How about traveling somewhere exciting and new from the comfort and safety of your home? Picture books are a wonderful way for readers of all ages to experience different places, cultures, people and stories. And Along the Tapajós certainly fits the bill. Written and illustrated by Fernando Vilela and translated from the Portuguese by Daniel … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Along the Tapajós
In recent years, Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector has been rediscovered in the Anglo-Saxon world. This phenomenon, also described as “Hurricane Clarice” (Benjamin Moser), was the result of the increase in the translations of her works into English. Some of her novels and short stories have been translated several times. Benjamin Moser’s Clarice Lispector biography Why … Continue reading A month of Brazilian Literature
By Luiza Franco Moreira (Binghamton University) A passage from an essay by Antonio Candido on Kafka’s “The Great Wall of China” has come to my mind quite often in the past few years: "The complex organization of the empire, expressed in the immense effort of building a wall, rests on reasons that cannot be known. … Continue reading Antonio Candido: Restless intelligence, impeccable integrity
(Illustration: A group of famous children's characters of Brazil created by Daniel Azulay who passed away in March due to complications from COVID-19) Children’s literature has an important influence on the formation of collective imagination in Brazil. I will try to summarize in this post some of the highlights of this rich tradition. Clarice Lispector’s … Continue reading Children’s Literature in Brazil
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
