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Ferreira Gullar

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Ferreira Gullar

Pen Names: Ferreira Gullar（Pen name used in literary works and criticism）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1930-09-10 （São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil）
Died
2016-12-04 （Rio de Janeiro, Brazil） age 86
Nationality
Brazil
Languages
Portuguese
Residence History
São Luís (birthplace) → Rio de Janeiro (later residence) → Soviet Union (exile period) → Argentina (exile period, Buenos Aires) → Chile (exile period) → Peru (exile period)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Playwright, Essayist, Art critic, Translator, Television writer
Active Years
1949-2016
Affiliations
Academia Brasileira de Letras
Memberships
Academia Brasileira de Letras

Awards

Prémio da Associação Paulista dos Críticos de Arte (APCA)
1976
Organization: Associação Paulista dos Críticos de Arte
Result: 受賞
Prince Claus Award
2002
Organization: Prince Claus Fund
Result: 受賞
Prêmio Machado de Assis
2005
Organization: Awarded by Brazilian cultural institutions
Result: 受賞
Jabuti Prize
2007
Category: 最優秀長編フィクション（Best fiction book）
Organization: Jabuti Prize organizers
Result: 受賞
Prémio Camões
2010
Organization: Camões Prize organizing bodies
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Poema Sujo

1976 Poetry

Written during exile, this long poem of around 2,000 verses evokes memories of his homeland, personal anguish, and the fear and persecution under Brazil's military dictatorship.

ExileMemoryHomelandPolitical repressionPersonal and collective trauma
Translations
  • Dirty Poem (English translation)

Um pouco acima do chão

1949 Poetry

An early collection of poems marking the beginning of his poetic career.

Youthful sensibilityExistential inquiry

Muitas vozes

1999 Poetry

A later poetry collection featuring multiple voices and addressing social and personal themes.

Multiplicious voicesSocial critique

Bibliography

  • Um pouco acima do chão (1949)
  • A luta corporal (1954)
  • Poemas (1958)
  • João Boa-Morte, cabra marcado para morrer (cordel, 1962)
  • Quem matou Aparecida? (cordel, 1962)
  • A luta corporal e novos poemas (1966)
  • História de um valente (cordel, 1966) (published clandestinely as João Salgueiro)
  • Por você por mim (1968)
  • Dentro da noite veloz (1975)
  • Poema sujo (1976)
  • Na vertigem do dia (1980)
  • Crime na flora ou Ordem e progresso (1986)
  • Barulhos (1987)
  • O formigueiro (1991)
  • Muitas vozes (1999)
  • Antologia poética (1977)
  • Toda poesia (1980)
  • Gamação (short stories, 1996)
  • Cidades inventadas (short stories, 1997)
  • Um rubi no umbigo (theatre, 1979)
  • Rabo de foguete - Os anos de exílio (memories, 1998)
  • Nise da Silveira: uma psiquiatra rebelde (biography, 1996)
  • Numerous essays and criticism (Teoria do não-objeto, Cultura posta em questão, etc.)

Adaptations

  • Araponga (TV, 1990/1991, Rede Globo) - collaborator
  • Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos (TV, 1998, Rede Globo) - collaborator
  • Irmãos Coragem (TV, 1995, Rede Globo) - collaborator

Translations of Works

  • Dirty Poem (translation of Poema Sujo)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Experimental, manifesto-influenced neo-concrete styleLyrical poetry engaged with political and social themesEssayistic and critical prose
Recurring Motifs
Memory and nostalgiaExile and returnCorporealityPolitics and powerLandscapes of the Northeast (Brazil)

Health

  • Pneumonia
    2016
    Died of pneumonia in December 2016

Legacy

Ferreira Gullar was a major figure in modern Brazilian poetry and a key contributor to the Neo-Concrete movement. Through poetry, criticism, theatre and television, he influenced political and cultural discourse and received wide recognition both in Brazil and abroad.

Academic Societies

  • Academia Brasileira de Letras

Quotes

  • “We use the term 'neo-concrete' to differentiate ourselves from those committed to non-figurative 'geometric' art.”
    Source: Neo-Concrete Manifesto (1959)

Trivia

  • Won the APCA award in 1976.
  • Received the Prince Claus Award in 2002.
  • Awarded the Prêmio Camões in 2010.
  • Experienced political exile in the 1970s, living and working in Argentina and other countries.
  • Elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2014.
  • Best-known work Poema Sujo was written in exile and comprises around 2,000 verses.