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Itamar Vieira Junior

イタマール・ヴィエイラ・ジュニオール

Itamar Vieira Junior

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1979-08-06 （Salvador, Bahia, Brazil）
Nationality
Brazilian
Languages
Portuguese
Residence History
Salvador, Bahia (birthplace) → Pernambuco (lived as a teenager) → São Luís, Maranhão (lived)

Career

Occupations
writer, geographer, public servant
Active Years
2012-
Affiliations
INCRA (Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária)
Influenced By
Milton Santos (geographer), Oral traditions and culture of quilombola communities, Afro-Brazilian culture and popular literature
Influenced
Contemporary Brazilian writers and activists working on land issues and Black history
Nominations
A oração do carrasco — Prêmio Jabuti finalist (2017)

Education

Federal University of Bahia
Geography / Geography
Degree: 学士
Country: Brazil
First recipient of the Milton Santos Scholarship for low-income Black youth
Federal University of Bahia
Ethnic and African Studies / Ethnic and African Studies
Degree: 博士 (PhD)
Country: Brazil
Doctoral research on the formation of quilombola communities in the Brazilian Northeast

Awards

Prêmio LeYa
2018
Work: Torto Arado
Organization: LeYa (publishing group)
Result: winner
Prêmio Oceanos
2020
Work: Torto Arado
Organization: Oceanos (Portuguese-language literature prize)
Result: winner
Prêmio Jabuti
2020
Work: Torto Arado
Organization: Prêmio Jabuti (Brazilian literary prize)
Result: winner
Prêmio Jabuti (finalist)
2017
Work: A oração do carrasco (The Executioner's Prayer)
Organization: Prêmio Jabuti (Brazilian literary prize)
Result: finalist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Torto Arado (Crooked Plow)

2018 Novel

Set in the Brazilian Northeast, the novel explores land, family and ancestral memory. It portrays quilombola communities, histories of labor and oppression, and the solidarity among women.

land and agricultureAfro-Brazilian identityancestry and memorysocial justice
Adaptations
  • [English translation] Crooked Plow (2023)
Translations
  • English translation: Crooked Plow (Verso Books, 2023)

Dias

2012 Short stories

A collection of short stories depicting fragments of daily life and local communities.

local communitymemory

A oração do carrasco (The Executioner's Prayer)

2017 Short stories

A short story collection about characters marked by violence and histories; includes work that was a Prêmio Jabuti finalist.

violencehistorylocal memory

Doramar ou a Odisseia

2021 Short stories

A recent collection of short stories.

journeymemory

Salvar o Fogo

2023 Novel

A recent novel by the author; continues to address themes of land and heritage.

landheritage

Bibliography

  • Dias (2012)
  • A oração do carrasco (2017)
  • Torto Arado (2018)
  • Doramar ou a Odisseia (2021)
  • Salvar o Fogo (2023)

Adaptations

  • English translation of Torto Arado: Crooked Plow (Verso Books, 2023)

Translations of Works

  • Torto Arado — English translation: Crooked Plow (Verso Books, 2023)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical and poetic descriptionsocial realisminfluences from oral tradition
Recurring Motifs
land and cultivationancestors and memoryviolence and resistancecommunity bonds

Legacy

Itamar Vieira Junior is praised for bringing the voices of rural northeastern Brazil and Afro-Brazilian communities into literature. Torto Arado gained international attention through translations and multiple major literary awards.

Trivia

  • Entered university as the first recipient of the Milton Santos Scholarship.
  • Official Instagram: @itamarvieirajr
  • Torto Arado won multiple awards and was translated into English by Verso Books.