São Paulo – The Brazilian Writers’ Union (UBE) will launch the Palestinian-Brazilian Short Story Anthology this year, available for free online. The project was officially presented on Thursday (10) in São Paulo, alongside Murad Sudani, chairman of the General Union for Palestinian Writers. During the event, writer Milton Hatoum was honored by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Order of Culture, Science, and Arts in the “Creativity” category. Sudani presented the medal on Abbas’s behalf.
The first vice president of UBE, Ricardo Fernandes, said the anthology is an opportunity to spread awareness of Palestinian literary production in Brazil and vice versa. “It can give Brazilian readers and the general population an idea of what’s happening on the ground in Palestine and thus garner . By doing our part with ink and paper, we can expose the horror of what’s happening and perhaps initiate a new moment. It’s about giving a voice to the Palestinian people and at the very least helping to coordinate change,” Fernandes told ANBA
The texts will be translated by Beatriz Negreiros Gemignani, Alexandre Facuri Chareti, and Maria Carolina Gonçalves, under the coordination of Mamede Mustafa Jarouche, professor of Arabic in the Department of Oriental Languages at the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters, and Human Sciences of the University of São Paulo (FFLCH-USP). He said the team already has the Palestinian texts, which will begin to be translated in the coming months.
The publication of this anthology is part of a UBE project to promote literature from various countries and Brazil, always in bilingual editions so that people from both nations can learn about the literary production of the partner country. A Sino-Brazilian short story anthology has already been published. The dissemination of Palestinian works will be possible due to an agreement signed between UBE and the General Union for Palestinian Writers also on Thursday.
Brazilian readers will have access to short stories by writer and co-founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ghassan Kanafani (1936–1972), as well as poet and journalist Dunia al-Amal Ismail, among other Palestinian authors. On the Brazilian side, the anthology will feature short stories by Graciliano Ramos (1892–1953), Machado de Assis (1839–1908), and Milton Hatoum.
Palestinian tribute to Milton Hatoum
Hatoum attended the event and was honored by the Palestinians for his writings, translations, and cultural contributions. “This medal is dedicated to all Brazilian writers who the Palestinians in their struggle for liberation,” said Sudani while presenting the tribute to Hatoum.
Born in Manaus, Amazonas state, the Brazilian writer is of Lebanese descent and authored Ashes of the Amazon, The Brothers, and Tale of a Certain Orient, among other books. His works have been translated into Arabic. “This is the greatest award of my life, which I will show to my children and my readers,” said Hatoum as he thanked for the tribute, affirming that he has “never” hesitated in defending the Palestinian people.
The meeting was attended by the president of UBE, Ricardo Ramos Filho, the second treasurer of UBE and editor, Sandra Espilotro, translator Maria Carolina Gonçalves, and the president of the Arab-Palestinian Federation of Brazil (FEPAL), Ualid Rabah.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
