The book The Brazilian Ombudsman: 99 times Tom Jobim won the Book of the Year category at the Jabuti 2025 Awards, the main event of the event. The collection of texts about the composer was written by journalist and writer Ruy Castro, and the ceremony took place on Monday night (27), at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro.
Promoted by the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL), the event also awarded winners in 23 categories, distributed along the lines of Literature, Non-Fiction, Editorial Production and Innovation.
In addition to receiving the golden statuette, Ruy Castro was awarded a prize of R$70,000 and a trip to the London Book Fair, which, in 2026, celebrates the Brazil–United Kingdom Year of Culture. Elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2022he has already won awards such as Machado de Assis and Jabuti himself, in 2023, with The Emperor’s Perils: A Romance of the Second Reign.
Castro’s work, awarded in 2025, inspired the launch of the series Tom Jobim, Brazil’s Ombudsman, in MEC Radioin August this year. An unprecedented production presented by the journalist and writer, the eight-episode series aired on the public broadcaster with weekly editions, highlighting the styles, phases and themes covered in his works. The series also featured the big names who performed Tom’s compositions from the beginning of his career to the present day.
Born in 1948, in Caratinga (MG), the writer began his career as a reporter in 1967 and, from 1990 onwards, he dedicated himself to writing books. Recognized for writing the biographies of names such as Nelson Rodrigues, Garrincha and Carmen Miranda, Ruy Castro also made historical reconstructions of Bossa Nova and Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s.
In the other categories, the winners received the Jabuti statuette and a prize of R$5,000. The process of curating and judging the works involved more than 60 jurors with diverse backgrounds and broad representation, according to the award organization. There were 4,530 works entered in this 67th edition.
Tribute of the Year
Ana Maria Machado was chosen as the Literary Personality of this edition. The tribute is aimed at fundamental figures in national literature, who contributed to the strengthening of Brazilian culture and the formation of generations of readers. She also worked as a journalist in Brazil and abroad, and was arrested by the military dictatorship in 1969.
Author of more than one hundred published titles, including novels, essays, short stories and a vast production for children and young people, she is the sixth occupant of Chair No. 1 of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL), elected on April 24, 2003. The writer has works translated into several languages and published in more than 20 countries.
The author has already won three editions of the Jabuti Prize: in 1978, with History Half the Contrary (Children’s Literature category); 1997, with This Strange Force (Children’s category); 2000, with I made my hat fly (Children’s category).
Ana Maria Machado was honored in the 2025 edition of the Jabuti Award Photo: Communications Office – Government and Public Integrity Secretariat (SEGOVI) – Rio City Hall
Meet the winners
Axis: Literature
Tale
1st Place – Title: Cluster pains | Author: Elimário Cardozo | Publisher(s): Patuá
Chronicle
1st Place – Title: Brazil’s ombudsman: 99 times Tom Jobim | Author: Ruy Castro | Publisher(s): Companhia das Letras
Comics
1st Place – Title: One more story for old Smith | Author: Orlandeli | Publisher(s): Gambatte
Children’s
1st Place – Title: Seasons | Author: Marilda Castanha, Daniel Munduruku | Publisher(s): Moderna
Youth
1st Place – Title: Kazuki’s Silence | Author: André Kondo, Alessandro Fonseca | Publisher(s): Telucazu Edições
Poetry
1st Place – Title: Breathe | Author: Armando Freitas Filho “in memory” | Publisher(s): Companhia das Letras
Entertainment Romance
1st Place – Title: The borders of Oline | Author: Rafael Zoehler | Publisher(s): Patuá
Literary Novel
1st Place – Title: Wind in September | Author: Tony Bellotto | Publisher(s): Companhia das Letras
Axis: Non-Fiction
Arts
1st Place – Title: Thomaz Farkas, everyone | Author: Sérgio Burgi (Organizers), Juliano Gomes, Rosely Nakagawa, Kiko Farkas | Publisher(s): Instituto Moreira Sales (IMS)
Biography and Report
1st Place – Title: Far from the nest | Author: Daniela Arbex | Publisher(s): Intrínseca
Creative Economy
1st Place – Title: Essay on cancellation | Author: Pedro Tourinho | Publisher(s): Planeta do Brasil
Education
1st Place – Title: Racial literacy: a proposal for rebuilding Brazilian democracy | Author: Adilson José Moreira | Publisher(s): Contracurrent
Business
1st Place – Title: The essence of entrepreneurship: how Grupo Boticário was built, one of the largest beauty ecosystems in Brazil | Author: Miguel Krigsner | Publisher(s): Portfolio-Penguin
Health and Wellbeing
1st Place – Title: Ordinary happiness | Author: Vera Iaconelli | Publisher(s): Zahar
Axis: Editorial Production
Cover
1st Place – Title: Acrobat | Capist: Kiko Farkas | Publisher(s): Companhia das Letras
Illustration
1st Place – Title: Bento Wind Weather | Illustrator: Nelson Cruz | Publisher(s): Companhia das Letrinhas
Graphic Design
1st Place – Title: Word | Responsible: Paula Lobato, Vitor Cesar, Felipe Carnevalli | Publisher(s): Instituto Tomie Ohtake
Translation
1st Place – Title: Byron: poems, letters, diaries &c. | Translator: André Vallias | Publisher(s): Perspective
Axis: Innovation
Debut Writer – Poetry
1st Place – Title: Passion fruit interrupted | Author: Luis Osete | Publisher(s): Cepe
Debut Writer – Romance
1st Place – Title: Neon Blood | Author: Marcelo Henrique Silva | Publisher(s): Faria e Silva
Promotion of Reading
1st Place – Title: AbraPalavra: where literature meets everyday life | Responsible person(s): Aline Cântia
Promoting Reading – Rio World Book Capital
1st Place – Title: Rio World Book Capital | Person(s) responsible: Municipal Secretariat of Culture of Rio de Janeiro
Brazilian Book Published Abroad
1st Place – Title: BRABA – Brazilian Comics Anthology | Author: | Publisher(s): Mino, Fanthagraphics Books
