Tell A Story is a 70’s era Renault Estafette van and also a mobile bookshop that promotes the best of Portuguese literature around Lisbon. During the summer, the mobile bookshop travels to various popular tourist destinations to sell books by various Portuguese authors like Saramago, Queiroz and Pessoa.
Francisco Antolin, 36-year-old Lisboner, and driver of the van, loves books and talks about them with whoever stops by. “We wanted to help people discover Portugal through our literature, because stories are a great way to understand a culture,” he says.
The idea came to him and two friends, Domingos Cruz and Joao Correia Pereira, when they realized how difficult it was to find translated editions of Portuguese literature to give to their non-Portuguese friends. It was supposed to be a conventional bookstore, however they ditched the idea after one of the founders visited China and saw vans selling stationery and school supplies to children. The van has gained substantial interest of local book lovers as well tourist from all over the world.
After the success of their first van, the team is planning on getting a second van to expand to other parts of Europe. If you ever visit Lisbon, we strongly recommend you checkout this nomadic bookstore. The van frequently wanders around Lisbon’s São Jorge Castle neighborhood in the mornings or the Jardim do Principe Real in the afternoons. However there’s no strict schedule, so it’s best to check the Facebook page, where they update their location.
