This debate will be in English.

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In August 2013, Sá da Costa bookshop, a landmark in Lisbon¹s intellectual life for 100 years, had to close down; another symbol of the ongoing financial crisis. More broadly, its passing has provoked a wider cultural debate about whether there is a future for books or bookshops in the age of the Kindle, self-publishing and Amazon. Might the possibilities of digital publishing which can connect authors, publishers and readers more cheaply and effectively than ever before produce a more vibrant reading culture than any number of real world bookshops ever could?

Outside of the publishing world, the debate over the decline of the common reader is not a debate confined to Portugal. In the UK, education secretary Michael Gove provoked uproar for suggesting that school students should be encouraged to read George Eliot rather than the Twilight books. On the other hand, many educationalists argue that in a digital world literacy (the basic ability to read and write) is more important to teach than literature. Yet there is increasing disquiet across Western universities that students’ wider knowledge, especially in the arts & humanities, is considerably lacking even in comparison to recent generations and represents a serious challenge to maintaining academic standards.

Should we worry less about how books are being bought and sold, and more about what books are being read and debated? Is the digital age undermining knowledge and inquiry, or widening our horizons? Are we focusing too much on the negative aspects of new technology, or is there something to mourn in the potential loss of cultural spaces such as bookshops and libraries? Can the e-book really be the saviour of the serious reader, or does a vibrant intellectual life require more than technological innovation?