The Pilgrimage - Sant Jordi Asociados

25th Anniversary
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
impressions
luminosity reading adventure
encounter spiritual sense of ‘pilgrimage’
rebirth moving fulfilment essential
happiness is possible dazzling revealing
personal and profound inspiring
motivation a call for inner change
a beautifully written manual on life
universality a timeless novel touching
what matters is the journey itself magical
an invitation to discover our own personal legend
faith a fresh and inimitable voice courage
emotions an unconventional travel book
a journey towards humility joy an unexpected gift
revelations a study of psychology and human nature
an uplifting tale of spiritual quest compelling
stimulating meaning of life illuminating
an exotic journey into the soul guidance
discovering our inner potential excitement
serenity motivation knowledge passionate
feelings a liberating pause in all the bustle
we can change our destiny a path of wisdom
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Paulo Coelho
Ricardo Sabanes
International Publishing Director
Editorial Planeta
Argentina
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
twentyfive years
of the
pilgrim
I stumbled across O Diário de
um Mago [The Diary of a Magus] quite by accident. It was
1993 and I was in Los Angeles
exploring a world of books
very different from the mainstream of the time. A literary
agent friend of mine mentioned
a Brazilian author who stood
out from all the others. I noted
down the name: Paulo Coelho.
This was an odd situation, because
here was an American literary agent
recommending a Brazilian author
whom he didn’t represent and who
had, up until then, only been published in Portuguese.
Shortly after returning to Buenos
Aires, I asked an acquaintance who
was about to visit Brazil to bring me
back a copy of The Diary of a Magus
and The Alchemist. I still have those
small-format books with their black,
rather esoteric covers, which did not,
I felt, reflect the sheer luminosity of
the stories contained within.
I failed in my attempts to acquire the
translation rights for those books by
Paulo, but imagine my surprise when
Planeta – the publishing house I work
for – acquired Editorial Martínez
Roca, and with them came the contract for The Diary of a Magus.
Shortly afterwards, I published the
first edition in Argentina. It was slow
to sell, but the seed was sown.
That was when Mônica Antunes got
in touch with me and we began a
working relationship that has lasted
ever since. I published Brida, and
when, in 1995, the moment came to
launch By the River Piedra I Sat Down
and Wept, I suggested relaunching The
Diary of a Magus under the title El
Peregrino [The Pilgrim], taking my
inspiration from the title HarperCollins had chosen for the English translation, The Pilgrimage.
Every new book published by Paulo
since then has been a huge success,
topping the best-seller lists and with
millions of copies sold. I’ve always
remembered, however, that I only
stumbled on The Pilgrim by accident,
or was I perhaps looking for it…
encounter
on a french
terrace
It was in the beginning of the nineties
– I was on holiday in France – and I
had a bag full of books that I wanted
to read. The title of one of these
books was The Pilgrimage, by Paulo
Coelho. I didn’t know the author, the
book was a French translation, the
story was set in the Pyrenees, and I
thought Paulo was French!
I remember sitting on a lovely terrace
in the shadow of a beautiful plane
tree, drinking my coffee, reading Paulo’s book… After a while, a man
walked towards me, he sat down at a
table next to mine and ordered a croissant and an espresso. After a few
minutes he put on his sunglasses and
took a book out of his backpack. I
didn’t see it immediately, but when he
put his book on the table to take a bite
from his crois-sant, I recognised the
name of the author and the title of the
book: he was reading the same book!
I was reading it in French, he in English! Of course, we started talking
about The Pilgrimage. The English-
man wasn’t just reading the book, he
was also on the road to Santiago. He
explained to me why he had chosen
to do so and reading Paulo’s
book he recognised a lot of
his own feelings, thoughts
and reasons. ‘The story of
this book’, he said, ‘is also
my own story’.
Lex Jansen
Publishing Director
De Arbeiderspers/A.W. Bruna Publishers
I have been the publisher
of Paulo’s books in the
Netherlands since 2001.
We still sell The Pilgrimage and the book is findThe Netherlands
ing more readers every
day; readers looking for
adventure, not only by exploring the Road to Santiago, but also in the spiritual sense of
the word. And now and then I hear
readers say that reading The Pilgrimage helps them recognize their
own story. At such moments I think
of that encounter on the terrace, in
the shadow of the plane tree and I
remember vividly the chat I had
with the Englishman who was reading the same book.
I am sure The Pilgrimage will find
many more readers: people who are
determined to find their own road
to fulfilment.
‘On the path of life, we will always find
problems that are hard to resolve. That
is when you need to let your Creative
Imagination take over.’
‘The only way to make the right decision is
by knowing which is the wrong decision and
by examining the other path without fear or
dread, and then deciding.’
The Pilgrimage
The Pilgrimage
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Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
In Korea, Paulo Coelho has been one
of the best-loved foreign authors of
the last 10 years. Munhakdongne has published a book
by Paulo Coelho every year,
and many Korean readers
have fallen in love with Paulo’s works, so full of magical,
resonant words, and enjoyed
many happy hours of reading.
Byoung-sun Kang
CEO
Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.
Korea
Paulo walked the Road to
Santiago, one of the most
beautiful journeys in the
world, and wrote The Pilgrimage, thus beginning his
new career as a writer, which
had, until then, been only a
dream. Most of all, The Pilgrimage
tells us that the extraordinary lies on
the path taken by ordinary people,
and, when we published the book in
2006, that idea brought great hope
and courage to many Korean readers.
Readers have made comments such
as: ‘My heart beat faster while reading the book, which took me on a
pilgrimage into the unknown’; ‘I felt
like I was walking alongside the author’; ‘I will always keep this book
with me’; and ‘The Pilgrimage is entirely about rebirth.’ One of the reviews said: ‘I walked the Road to
Santiago a few years ago… walked
alone in the dark, I had no light, but
I did not turn back, and that experience helped me to survive difficult
times later on… whether you’ve been
to Santiago or not, The Pilgrimage
will offer you real enlightenment. We
are all pilgrims in Life.’ Indeed, the
Road to Santiago was almost unknown to Koreans until Paulo introduced it to them. Among Korean
travellers, The Pilgrimage is called
the Bible of the Road to Santiago. All
travellers on the Road, setting off to
find their own self, probably carry a
sentence from The Pilgrimage in their
hearts.
In 2011, along with Aleph, Munhakdongne released a new edition of The
Pilgrimage. As Paulo says in Aleph:
‘Together we write the Book of Life,
our every encounter determined by
fate and our hands joined in the belief
that we can make a difference in this
world.’ It may be because of fate that
we meet and read certain books. I hope
and believe that fate will lead many
more people to encounter The Pilgrimage and find valuable lessons in it on
their own pilgrimage through life.
