadian author and bibliophile Alberto Manguel announced Saturday that he will donate 40,000 works from his personal library to create and lead Lisbon’s new Centre for Research into the History of Reading. Honorary board members include authors Margaret Atwood, Sir Salman Rushdie and Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk. "It is customary to say to the father of the bride that you are not going to lose a daughter – you are gaining a son,” said Manguel at an open-air ceremony, which included Lisbon Mayor Fernando Medina. “Today, I say to myself, ‘You will not lose a library – you will gain a magical city.’ ”
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