This week, our writers bring you the latest literary news from Brazil, Central America, and Hong Kong. In Brazil, literary communities are still going strong via online events and livestreams; in Central America, journalists and writers have been reaching audiences through online videos; and in Hong Kong, universities have been putting lecture series online for the public. Read on to find out more!
Daniel Persia, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Brazil
In the midst of rising political tensions, presidential disregard for the ongoing pandemic, and increased social distancing measures at the local and state levels, writers and readers have come together to help shape a new virtual literary landscape in Brazil. Over the past few weeks, with travel restricted and residents urged to stay in their homes, I’ve tuned in via Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Youtube, Google Hangouts, Zoom, and more to engage with authors from across the country. With some livestreams reaching two thousand-plus users in a single session, one thing remains clear: the Brazilian literary community continues strong, with readers now more than ever searching for opportunities to engage in dialogue and debate. To stay connected, you can follow writers and publishers on social media; subscribe to email newsletters; and check out how your local bookstore might be engaged with virtual encounters!
Though numerous in-person events have either been cancelled or postponed—the International Literary Festival of Paraty (Flip), for one, has been delayed until November—new venues continue to emerge. Companhia das Letras, one of the largest publishing houses in Brazil, pioneered a new, online literary festival, “Na Janela,” inviting ten authors to discuss the many “windows of possibilities” of Brazilian fiction. The festival was transmitted live on Youtube from April 24 to 26, but all sessions remain available for future viewing. Among the writers and translators featured are Natalia Borges Polesso and Daniel Galera, whose Twenty After Midnight is set to be released in English later this year, translated by Julia Sanches.
Those celebrating World Book Day (April 23) might have caught Amazon Crossing’s latest promotion: free access to nine books from authors around the globe, including Along the Tapajós, a children’s book written and illustrated by Fernando Vilela, translated by Daniel Hahn. Along the Tapajós traces the story of two siblings who return for their pet tortoise after leaving their village during the rainy season. With vibrant illustrations and a storyline that unfolds along the Tapajós, one of the largest rivers in the Amazon, the book is an important reminder of some seemingly simple but universal themes: loyalty, family, respect for cultural differences, and respect for the natural world.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Central America
The biggest book fair and literary festival of the region, FILGUA and Centro América Cuenta, have been pushed back to late October. This will be the first time for these two events to happen simultaneously and in the same country.
No authors have been confirmed yet. However, both platforms have since launched a series of interviews with Central American, Latin American, and Spanish authors and journalists called Autores en cuarentena. On both projects’ Facebook page, you can find Miguel de Cervantes Prize-winning author Sergio Ramírez chatting with the Spanish journalist Berna González Harbour. There’s a video of Colombia reporter Claudia Morales, interviewing 2020’s Alfaguara Prize winner, Guillermo Arriaga, about his novel Salvar el fuego. A few days ago, journalist Daniel Domínguez spoke with famed Nicaraguan author Gioconda Belli. And most recently, Peruvian journalist Renato Cisneros spoke with Guatemalan editor and co-founder of the Guatemalan trans-media project Agencia Ocote, Alejandra Gutiérrez Valdizán.
Speaking of Agencia Ocote, poet and documentary filmmaker, Julio Serrano Echeverría, host of one of the region’s leading literary podcast, Audiobuki—part of the Agencia—recently launched Audiobukito: where Central and Latin American authors read some of their children’s books. First in line was Costa Rica’s Jaime Gamboa, reading La risa contagiosa, and next will be Gloria Hernández.
Also, from Guatemala, veteran indie publishers, Catafixia Editorial, have started broadcasting live almost every day and talking about Guatemalan history, Guatemalan and Latin American literature, and the work they have been doing for the past eleven years. You can find their videos here.
Charlie Ng, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Hong Kong
As the coronavirus outbreak continues throughout the globe, the situation of the pandemic in Hong Kong has come under control recently, with a significant drop in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19. However, with the easing of the pandemic, new attempts of anti-governmental protests were organised to remind people that social movements are still far from victory. Amid the pandemic threat and social turmoil, the city’s literary activities of have continued to take place online to maintain social distancing and promote reading during this turbulent time.
Although face-to-face classes in universities have been suspended, the Chinese University of Hong Kong has made public lectures from past years available online for free. One of the online series, the Chinese Culture Masters Lectures, provides eight sessions of lectures from renowned scholars of Chinese culture and literature, including Professor Yu Kwang Chung on “Gong Zi-zhen and Shelley” Professor Pai Hsien-yung on Dream of the Red Chamber and Professor Lee Ou-fan on “A Profile of the Literary Intellectuals of the Early Republican Period”.
The Hong Kong Literary Criticism Society organised its first online reading session on March 14, 2020 to explore the significance of reading in trying times. The reading session, conducted through Zoom, featured Hong Kong literary critic, Tang Ching Kin, who introduced Edward Said’s Representations of the intellectual and Karatani Kojin’s Ethics 21 to participants. Meanwhile, local literary magazine, Zihua (Fleurs des Lettres) also organised live sessions to read various local and foreign works, such as Hong Kong writer Chan Chi Tak’s Rooted in My City: Hong Kong Literature from the Postwar Years to the 2000s, Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow and Han Kang’s Vegetarian. Cha: An Asian Literary Journal also scheduled a series of Zoom sessions to explore various issues related to the cultural arena and society in Hong Kong. On April 30, Cha contributors had a conversation on “Education and Brainwashing”, while on May 4, Hong Kong-based artists will discuss the topic of “Creating Art in the Time of Covid-19”.
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