Congratulations on the 25th anniversary of The Pilgrimage.
‘Don’t try to be brave when it is enough
to be intelligent.’
The Pilgrimage
san giacomo,
paulo and me
To start with it’s mainly a question of
dates. In 1987, Paulo Coelho’s The
Pilgrimage was published. Today,
2012, is the twenty-fifth anniversary
of its first publication and eleven years
since the Italian translation was published by Bompiani, entitled Il Cammino di Santiago, in September 2001,
a fateful date for the West. Since then,
with over 30 editions, it has sold more
than 600,000 copies. But it’s not just
a question of dates. There’s something
more - much more. This work by
Paulo is one that doesn’t fade with
time; it stays in the hearts of its readers. The ‘Pilgrimage’ is the transfiguration of the real pilgrimage to
Santiago de Compostela made by
Paulo in a quest to reach the source
of his inspiration and the foundations
of his ethical, religious and artistic
commitment. In the book, the journey, taken in initiatory stages, is a
path of wisdom which gives readers
worldwide the possibility, by retracing
those stages, of finding that same
‘light’ that Paulo found in a particular
moment of his existence. I would like
to underline two points. The first concerns ‘ordinary people’, everyday people: Paulo is addressing them, and this
I believe is both the origin and the
simple, decisive explanation for his
international fame. That individual
awareness, that inner strength since
time immemorial, we can all draw on,
and authentic literature shows that
this possibility is ever present, eternally present, I’d say. The other point
consists, I believe, in the fact that
books like The Pilgrimage enrich our
way of intending fiction. Not only
communication and storytelling but also first-person
accounts by the author who
puts himself on the line
alongside his readers.
Then there are secret bonds
between myself and Paulo’s
Pilgrimage, that I like to
remember, concerning O
Diário de um Mago, his
first book, which was imITALY
mediately followed by The
Alchemist, the book with
which Paulo introduced
himself to Italian readers,
published by Bompiani in 1995. ‘La
concha’, or the scallop shell of St
James, has been the symbol of the
pilgrimage to the town of Santiago
de Compostela since the Middle
Ages, and St. James is also the patron
saint of the small town of Ro Ferrarese, where I spent my childhood
and where my parents still live,
whose feast day is 25th July, the
month in which I signed the contract
for L’Alchimista, thanks to my friend
and Paulo’s literary agent Mônica
Antunes. At this point I’d say it all
fits. It must be the secret correspondence that Baudelaire talks about and
that I think about several times in the
bottom of my heart, to myself (there
are several more of these correspondences between Paulo and me, which
are related also to my parents, but I
keep them for myself). Poetry applied
to our destinies.
Elisabetta Sgarbi
Publisher
Bompiani
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Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
happiness
is possible
Marcela Serras
Deputy Director
Editorial Planeta
Spain
‘Happiness is possible.’ That
is the prize waiting at the
end of the road, the message
which, for centuries now,
every pilgrim has received
when he or she reaches the
Plaza del Obradoiro in Santiago de Compostela, a message that Paulo Coelho made
his own in 1986, for in Santiago, he realised that his
journey, as well as ending,
was also just beginning. A
year later, he published his first
book, The Pilgrimage.
Twenty-five years on, that book has
become an obligatory reference
point for anyone deciding to set off
along the Road to Santiago for the
first time, and its world-wide publication was a decisive factor in the
increased number of pilgrims arriving from all points of the globe. It is
hardly surprising, then, that Paulo
should have been invited to sign the
book for honoured guests in the
town hall in Santiago de Compostela or that he should have a street
named after him in the barrio of San
Marcos, next to - can you guess? the Calle del Peregrino – the Street
of the Pilgrim. Where else?
‘Dazzling’, ‘revealing’, ‘essential’,
‘moving’, ‘magical’. These are just
some of the enthusiastic, heartfelt
words left on social networking
sites, internet forums and web pages
by Spanish-speaking readers from
around the world. And there have
now been well over one hundred
Spanish editions of The Pilgrimage.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the
book is a real milestone, and the
number of new readers drawn to
The Pilgrimage each year is further
proof that the book’s message is as
valid now as it was then. As publishers of Paulo’s work, we feel proud
to have been part of that journey
and are still excited by the idea that
what matters is not reaching your
destination, but the journey itself.
‘When someone wants something then
they should be aware that they are taking
a risk. But this is precisely what makes
life interesting.’
The Pilgrimage
As Paulo often says, if you believe
in something with all your heart,
nothing can stop you from achieving
your goal. This statement perfectly
encapsulates his own personal journey to inner fulfilment, as Paulo’s
lifelong dream of becoming a writer
eventually came true: First he took
the road to Santiago de Compostela,
then he wrote about it.
Daniel Keel, who founded Diogenes
Verlag in 1952, did not have to walk
miles and miles to become Paulo’s
publisher, but it was certainly no easy
task. The Alchemist had already been
published in Germany – yet strangely without much success. After a year
of negotiations and a great deal of
effort and conviction, Daniel Keel
finally secured the German translation rights. In a new hardcover edition and a completely revised translation The Alchemist took the German
bestseller lists by storm and reigned
supreme for ten years, selling more
than 2 million copies.
There was a strong mutual bond
between the author and his publisher right from the start: Daniel
Keel believed in the success of Paulo’s books in Germany – and Paulo
believed in Daniel Keel as a publisher and a friend. And perhaps the
road to Santiago can be seen as a
symbol of the path that Diogenes
and Paulo shared. Daniel Keel was
born in Einsiedeln, one of the oldest
pilgrimage sites in Switzerland, the
origins of which date back to the
11th century. During the Middle
Ages, Einsiedeln was an important
stop-over for pilgrims on their way
to Santiago de Compostela. When
Keel and I went to visit his hometown Einsiedeln a few years ago, we
Daniel Kampa
Member of the Board of Directors
went to one of the largest priDiogenes Verlag
vate libraries in Switzerland, with more than 50
000 books, the Bibliothek
Werner Oechslin, which is
located not far from the
famous monastery and
Daniel Keel’s birthplace.
The building was designed
by the architect Mario
Botta, who deliberately
placed the library on the
Switzerland
axis of the Road to Santiago de Compostela. After all, the books show the
way.
In 1999, The Pilgrimage was published by Diogenes with immense
success, and a million copies have
been sold to date. If one were to line
up all of Paulo’s Diogenes copies in
a row, more than 10 million in total,
they would cover a distance of 987
kilometres, nearly twice the distance
between Einsiedeln in Switzerland
and Santiago de Compostela. That’s
quite a journey!
In 2011, Barack Obama visited
Paulo’s home country of Brazil. In a
speech given there, he said: ‘It’s why
we believe, in the words of Paulo
Coelho, one of your most famous
writers, “With the strength of our
love and our will, we can change our
destiny, as well as the destiny of
many others.”’ With his books Paulo really did change his readers’
paths in life. The journey continues
and Diogenes is proud to walk next
to Paulo.
