Global Literature in Libraries Initiative | Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

An Interview with Dr. Lucia Granja about Brazil’s Most Famous Writer, Machado de Assis

Posted on April 21, 2020April 21, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

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

Brazilian Literary Spring

Posted on April 18, 2020April 18, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

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

Aluísio Azevedo’s revelations about novel Japan

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

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

Geovani Martins: New Literary Voice from the Favela

Posted on April 14, 2020April 14, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

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

Brazilian Academy of Letters

Posted on April 13, 2020April 13, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

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

Carolina Maria de Jesus: voice of the voiceless

Posted on April 12, 2020April 14, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

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

Osman Lins, neat and amazing

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

By Hugo Almeida Osman Lins, one of the greatest Brazilian writers of the 20th century, has his three main books translated in the United States: Avalovara (University of Texas Press), translated by Gregory Rabassa; Nine, novena (Sun & Moon Press) and The Queen of the Prisons of Greece (Dalkey Archive Press), both translated by Adria … Continue reading Osman Lins, neat and amazing

Capitu, The Girl from Ipanema

Posted on April 8, 2020April 8, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

(Image: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa) BY ARY QUINTELLA Many years ago, on an autumn day, my sister was introduced to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Titina — she's always been known by her nickname — had just turned eighteen. The Prince is renowned for his infelicitous remarks. For some reason, my parents' divorce, … Continue reading Capitu, The Girl from Ipanema

Lygia Fagundes Telles, Master of the Human and the Fantastic

Posted on April 6, 2020April 6, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

By Dr. Lorena Sales dos Santos My first contact with the work of Lygia Fagundes Telles was during my early years of college, during a summer vacation. My mother, who was an avid reader and had recently started to write some short stories, was reading Telles’s book Antes do Baile Verde (Before the Green Ball … Continue reading Lygia Fagundes Telles, Master of the Human and the Fantastic

Érico Veríssimo, the writer from the South of Brazil

Posted on April 4, 2020April 5, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

By Dr. Cíntia Schwantes Érico Veríssimo was a Brazilian writer born in the extreme South of Brazil, in the city of Cruz Alta, on December 17, 1905. His father, the owner of the local drug shop, went bankrupt and he had to take care of his mother and younger siblings at an early age, following … Continue reading Érico Veríssimo, the writer from the South of Brazil