Aleph is the new reading club at the School of Arts at the Autonomous University of Lisbon. Dedicated to the academic community, with a special focus on students, Aleph aims to be an informal space for reflection, free debate of ideas and the promotion of critical thinking. The project will be supported by the National Reading Plan (PNL) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education as part of the creation of the Network of Reading Clubs in Higher Education.

In association with the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974, the concept of freedom will be the general motto for the first year of the initiative, whose action plan includes holding a monthly reading session, as well as a visit from the group of reading club to other institutions. Mariana Rebocho, a Communication Sciences student, will be the main promoter of this club, whose sessions will also be attended by different guests, namely Portuguese-speaking authors and writers.

The first session will take place on May 24th, Friday, at 5:30 pm, at Escola das Artes, in Campo de Ourique, it will also include a brief presentation of the project and will be attended by Duarte Azinheira (INCM). The recommended books for the first session are “Noticiar a Liberdade”, which brings together several testimonies from journalists who followed the end of the dictatorship, and “Bairro das Cruzes”, by Susana Amaro Velho, a family fiction strongly marked by historical events such as the floods of Lisbon in 1967 and the political and social context of Portugal in the 60s and 70s, such as anti-fascist resistance or persecution by the political police.