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Paulo Coelho
Milan Gelnar
Director
Nakladatelství ARGO
Paulo Coelho
I appreciate that Paulo Coelho’s book The Pilgrimage convincingly portrays
his personal experience of the journey to Compostela in such a compelling
manner. The fact that human existence has a meaning and everyone has
the task of searching for and completing their mission is the major
message of the book. The Pilgrimage is a spiritual testimony and a
beautifully written manual on life!
Below is a letter by a Czech reader to Argo.
Dear publisher,
I do not know whether my
story will be of interest to you,
but it is so remarkable that I
Czech Republic
The Pilgrimage
simply must share it with you.
Thanks a lot for publishing
books by Paulo Coelho in such
a beautiful presentation and
excellent translation. There is
everything in them.
When I finally set out on my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, it was
2003 and I had a copy of The Pilgrimage in my backpack, which I had been
given as a Christmas gift by my friends.
I was very pleased by the book; Paulo
Coelho is one of my favourite authors.
I planned my journey exactly in line
with the book so I was in Saint-JeanPied-de-Port on June 1st, the same as
the Magician. I started to make notes
in the book confessing to it my feelings
during the pilgrimage.
Everything went according to the plan
until I reached Castrojeriz and, actually, a full more day after that. However, when I came to the dormitory in
the evening and wanted to pull out my
book and read it, I discovered that
there was everything in the bag except
for the book. I was horrified, I was
desperate, but I had to put up with it
and accept that this was some kind of
a sign. I was just halfway to my destination and I was to get there on my
own although the book was really my
best friend.
I completely forgot about the lost book
after the years but then something incredible happened. My daughter, who
was eleven at the time of my pilgrimage, grew up, got married and gave
birth to my first grandson. After the
baptism, he was given gifts, as the tradition goes. Among them, there was
also a book that caught my attention.
It was exactly The Pilgrimage! A friend
of my son-in-law gave it to his godson
so that he might always have strong
guidance on his life’s journey.
I took the book in my hands nostalgically and, after having opened it, I was
stunned. In the book, there were my
notes and, from the middle of the pilgrimage, there were some other notes
written by another hand! It turned out
that the son-in-law’s set out on his pilgrimage in the same year; he was seventeen at that time, and he was given
the book by a lady, a member of the
local staff, who had found out it was
in Czech in the meantime. The book
helped him a lot, as it did to me. And,
one day, it will certainly help also my
grandson, little Jakub.
Letter by a Czech reader to Argo
The Pilgrimage, for me, remains one
of Paulo’s most personal and profound works. It is hard to believe that
already twenty-five years have passed
since Paulo wrote the book and twenty-six since he first walked the way of
St James, following an instinct and
discovering his destiny as a writer
who would leads many millions of
others to, in turn, discover their own.
HarperCollins was fortunate enough
to bring this amazing book to English language readers worldwide
two decades ago, five years after its
first publication, and we are still
overwhelmed by the response.
The sales built by word of mouth and
grew and grew across all of our territories and copies have sold every
week, year in and year out, defying
prevailing consumer trends. Very
quickly, The Pilgrimage established
itself as a classic and wonderful gift.
We always see an increase toward
Christmas, when readers of The Pilgrimage buy this for others, hoping
the New Year brings new discoveries.
The response to this book and to
Paulo’s work is deep and passionate.
I recall one book signing in central
London, when the fans were so ardent the booksellers had to shut the
metal gate at the front of the shop to
make sure we didn’t break fire regulations and swarm the store.
I think Paulo’s work touches fans
because he writes with complete
honesty and integrity and amazing
simplicity about his own experience,
sharing the very deepest and most
profound revelations and thereby
inviting readers to discover their
own truths, their own destinies and
their own ‘personal legend’.
Many readers over the years
have written in to express
their thanks or share how
this book galvanised their
own metaphysical or literal
pilgrimage, many people
walking the whole Way of
the Pilgrim themselves. The
readers tell powerful stories of quitting jobs, leaving bad relationships, starting creative projects,
finding new love by learning the language of the
heart, and discovering richness and meaning never before
known.
Carole Tonkinson
Publisher for HarperNonFiction
HarperCollins
UK
I have only walked part of the way,
from Paris to Chartres, but was
touched by what I found: the memory of the farmers along the route helping pilgrims and offering us water to
drink and even a cave to sleep in one
night. And of course the moment at
the end of the walk, seeing the spire
of the cathedral emerge from the landscape and feeling a sense of celebration, relief and a kind of revelation.
Even now, more than a decade later,
I remember the sweetness coupled
with the weariness of foot.
I send Paulo warmest congratulations on this important anniversary.
My birthday wish for this book is
that it keeps inspiring a new generation of readers to find their own way
and be curious about life and willing
to take risks, so that they too can
‘arrive at the right moment at the
place where someone awaits them’.
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Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
By the time The Pilgrimage was first
published in a proper Russian translation in 2006, I had already
read many of Paulo’s books,
including his most famous
ones like The Alchemist, Veronika Decides to Die and
The Zahir. And yet there was
still a feeling of expectation
surrounding the long-awaited Russian translation of The
Pilgrimage, a book surrounded by legends and rumours.
Ekaterina Panchenko
Project Director
Astrel
russia
I remember my first intense
impression of the Road itself.
It seemed to me that I could
smell the grass and hear the
sounds of rain and birds. These pages were so vivid, so powerful and
touching that I immediately felt a
desire to get up and set off on my
own journey, to see all those marvels
with my own eyes, to meet those people, and just walk and walk and walk
beneath that sky.
The Pilgrimage is an autobiographical novel, which helps the reader
understand the beginning of the author’s journey and of the whole Pau-
lo Coelho phenomenon. It is a very
honest account of a man setting out
on a journey and shows us how making a very personal decision can lead
you anywhere, ultimately to your
true self. It tells us how difficult it can
be to struggle not so much with the
world, but with your own fears, and
how hard it can be to move on and
believe both in your fate and in yourself. The Pilgrimage also gives the
reader a unique sense of satisfaction
and confidence, and even if you already know the end of the story, it
still surprises you, like an unexpected
gift.
I have read many readers’ comments,
most of which express that same feeling of excitement. Here are a couple
of them:
‘His first and probably his most moving book.’
tatiana
‘A very unusual book. You don’t just
read it, you live it. It makes you think
about your life in a new way. A brilliant work.’
alexander
‘We always have a tendency to see those
things that do not exist and to be blind
to the great lessons that are right there
before our eyes.’
