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
By Dr. Eliseo Jacob In 2018, a relatively unknown writer from the working-class community of morro do Vidigal, a favela in Rio de Janeiro's south zone, took the literary world by storm. Only 26 years old at the time, Geovani Martins published his first book, a collection of short stories titled O sol na cabeça … Continue reading Geovani Martins: New Literary Voice from the Favela
Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Academy of Letters) is regarded as the most important literary institution of Brazil. Founded as an independent private institution in 1897 in Rio de Janeiro by a group of writers among them two canonical writers of Brazilian literature, Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis and José Veríssimo Dias de Matos, it takes … Continue reading Brazilian Academy of Letters
By Sofia Perpétua The moment Carolina Maria de Jesus met Clarice Lispector, she couldn’t even look at her as she was so intimidated by her presence. She said: “My god, you’re a writer. Who am I next to you?” Clarice simply replied, “I might be a great writer but you’re the only one who tells … Continue reading Carolina Maria de Jesus: voice of the voiceless
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 