Ten Brazilian Authors to Have Work Translated for Amazon Launch

10/15/2013 - 08h09

At one fell swoop, ten Brazilian authors have infiltrated the world's largest publishing marketplace. The internet giant Amazon.com - also one of the hardest markets to enter - will today announce the launch of English translations of works by authors such as Luiz Ruffato, Cristovão Tezza and Sérgio Rodrigues.

The initiative will see the works released in both digital and printed versions, as well as in audiobook format. They will launched under the AmazonCrossing imprint, which has been publishing literary translations since 2010.

The decision to launch a series of titles by Brazilian authors came about as a result of the country's position of guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which came to a close yesterday. The selection of the books was made following consultations with agents and critics.

Alessandro Shinoda/Folhapress

Luiz Ruffato, one of the most important writers in Brazil

'Brazil is underrepresented in the international market. In this absence we saw a great opportunity,' said Gabriella Page-Fort, editorial manager of AmazonCrossing.

The first titles in the series will be launched next month, initially just for Kindle. They will be short story collections by the writers Ivana Arruda Leite, Ana Paula Maia and Paloma Vidal. Further collections by Tércia Montenegro and Claudia Lage will follow early next year and in 2015.

Besides the short story collections, five novels were also selected, including 'Eles Eram Muitos Cavalos' [literally, 'They Were Many Horses'] by Luiz Ruffato, who provoked controversy on the opening day of the fair with a speech highly critical of Brazil both past and present.

Claudia Lage, Eliane Brum and Sérgio Rodrigues had translations of extracts of their work published in volume 4 of 'Machado de Assis Magazine', a magazine created by the National Library to promote Brazilian literature abroad. Rodrigues and Brum will also see their respective novels 'Elza, a Garota' ['Elza, the Girl'] and 'Uma Duas' ['One Two'] translated.

'My work has already been translated into various languages, but English has always been an insurmountable barrier,' said Cristovão Tezza, who negotiated with AmazonCrossing the launch of a translation of his novel 'Breve Espaço entre Cor e Sombra' ['Brief Space Between Colour and Shadow'], about a misunderstood artist.

'The American publishing market is notorious for having only 3% of its titles translated from other languages. We want to try and change this,' said Sarah Jane Gunter, editor at AmazonCrossing.

Of the ten selected authors, one even broke into literature using Amazon's self-publishing platform, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Josy Stoque (nom de plume of Josimari Stoque Alcantara, 30, from the state of São Paulo) will see her book 'Marcada a Fogo' ['Marked by Fire'] launched as part of the series.

'We didn't take into account whether or not the books were commercial,' said Page-Fort. 'What may be commercial in one country often isn't in another. Our aim was to select books that had something really new to offer.'

The complete list of the ten selected authors is as follows:

Tércia Montenegro
Claudia Lage
Josy Stoque
Cristovão Tezza
Luiz Ruffato
Paloma Vidal
Eliane Brum
Ana Paula Maia
Sérgio Rodrigues
Ivana Arruda Leite

TRANSLATED BY TOM GATEHOUSE

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