The Pilgrimage
Dear Paulo,
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of The
Pilgrimage, there are several points
I could emphasize. First and foremost, however, let me congratulate
you, along with your wonderful
team, on this special moment. As we
celebrate this milestone, we at HarperCollins would like to express our
enthusiasm and gratitude to be a
part of your journey. We are honored and thrilled with this opportunity to look back at some of our
fondest memories to date.
It is noteworthy that The Pilgrimage
embodies those aspects of your writing that I have come to know and
respect most as a publisher. I am referring to its universality, both in its
spatial scope and timely message.
Just a few weeks ago, I found myself
once again engaged in a conversation with one reader whose life was
different because of this important
work. I shared my perspective as
publisher; he shared his story about
how The Pilgrimage had led him
straight to Santiago—an experience
he shared with his brother with
whom he was able to establish a real
connection for the very first time.
The fact that he shared this deeply
spiritual journey with me, a stranger
whom he had just met, is a case in
point. For me, this is what The Pilgrimage is all about. Like the
sages and warriors you
have written about over
the years, its message is
strong and clear. We all
have a path in front of us,
waiting to be discovered if
we seek it. In this era of
globalization, our need for
this message is only increasing further.
For this reason, I want to
US
praise your willingness to,
through the process of
your writing, bring into the
globalized world those who have
been left out. Those who have been
seeking universal lessons in countries around the world. And those
whose lives you have transported
and transformed.
I am certain that you will continue
to deliver major contributions to
our global community over the 25
years to come and hope to celebrate
many more milestones together.
For now, as I look back at our partnership to this day, I want to leave
you with these words, which I cannot emphasize enough: Thank you.
Mark Tauber
Senior Vice President, Publisher
HarperOne
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Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho is one of the most successful authors on Livanis’ list, with
all of his books being huge bestsellers. His value as an author and as a person is beyond price.
Giota Livani
President
Livanis Publishing Organization
As far as The Pilgrimage is
concerned, I personally believe that, together with The
Alchemist, it transformed the
way younger generations
think.
Greece
Over the years, Paulo has become a symbol in our country
and a reference point in the
world of publishing, marketing, advertising and culture.
Even though I was quite young when
I read Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage,
I immediately realised that I was
holding a book that was truly
unique. It was the extraordinary tale of a journey along
the legendary road to Santiago, but more than that, it was
the story of a hero who was
not afraid to discover his own
reason for living.
Can Oz
General Director
Can Yayinlari
Turkey
In this novel, Paulo is not saying that we should be perfect,
rather, he believes that what
matters is having the ability or
the courage to learn and to
change, and that feelings of
failure or fear are inevitable.
That’s why there is no difference between Paulo and his mentor Petrus.
Neither man is superior to the other.
The people of Greece, especially in
these very hard times, need hope,
enlightenment, a refuge, and Paulo’s
book provided that. The Pilgrimage
is an important example of how
someone found his soul, his destiny,
his motivation. I hope that all of us
will find inspiration in his personal
life and in his work and make our
own ‘Pilgrimage’.
Thank you, Paulo, for everything
you have done and for all that you
intend to do in the future!
They are companions on this incredible journey and experience the excitement, serenity and joy together.
It isn’t hard to see why Paulo is one
of the best-loved authors of our
times. He opens his heart to every
reader and shares his valuable experiences with them honestly.
25 years ago, The Pilgrimage came
into people’s lives like a gift. It still
inspires many readers to discover
their inner potential and make a difference to their lives. Every reader
whose path crosses The Pilgrimage
takes from it a sense of hope and the
pleasure of new challenges that give
meaning to life and encourage them
to find their own faith.
our most
successful
author
‘Who is your number 1 bestselling
writer?’ – Paulo Coelho asked fourteen years ago during his first visit to
Bulgaria. The Alchemist had been
published by Obsidian 2 years earlier
and had sold 4,000 books, which was
a satisfactory result for a small country of 7 million. ‘John Grisham,’ we
said. ‘I hope some day I’ll be among
your top five authors,’ Paulo said
modestly. Now he is the only contemporary writer with over half a million
copies sold in Bulgaria.
There are many books about the 100
places one should visit before one
dies. However, there are few good
‘travel books’ about the most impor-
It’s amazing to think that this year
marks the 25th anniversary of the
publication of The Pilgrimage. China
Times Publishing Company published it in 1999, two years after we
had introduced The Alchemist to Taiwanese readers, who have known
Paulo Coelho for 25 years now and
love him very much.
As with The Alchemist, Paulo takes
us to a far-away land in this incredible account of his journey along the
tant destination one should by all
means visit – one’s soul. The Pilgrimage is such a unique illuminating
work, told honestly and
movingly, a sincere account
of the spiritual character of
a journey along a centuriesold pilgrimage route – to
Santiago de Compostela.
Dimitrina Kondeva
Publisher
Obsidian Press
It has been 25 years since
the publication of this book
that marks the beginning of
Paulo’s commitment to describe his personal experiBulgaria
ence with soul-searching.
The quest for spirituality is
the greatest megatrend of
our era and Paulo Coelho has
an eye for the important trends of our
time. He tells moral tales without being a dogmatic preacher.
Road to Santiago. Reading the book
made me feel almost as if I were there,
so much so that I hope to make
the journey myself one day.
We are going to publish his
Aleph this year, and that’s a
good way to celebrate the
25th anniversary of the publication of The Pilgrimage
too.
Taiwan
Lynn Chen
Editor-in-chief
China Times Publishing Company
25th Anniversary
The Pilgrimage
25th Anniversary
16
17
Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
the pilgrimage
– twentyfive years
on
Pilar Gordoa
Marketing and Production Director
Random House Mondadori
Mexico
I first met Paulo Coelho in
November 2002, when he
was guest of honour at the
International Book Fair in
Guadalajara in Mexico. By
then, he was already an international bestseller, but, at the
time, I had only read The
Devil and Miss Prym. Seeing
the faces of thousands of excited
readers, some of whom had travelled
hundreds of miles to meet him was
enough to convince me that Paulo
was different from other writers: he
had managed to break down the barrier between author and reader. This
was a phenomenon I felt I had to understand.
I began with his first book, The Pilgrimage, which I read at one sitting.
I understood then why this book was
so important to his subsequent career.
Paulo had reached a critical stage in
his life and, in The Pilgrimage, he finally found his voice as a writer. That
voice allowed him to write a timeless
work, in which every landscape, every character, every test along the way
is imbued with his courage, faith and
determination to give meaning to his
search. In this first novel, the author
reveals his most human side: his fears,
his inner demons, his apprenticeship.
Through parables, he encourages
readers not just to follow their own
path, but to struggle to give that path
meaning in their own lives and to create their own personal legend.
