By Sarah Rebecca Kersley Considered by many readers as one of the most exciting emerging contemporary authors in Brazil at the moment, Luciany Aparecida is a writer whose work is increasingly gaining attention for its fresh and experimental style. Each of the different genres in which she writes brings a singular take, via the narratives … Continue reading The Signatures and Geographies of Luciany Aparecida
By Padma Viswanathan Why is Graciliano Ramos not read more widely outside of Brazil?* All educated Brazilians have read at least one of his books and more avid readers will readily name a favorite among his novels. In 1941, a national literary poll in Brazil named him one of the country’s ten greatest novelists—one of … Continue reading Why is Graciliano Ramos barely read outside of Brazil?
Staying home can be an opportunity to discover new literary worlds. Here are some picks from Brazilian literature that are available in English. What are the Blind Men Dreaming by Noemi Jaffe. Noemi Jaffe "Three generations of women reflect, in their own words, on the Holocaust and bearing witness in Jewish and Brazilian identity. In … Continue reading #StayHome with Brazilian Literature
By Dr. Cimara Valim de Melo In the course of the first two decades of the 21st century, a number of questions have been raised on how to promote Brazilian literature in a globalized – but still greatly hegemonic – system. So-called world literature still remains a territory for Anglophone societies, mostly accessed by English … Continue reading Brazilian Literature Worldwide: The Role of the Translator
Have you ever lost yourself in a book? That’s the conceit behind this whimsically clever novelty book for ages 4-8 written by Julien Baer, illustrated by Simon Bailly, and translated by Elizabeth Law. A mini-Matryoshka doll in picture book format, the story follows Thomas, who wanders off at the beach when his parents take a post-lunch … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: The Book in the Book in the Book
Granja: "Machado de Assis is the first important interpreter of Brazilian society and he found a literary way of representing it." Machado de Assis is one of the most well-known Brazilian writers in the world. Harold Bloom cites Machado de Assis in the Western Canon and Susan Sontag refers him as "the greatest writer ever … Continue reading An Interview with Dr. Lucia Granja about Brazil’s Most Famous Writer, Machado de Assis
By Basak Bingol Yuce “She is proof that reality can inflict a pain unknown in fiction.” This is how Eliane Brum describes Enilda, one of the women whose story interweaves with many other “living mothers of a dead generation," the title of one of Brum's stories. It also explains my response to Brum's brilliant book, … Continue reading Feeling the Pulse of Brazil with Eliane Brum
By Leonardo Tonus The Brazilian Literary Spring (Printemps Littéraire Brésilien) is an annual festival that aims to promote the study of Portuguese-language literature and humanities in institutions located beyond the borders of “Lusofonia.” The idea was born in 2014, in the Brazilian literature classes that I teach at the Sorbonne, in Paris. In a way, … Continue reading Brazilian Literary Spring
By Noemi Jaffe Speaking Portuguese is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing for the beauty of the language, for the literature it has produced and for the cultures it represents, in Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Cabo Verde, Goa, and Macau. But a curse because -- and I can say that with certainty -- … Continue reading Guimarães Rosa: The Writer of Love and Transcendence
By Olivia Holloway Aluísio Tancredo Gonçalves de Azevedo, known as Aluísio Azevedo, was a founding member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Distinguished as the artful storyteller of naturalist novels like O mulato (1881) and O cortiço (1890) among roughly a dozen novels and another half-dozen plays, Azevedo was highly influential in the late nineteenth … Continue reading Aluísio Azevedo’s revelations about novel Japan
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 