Hi, folks! I am somewhat in the middle of my reading travels for the Backpack Through Europe Summer Reading Challenge (BTE), so it is time for a partial wrap-up. As you will see, I’ve strayed from my original plans a little (my reviews will be all linked below): England (UK): Hardened to stone by the Medusa head of…
The mere life of the obscure
Hi, folks, Next on my series of posts for Spanish and Portuguese Reading Months, hosted by Stuart and Richard, you have two poems by Brazilian author Cora Coralina, translated by Gilson P. Borges. You can find the whole series here, along with other Brazilian gems. Enjoy! Yours truly, J. All Lives Inside me lives An old backwoodswoman Of evil eye, Crouched by…
Cora Coralina
Cora Coralina (pseudonym of Anna Lins dos Guimarães Peixoto Bretas. August 20, 1889 – April 10, 1985) was a Brazilian writer. She married early, raised six children, and spent her life working as a confectioner in a small bakery. After the death of her husband, she published her first book. Books In Portuguese Poemas dos Becos…
What two people can make of the same view
Dear Elizabeth, In your novel A View from the Harbour (1947), we are sea watchers, guided by a faint beam. It feels very much as if we were inside a lighthouse, following the light as it shifts from one character to another. The novel centres around the inhabitants of a small seaside town in England…
Felipa set the caravels on fire
Hi, folks, Next on my series of posts for Spanish and Portuguese Reading Months, hosted by Stuart and Richard, you have three poems by Brazilian author Adelaide Ivánova, translated by Francisco Vilhena. You can find the whole series here, along with other Brazilian gems. Enjoy! Yours truly, J. for laura in 1998 when they found the gay body of matthew shepard his…
Adelaide Ivánova
Adelaide Ivánova (1982) is a Brazilian writer. She is a journalist and activist working with poetry, photography, translation, and publishing. She is the editor of the anarchist-feminist zine MAIS PORNÔ, PVFR!., and writes on her website. She lives and works between Cologne and Berlin. Books In English Anthologies your + 1, edited by Ricardo Domeneck (2015). alba londres…
All Virago All August, Literary Criticism Readalong & Bout of Books
Hello, fellow readers! There are never enough reading events, right? At the Librarything Virago Readers Group, August is a month dedicated to reading through our beloved green spines: yes, it’s time for All Virago/All August I have some Viragos on my 20 Books of Summer list, so I’ll try to tackle these: Marriage, by Susan Ferrier (1818) Vera, by…
Cutting and repetition
Dear Marília, In your poetry collection Um teste de resistores (2014, ‘a test of resistors’, not translated yet), each poem undergoes, as its starting point, a resistance test: the attempt to draw a map; to cross this map as it is drawn; and, finally, to offer steady resistance to the very act of crossing it….
Most Anticipated Releases | 2018
Hey, folks! Here are some books that are on my radar for the second half of this year and the beginning of 2019: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller Evening in Paradise by Lucia Berlin Anniversaries by Uwe Johnson, tr. Damion Searls A Chill in the Air by…
Just the rain and the word rain
Hi, folks, Next on my series of posts for Spanish and Portuguese Reading Months, hosted by Stuart and Richard, you have three poems by Brazilian author Laura Liuzzi, translated by Rob Packer. You can find the whole series here, along with some other Brazilian gems. Enjoy! Yours truly, J. lessons it won’t scare us if there’s nothing left over, on our…
Laura Liuzzi
Laura Liuzzi (1985) is a Brazilian writer. She worked as assistant-director to documentary filmmaker Eduardo Coutinho (1933-2014) in Um dia na vida (2010, IMDb), As canções (2011, IMDb) e Últimas conversas (2015, IMDb). Books In Portuguese Calcanhar (2010) Desalinho (2014) Gravity (poem. tr. Rob Packer) Deep (poem, tr. Rob Packer) Coisas (2016)
Beautiful flying things
Dear Carole, In Ava (1993), you throw us inside the mind of a dying woman. We are there, minute by minute, while it all happens. However, we cannot see anything very clearly – we can only follow its rhythm. Rather than a linear collection of images flashing before our eyes, the novel reads more like…