I have followed Paulo’s work for ten
years now and I know how profoundly he touches his readers’
hearts. The Pilgrimage is a very special book, not only because it was his
first book, but because it is clear
proof that he found his personal
meaning of life. Happy 25th Anniversary!
the extraordinary
is waiting to be
revealed on the
path taken by
ordinary people
The Pilgrimage was first brought
out by the Hungarian publishing
house Athenaeum in 2005. Twelve
print runs later, ‘the book that started it all’ is still a huge success among
Hungarian readers.
This work is different from the author’s later books in that it is a description of his personal experience
and, as such, both an autobiography
and a useful travelling companion
for the pilgrim. In a way, this book
is where it all began for Paulo the
Writer, because his experience of
walking the Road to Santiago led
him deep into his innermost self and
brought about important changes in
his life. Everything that Paulo had
known to be true was transformed
by the recognition of that most natural and simple of truths: ‘The extraordinary is waiting to be revealed
on the path taken by ordinary people’. As a writer, he strives to reveal
the inherent riches of our soul and to
lead us along the path to revelation.
author as a man, along with his philosophy and the knowledge he has
gained through his study of psychology and human nature. In
the words of one of his critics: ‘…the tale makes us
probe deeply into the
thoughts and emotions
awakened in us by the Magus’s meditations and ideas.
By following his lead, we
will soon come to realise
that the book’s real power
resides not only in Coelho’s
thoughts, but, rather, in the
Hungary
way those thoughts resonate and ripple inside us,
awakening our own thoughts
and emotions. This means that the
reader is called upon to participate to
a much greater extent than usual, by
creating his or her individual interpretation of the work. When all is said
and done, this book is an uplifting tale
of spiritual quest, a compendium of
cultural and historical details and, for
the open-minded reader, a story that
is at once compelling and stimulating.’
In short, this is the work that started it all: the first of many successful
books published over the decades
since, bringing a great author still
greater renown.
‘When we renounce our dreams, we find peace
and enjoy a brief period of tranquillity, but
the dead dreams begin to rot inside us and
to infect the whole atmosphere in which we
live. What we hoped to avoid in the Fight disappointment and defeat - become the sole
legacy of our cowardice.’
‘When you travel towards your objective,
be sure to pay attention to the path. The path
teaches us the best way to arrive and enriches
us while we are travelling along it.’
The Pilgrimage
The Pilgrimage
The Pilgrimage provides the reader
with a comprehensive picture of the
Géza Morcsányi
Managing Director
ATHENAEUM Kiadó / Publishing House
25th Anniversary
The Pilgrimage
25th Anniversary
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19
Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
I clearly remember one weekend in 1989, just after the birth of my first
daughter, going out onto the balcony of my apartment to read The Alchemist.
This was my first encounter with Paulo Coelho, who, in the years that
followed, would become the biggest publishing phenomenon in Brazil.
Marcos Pereira
Managing Partner
Sextante
In 1998, we created Editora Sextante, our mission being to produce
books that would help people find the path to peace, happiness, spirituality and balance. By 2004, we had become one of the top five
trade publishers in Brazil.
Brazil
During that time, we continued to watch Paulo’s spectacularly successful global career. In 2010, Sextante got the rights to publish Aleph
and it is a matter of great pride to us that, from this year on, we will
be publishing all of Paulo’s books in Brazil, starting with the commemorative edition of The Pilgrimage. In his introduction, Paulo
takes us back to 1986, when he was nearing the end of the Road to
Santiago, still filled with anxieties and uncertainties about the future.
It’s fascinating to look back on everything that has happened in those
twenty-five years, and to think of the number of people he has influenced
and continues to influence.
‘In order to fight the Good Fight, we need
help. We need friends, and when our friends
are not near, we must make of solitude our
main weapon. Everything around us will help
us take the steps we need to take towards
our objective. Everything must be a personal
manifestation of our will to win the Good
Fight. If not, if we fail to understand that
we need everyone and everything, we will be
arrogant warriors. And our arrogance will, in
the end, defeat us, because we will be so sure
of ourselves that we won’t notice the snares
and traps that strew the battlefield.’
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho visited Croatia on two
occasions, in 2000 and 2005. Today,
twelve years after his first visit to
Croatia, fans of literary arts, readers, critics, journalists, people of all
ages still talk about how incredible
those promotions in Zagreb were.
There was never so much interest
for a literary event in the capital of
Croatia before, or after, Paulo’s visits. V.B.Z., Paulo’s Croatian publisher, was ‘under siege’. The phones
kept ringing in our offices, e-mails
were coming in every minute. People
even contacted us privately, journalists and readers were ‘all over us’ and all of them wanted to spend at
least a few minutes with Paulo. During his second visit to Zagreb, while
Paulo was signing books, we heard
numerous stories from ordinary,
everyday people who were thanking
him for helping them change their
lives. His books helped them find
their meaning again. Among those
people, many had come from Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
The Pilgrimage was published in
Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
in 2003, almost a decade after the
war had ended, when life was becoming normal again, and it has a
very specific meaning for people
from this region. In Bosnia and
Herzegovina, almost along its border
with Croatia, there is a small town
called Medjugorje that was heard of
around the world after it became
known that miracles were supposedly happening there since 1985, just
a few years before the war began.
Have those miracles foreshadowed
the war and showed that people forgot how to listen to themselves and
to find their peace? Today, Medjugorje (literally meaning ‘the
area between mountains’) is
a place of peace and reconciliation, and it has become
one of the most popular
pilgrimage sites in the
world. It is interesting that
the church in Medjugorje
is dedicated to St. James,
the saint who the Road of
Santiago is dedicated to.
One of the messages of the
Virgin Mary, who is said to
Croatia
have appeared in Medjugorje, was: ‘Do all things
out of love.’ Why has the
phenomenon of Medjugorje happened in this part of the world? In
order to save the world - peace is
necessary. The one provided by God
- inner peace and joy of the heart.
These are exactly the main messages
of The Pilgrimage. The Road of Santiago changed Paulo because he
found true meaning and himself
while on that path. It was exactly in
this book that Paulo showed us how
the path of dreams and love is open
to everyone, even to those who suffered and believed that life had lost
its meaning. Paulo said it best: ‘You
shall see the face of God where you
wish to see it.’ And people in the
heart of Europe, caught in a terrible
moment at the end of the 20th century, believed that this was impossible. This is why they accepted Paulo’s
sincere life story with joy and wanted to thank him at the book promotion in Zagreb.
Bosko Zatezalo
and Sandra Ukalovic
General Manager and Editor
V.B.Z
25th Anniversary
The Pilgrimage
25th Anniversary
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21
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho
a gentle
push
towards
change
Valeria Malíková
and Martin Vydra
Managing Director and Editor-in-chief
Ikar
Slovakia
The Pilgrimage
Since Paulo Coelho’s books
first appeared in Slovakia, a
considerable change has taken place. His fresh, inimitable voice, the inner depth of
his storytelling and the almost exotic journey into the
reader’s own soul have attracted a wide audience.
