|
Center for Amazonian Literature
and Culture
Check out the Chiquitos site and a selection
of Amazonian music from the Festival Internacional
de Musica Barroca Americana.
In 1998 Issue One of Amazonian Literary
Review (ALR) was published. This journal is the first of its kind
in the English-speaking world. Founded and published by the Center for
Amazonian Literature and Culture based at Smith College, it aims to
provide a specialized forum for writers from the Amazonian regions of
Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
As the celebrated Brazilian poet Thiago de
Mello expresses it, the inhabitants of the 7 million square
kilometers of Amazonian land are citizens of a patria das
àguas (a homeland of the waters). The literary production of
that cultural homeland has a profound tradition. The negligence in which
it has been held until now speaks of a certain vision of Amazonian
culture which suggests that it is solely deserving of anthropological or
other scientific attention. Yet the long syncretic history of
Amazonia--the blend of cosmopolitan influences with the myriad indigenous
expressions--has created and defined a singular literary tradition.
Amazonian Literary Review intends to give
voice to the syncretic literatures of the region which find their
expression in Portuguese and Spanish. Issues contain representative work
by authors, both living and dead. Poems are presented in bilingual
format. The journal also includes short stories and passages of longer
fiction works, drama, essays on aspects of Amazonian Literature, and
reviews of fiction and pertinent critical works.
The first issue features the poetry of Thiago de
Mello, Paes Loureiro, Raúl Otero Reiche, Pedro Shimose, and
Julio de la Vega, among others. It also includes critical essays by Otero
Reiche, Marcio Souza and Euclydes de Cunha which explore the theme of
Amazonian identity.
We are fortunate to have the collaboration of eminent writers and critics
from each of the six countries of the Amazonian basin. Translations will
be carried out by acknowledged professionals. The review will appear
annually, at a cost of $15.00.
We hope you share our enthusiasm for this endeavor to clarify and deepen
our understanding of this vast portion of the literary map of Latin
America. We kindly urge you to support our effort to create a broader
understanding of Amazonia.
Sincerely,
Nicomedes Suárez
Araúz
& Charles Cutler, Editors
c/o Dewey Hall, Smith College, Northampton MA 01063 USA
Tel. Suárez Araúz: 413 585-3461 | Cutler: 413 585-3453
Links: |
