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Conceição Evaristo
Brazilian writer (born 1946) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Maria da Conceição Evaristo de Brito (born 29 November 1946) is a Brazilian writer.[1] Her work is marked by her life experiences as an Afro-Brazilian woman, which she calls escrevivência—a portmanteau of escrita (writing) and vivência (life experience).[2] She was born into a humble family and is the second oldest of nine siblings, being the first in her household to earn a university degree. She helped her mother and aunt with washing clothes and deliveries, while studying.[3]
In the 1970s, she moved to Rio de Janeiro, where she passed a contest, starting to write only in the 1990s.[4] She completed her master's degree in the mid-1990s and her doctorate in the early 2010s.[5][6]
She is a first cousin of Macaé Evaristo, the current Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship under the Lula government.[7]
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Biography
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Conceição was born in a favela in the southern area of Belo Horizonte, to a very poor family with nine brothers and her mother.[8]
She had to work as a domestic servant during her youth until she finished her normal course in 1971, at the age of 25. She moved to Rio de Janeiro, where she was approved on a civil service exam to be a teacher and studied Letters at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.[9] In the 1980s, Evaristo got in touch with the Quilombhoje group. She made her debut in literature in 1990, with works published in the series Cadernos Negros, published by the organization.[10]
She earned a master's degree in Brazilian Literature from PUC-Rio in 1996, and a PhD in Comparative Literature from Universidade Federal Fluminense in 2011.[10] Her works, especially the novel Ponciá Vicêncio (2003), address themes such as racial, gender and class discrimination. In 2007, her first novel, Ponciá Vicêncio, became the focus of a Master's thesis in Brazil, the first one on the author.[11] The novel was translated into English and published in the United States also in 2007.[12] She currently teaches at UFMG as a visiting professor.[10]
In 2018, she was nominated for a chair at the Brazilian Academy of Letters, and lost to filmmaker Cacá Diegues by 22 votes to 1.[13] The Caribbean Philosophical Association awarded its 2018 Nicolás Guillén Lifetime Achievement Award to Conceição Evaristo.[14]
She is a corresponding member of the Academia Espírito-santense de Letras, Vitória, Espírito Santo.[15]
Conceição Evaristo is a great exponent of contemporary Brazilian literature. She writes about race, gender and class discrimination, especially of black women.[16]
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Works
Novels
- Ponciá Vicêncio (2003)
- Becos da Memória (2006)
- Canção para Ninar Menino Grande (2022)
Poetry
- Poemas da recordação e outros movimentos (2008)
Short stories
- Insubmissas lágrimas de mulheres (Nandyala, 2011)
- Olhos d'água (Pallas, 2014)
- Histórias de leves enganos e parecenças (Editora Malê, 2016)
Participation in anthologies
- Cadernos Negros (Quilombhoje, 1990)
- Contos Afros (Quilombhoje)
- Contos do mar sem fim (Editora Pallas)
- Questão de Pele (Língua Geral)
- Schwarze prosa (Germany, 1993)
- Moving beyond boundaries: international dimension of black women's writing (1995)
- Women righting – Afro-brazilian Women's Short Fiction (England, 2005)
- Finally Us: contemporary black brazilian women writers (1995)
- Callaloo, vols. 18 e 30 (1995, 2008)
- Fourteen female voices from Brazil (USA, 2002)
- Chimurenga People (South Africa, 2007)
- Brasil-África
- Je suis Rio (Anacaona, 2016)
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References
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