Readers have found guidance and been spellbound by
that new approach and by the experience brought by each of his books,
and Paulo has become their inspirational leader. One reader says: ‘I’ve
read this book several times, but it
really swept me off my feet when I
was on a pilgrimage to Santiago de
Compostela. It’s an extraordinary
piece of writing when you read it
safe in the warmth of your own
home, but out there on the road, a
still deeper dimension unfolded.’ (Jakub).
It seems almost unbelievable that we
are now celebrating the 25th anniversary of this book. Some may say
its power stems from its subject matter, which takes us far from the usual mass-market stereotypes; some
may say that what touches you is the
author’s voice born of his own turbulent life. Both of these views may
be true, but, above all, Paulo opens
up new spaces, which are closer than
you think: ‘The Pilgrimage is an unconventional travel book in which
you are a witness to the way the storyteller changes as the journey
progresses. It’s a change everyone
can go through. And the question
Paulo is asking is: Do you want to
change?’ (Miloš). The inevitable call
for inner change is presented here
with a gentleness that could make
the reader become a better person
and learn to listen to the universe in
different ways.
For us, in the beginning, Paulo was
just an author like many others. But
then, after a couple of his books
were published, we discovered that
his readership is an organic unit,
rather than just a bunch of fans. This
marked the start of a change for us
as publishers. Although we had been
booklovers before, after teaming up
with Paulo, we would never again
regard books (including those by
other authors) merely in terms of the
number of copies printed or in terms
of profit. Instead, books have become a link bringing us closer to our
readers and authors. The 25th anniversary of The Pilgrimage is a perfect occasion to reflect on the fact
that this story of a narrator’s inner
change has influenced and re-shaped
all those who encounter the book.
My life turned upside down in
March 1995. At the age of 35, I had
remained a resident of Paris for 14
years. Freshly returned from a long
journey, I had an intense feeling that
I should change something in my
life. A friend gave me The Alchemist, which I devoured overnight;
and when I woke up in the morning,
I knew that I had to share this book’s
message with other people, that I
should go back to Poland and start
a publishing house.
By what miracle did I manage to
meet Paulo Coelho at Hôtel du Danube in Paris a few days later? And
why did he grant me publishing
rights for his book on the same day,
even though he realized that I had
no publishing house, or money, or
any idea about bookselling? This
has been a mystery to me. I only
know that on that day, I met one of
the most extraordinary people in my
life. I have not seen anyone with
such a keen intuition, a person for
whom someone’s enthusiasm is often worth more that the voice of
reason. I don’t know anyone else
who would be so industrious, so
curious of the world and open to
people, so straightforward and
warm-hearted. I know no other
writer whose readers around
the world would repeat
the mantra, ‘Your books
have changed my life’; a
writer who invariably declares that a meeting with
readers will take an hour,
and then stays for five
hours more, signing the
books and frowning at me
if I try to intervene. And
yet, despite world fame, he
Poland
remains a modest and
frank person, a man for
whom the words ‘loyalty’
and ‘friendship’ still hold a
great meaning.
Today, 17 years after that meeting at
Hôtel du Danube, having published
14 Paulo’s novels and sold nearly 4
million books on the Polish market,
I have understood that there is a
great seed of truth in what Paulo
Coelho once wrote, ‘When you want
something, all the universe conspires
in helping you to achieve it.’
‘Man can never stop dreaming.
Dreams nourish the soul, just as food
nourishes the body. We often see our
dreams destroyed and our desires frustrated,
but we have to keep on dreaming. The good
fight is the one we engage in because our
heart asks us to.’
The Pilgrimage
Basia Stepien
Owner
Drzewo Babel Publishing House
25th Anniversary
The Pilgrimage
25th Anniversary
22
23
Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
Øyvind Hagen
Nordic Publisher/CEO
Bazar Forlag
Norway
I came to The Pilgrimage fairly late. I
bought the rights to The Alchemist very
early on, in 1993, but it took many years
and several other books by Paulo before
I found time to read The Pilgrimage. I don’t know why really,
except that a publisher’s life is a
very hectic one and there are
always so many books. But
what a read it was! It’s the book
in which Paulo really invents his
genre, a genre that has always
been his and of which he is the
one true master: his wonder at
the magic of life; his way of asking questions and leaving the
reader to find the answers; the
inner journeys he makes; his
magical wisdom, which strikes
a chord in every culture; all of
which he combines with a story
that is a kind of documentary in
which he shares his life with us. To my
mind, The Pilgrimage is Paulo’s best
book, a journey into self-knowledge, a
liberating pause in all the bustle. Here,
his philosophy makes its debut, and we
find many of the qualities that, only a
few years later, would make him known
worldwide. His principal message is that
we all carry the extraordinary and the
magnificent within us, that they are to
be found in every life. Those who want
to find the extraordinary in themselves
need only follow the path forged by ordinary people, for that is the path that
will help us reach our goals and fulfil
our dreams. All of Paulo’s work is a
journey towards humility, with our eyes
wide open.
I’m Norwegian. In The Pilgrimage Paulo’s first brief, mystical meeting takes
place in Oslo where he receives a silver
ring bearing the image of an ouroboros
– the snake that bites its own tail – the
symbol of the order of RAM. If we draw
a circle around the pentagram laid over
Southern Norway we find the snake that
bites its tail…the Midgard Serpent. It
may be that this particular force-field in
Norway was an important element in
Paulo’s initiation, and may also be why
there is renewed interest in the ancient
pilgrimage route across the Nordic
countries to the old capital of Norway,
Nidaros, modern-day Trondheim. Paulo receives yearly invitations to be a
special guest at the St Olaf festival in
Trondheim, because of his connection
with the Road to Santiago.
Over many years of working with Paulo, I have met countless people who have
walked that Road, all inspired by The
Pilgrimage.
For Agneta Sjödin, a much-loved TV
presenter in Sweden, the journey had
profound personal consequences, and
some years later, she wrote an acclaimed
novel, published by Bazar, about just
that. When I took over publishing Paulo in Sweden in 2002, she went to meet
Paulo in Tarbes, and the result was a
wonderful TV portrait.
In 2006, I had the pleasure of putting
Paulo in touch with the Norwegian
journalist Monica Øien, and together
they spent three days walking the Road
to Santiago, and out of that experience
came a documentary which has now
been broadcast all over the world.
And my cousin’s wife and her colleagues, a group of nurses from hospitals in Oslo, were so inspired that they
walked the Road together.
Once, in Oslo, Paulo was trying to explain to a journalist that life is not as
complicated as we tend to make it. It
was winter and it was snowing, and he
said: “Look, the snow doesn’t fall in lots
of different colours, it’s always white.”
I thought that was an excellent image
for the wisdom to be found in The Pilgrimage. Life is complicated, of course,
but if we can see beyond the complexity and simplify it, we can perhaps find
a structure that is meaningful to us.
To me, The Pilgrimage has been a confirmation of the magic I have always
looked for. Thank you, Paulo!
In April 1988, I belonged to a theatre
group in Rio de Janeiro, and our director, Raul de Orofino, kept urging us all
to read The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho.
The book had been published by a small
publishing house, Eco, and had only
limited distribution, but it had already
sparked lively discussions among those
of my colleagues who had read it. I duly
borrowed a copy, started to read it, but
didn’t manage to finish it. Then, in November of that same year, I woke one
night at midnight and read the final
pages. I was filled with deep emotion,
as if I myself had walked the Road to
Santiago. After that, I couldn’t stop talking about the book and recommended
it to everyone I met, even reading passages out to fellow students on my
course at university.
At the time, I was in my second year
of a Chemical Engineering degree and
was spending most of my days in the
library, preparing for my end-of-year
exams. However, after that November
night, I went straight to the theatre
where the group was due to appear,
simply to tell them that I had finally
finished The Pilgrimage, but wouldn’t
be able to stay for the performance.
Then the director told me that Paulo
Coelho was there with a group of
friends. I didn’t know anything about
Paulo or even which city he lived in, so
I sat near the back and observed him.
When the play ended, Paulo noticed
that I was staring at him and asked me
why. I produced that borrowed copy
of The Pilgrimage from my bag. He
was genuinely touched and asked me
to join him and his friends. A few days
later, I was invited to his wife Christina’s fortieth birthday party and we
became good friends.
In Rio, I helped to promote The Pilgrimage along with my boyfriend, Carlos Eduardo, also a member of the
theatre group and a great fan of the
book. In May 1989, we decided to
move to Europe, and Carlos Eduardo
was offered a traineeship in Barcelona
at a branch of the pharmaceutical
company he was working for
in Brazil. When I told Paulo
about our decision, he immediately suggested I become
his literary agent. This
seemed a great idea, given
that The Pilgrimage is set in
Spain and so ought to appeal
to Spanish publishers. Obviously, I had no idea what being a literary agent involved,
but I was really pleased to
have a goal for the new jourBrazil
ney I was embarking on.
The Madrid Book Fair was
just beginning when we arrived, and we went to every
stand, collecting catalogues. In Barcelona, I visited a few publishers in person, and Editora Martínez Roca, which
was bought by Planeta some years later,
decided to publish The Pilgrimage.
When I think of it now, the negotiations
didn’t take long at all, just forty days.
In that same year of 1989, Brazilian
sales of The Alchemist and The Pilgrimage really began to take off, and both
books topped best-seller lists around the
country. And Paulo’s books remained
at the top of those lists for five consecutive years, with each new book joining
the older ones. The Paulo Coelho phenomenon was a very real one, generated by readers like me, eager to share
their enthusiasm for his books with
other people.
I would like to thank Paulo from the
bottom of my heart for his boundless
confidence in me, because even though
we didn’t really know what we were
doing, the Road gradually revealed itself to us and we learned and grew together. My journey in 1989 is a metaphor for my own Road to Santiago.
Mônica Antunes
Literary Agent
Sant Jordi Asociados
25th Anniversary
The Pilgrimage
25th Anniversary
24
25
Paulo Coelho
Acácio and Orietta
Hospitaleros [volunteer hosts]
at a pilgrims’ hostal on the Road to Santiago
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
Twenty-five years after the publication of The Pilgrimage, it seems like a dream
to be writing today to Paulo Coelho himself to thank him for what he did and
for transforming our lives. Here where we live in a Refuge for Pilgrims sponsored by our friend Paulo Coelho, it seems positively surreal
and yet it is real. We walked the Road to Santiago and have
chosen to live here. Everything is as magical as the book that
so many of those with whom we share this place mention
either verbally or in the visitor’s book. Many feet have trodden this sacred Road, but Paulo left his mark in the hearts of
all those who walk it. In the name of all the pilgrims, we
would like to say thank you for giving us this precious tool
that helped us to reach our Goal in Life.
Ultreia, suseia, Paulo Coelho.
Documentaries
Auf dem Jakobsweg/On the Road to Santiago
2000, ZDF, Germany
A documentary recorded along the Road to Santiago in which Paulo Coelho
remembers his experience walking this ancient pilgrim’s route in 1986.
The Alchemist of Words
2001, Discovery Networks
First official biography of Paulo Coelho recorded in several locations,
including Santiago de Compostela, Iran, Rio de Janeiro and Colombia.
Pilgrimage of the soul. The Santiago Road
and The Kumano Road
2001, Aichi Television Broadcasting, Japan
A documentary about sacred pilgrimages recorded through the Kumano Road
in Japan and from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela.
Paulo Coelho. Un peregrino en busca de un sueño /
Paulo Coelho. A pilgrim in search of a dream
2004, Polo de Imagem, Editorial Planeta (Spain) and Bompiani (Italy)
Along the Road to Santiago, Paulo Coelho tells in first person about his life and
the experiences that led him to embark upon this journey -starting in SaintJean-Pied-de-Port and finishing in Santiago de Compostela - and explains the
effect it has had on his life and work.
Paulo Coelho on the Road to Santiago
de Compostela
2006, TV Inter AS, Norway
Paulo Coelho invited Norwegian TV to join him on his journey along the route
from France to Santiago de Compostela, which has long been a source of
inspiration for him.
25th Anniversary
The Pilgrimage
26
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho
Tw e n t y
years later
On that afternoon in Leon in the far-off year of 1986, I still do not know
that in six or seven years’ time I will write a book on this experience of mine,
which is already in my soul - the shepherd Santiago in quest of a treasure that a woman called Veronika had prepared to swallow some pills and try
to commit suicide, and that Pilar will stand on the banks of the river Piedra
and write her diary in tears.
All I know at this very moment is that I am tense, nervous, incapable of talking with Petrus because I have just realized that I can no longer go on doing
what I have been doing – even if this means giving up a reasonable amount
of money at the end of the month, a certain emotional stability, a job that I
know well and some techniques that I master. I need to change, follow in the
direction of my dream, a dream that seems to me childish, ridiculous and
impossible to make come true: to become the writer that I have secretly always
wanted to be, but have never had the courage to admit.
Petrus finishes his coffee and mineral water, asks me to get the check and for
us to start walking again, because there are still some kilometres to the next
town. People go on passing by and talking, looking out of the corner of their
eye at these two middle-aged pilgrims, wondering about the strange people
in this world who are always ready to try and relive a past that is already
dead (*). The temperature must be around 27o C because it is late afternoon
and for the thousandth time I ask myself whether I have made the wrong
decision.
Did I want to change? I don’t think so, but after all, this road is changing
me. Did I want to know the mysteries? I think so, but the road is teaching
me that there are no mysteries, that – as Jesus Christ said – nothing is hidden
that has not been revealed. In other words, everything is happening in exactly the opposite way from what I expected.
(*) in the year I made the pilgrimage,
only 400 people had taken the Road to
Santiago. In 2005, according to nonofficial statistics, 400 people passed
every day in front of the bar mentioned
in the text.
We rose and started to walk in silence. I am engrossed in my thoughts, in my
insecurity, and I imagine Petrus must be thinking about his job in Milan. He is
here because somehow he was obliged by Tradition, but perhaps he hopes that
the walk will soon come to an end so that he can get back to doing what he likes.
© Martín Rendo
All I know is that I am on this absurd and monotonous walk. There is no
fax, no cellular phone, the shelters are few and far between, my guide seems
irritated the whole time, and I have no way of knowing what is going on in
Brazil.
We walk for almost all of what remains of the afternoon without talking.
We are isolated in our forced companionship. Santiago de Compostela lies
ahead and I cannot imagine that this road leads me not only to this city, but
also to many other cities in the world. Neither I nor Petrus know that this
afternoon on the plain of Leon I am also walking to Milan, his city, which I
shall reach almost ten years from now, with a book called The Alchemist. I
am walking towards my destiny, dreamed of so many times and so many
times denied.
In a few days I shall arrive at exactly the place where today, twenty years
down the track, I write these lines. I am walking in the direction of what I
always wanted, and I have neither faith nor hope that my life will be changed.
Yet I push ahead. In some distant future, in one of the bars which I shall pass
by a few days from now, my wife is already sitting reading a book, and there
am I, writing this text on a computer that in a few minutes will send it by
Internet to the newspaper where it will be published.
I am walking towards that future – on this August afternoon in 1986.
25th Anniversary
The Pilgrimage
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29
Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho
The Golden
Medal Of Galicia
Paulo Coelho Street
In July 1999, Paulo Coelho was the first intellectual to be awarded the Gold
Medal of Galicia by the Spanish State Council in recognition of his remarkable literary career.
The president of Galicia at that time, Manuel Fraga, spoke of Paulo Coelho
as one of the most important writers in Latin America, and praised him for
his major contribution to the growing interest in the Pilgrimage to Santiago
de Compostela.
© Martín Rendo
‘The truth is, I should be the one giving an award to the Road to Santiago,’
said Paulo Coelho when he heard the news, ‘because the road completely
transformed my life. All the time I was following the road, I was thinking
that it was high time I fulfilled my dream of becoming a writer. In the small
village of Cebreiro, I finally realized that I was engaged in a battle for my
personal legend because I was scared to face possible failure. I promised
myself then that from that day on I would give up everything I was doing
and fight for my dreams.’
In June 2008, in gratitude for Paulo Coelho’s work in popularising and promoting
Santiago de Compostela and the Road to Santiago, the city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain named one of the roads coming into the city – a continuation of
the Camino Francés [the French Way] – after him.
140 million copies sold worldwide,
published in 73 languages
in more than 168 countries
Second most influential celebrity
on Twitter in 2010 according to Forbes
10 million copies of The Pilgrimage
sold worldwide, published in 38 languages
Shooting of biopic on Paulo Coelho’s
life in 2012 to be premiered in 2013
22 books published: 13 novels;
5 short stories; 2 adaptations;
1 anthology; 1 book of fables
750 editions
of Paulo Coelho’s works
60 theatre adaptations
of Paulo Coelho’s works
Stationery line now present in 19 countries:
9 diaries; 2 quotation books; 1 journal
Writer with the highest number
of social media followers
© Marcos Borges
Paulo Coelho
Facts & Figures
Member of the Brazilian Academy
of Letters since 2002
United Nations Messenger
of Peace since 2007
Newspaper columns syndicated
in 190 media in 65 countries
Paulo Coelho Institute founded in 1996;
at present it supports 430 underprivileged
Brazilian children
110 international
Speaker at the World Economic Forum
in Davos since 1998
prizes and awards
2009 Guinness World Record for the
most translated author for the same book
(The Alchemist, 67 languages)
2004 Guinness World Record for the
most translations (53) of a single title
(The Alchemist) signed in one
sitting (45 min.)
Board Member of the Schwab Foundation
for Social Entrepreneurship since 2001
2012 brand ambassador
for Relais & Châteaux
2012 official international
ambassador for Montegrappa
paulo
coelho’s
books
The Alchemist
s paulo coelh
s book (1988)
o’s
ok
s
(1987)
bo
oelho’s
oc
’s
lho
s pau
lo
o’s b
ook
Maktub
co
elh
(2010)
o
(1994)
o
co
(1996)
The Devil and
Miss Prym
’s b
ooks
paulo coel
h
(1998)
Veronika
Decides to Die
o’s b
ook
s p
aul
(2000)
oc
o
o
lho
sb
pau
lo
(1997)
coe
ok
s
oe
oc
l(2008)
u
pa
lho
el
ho
’s
(2006)
bo
o
ks
Eleven
Minutes
ulo
pa
(2003)
coe
lh
o’
s
bo
ok
’s
s p
aulo coelho
(2005)
The Zahir
b
k
oo
s
co
o
l
(2006)
u
pa
ok
s
The Winner
Stands Alone
o’
ks
s pau
lo c
oel
h
oo
Manual of the
Warrior of Light
ook
sb
The Witch
of Portobello
’s b
h
o’
o
’s b
ho
el
The Fifth Mountain
s
k
(2012)
coe
(1992)
pa
ul
By the River Piedra
I Sat Down
boo
l
k
s
au
paul
s p
o coe
lho’s book
The Valkyries
Manuscript Found in Accra
o
The Pilgrimage
bo
ul
pa
Brida
(1990)
el
lo
pau
ho’
coel
Like the Flowing River
Aleph
ul
pa
o
e
co
lh
o
oo
’s b
ks
paulo
Paulo
Coelho
The Pilgrimage
Contact
Passeig Garcia i Faria, 73-75, Torre A, 7º 5º • 08019 Barcelona, Spain
Phone +34 93 224 01 07 • Fax + 34 93 356 26 96
[email protected] • www.santjordi-asociados.com
More on the author
www.paulocoelho.com
www.paulocoelhoblog.com
www.facebook.com/paulocoelho
www.twitter.com/#!/paulocoelho