Project Description

Paraná Literary PrizeAlexandre Vidal Porto

Brazil

Alexandre Vidal Porto was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1965. He is the author of three novels and a number of uncollected short stories. His work has been published in Dutch, English, French, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. His novel SERGIO Y. GOES TO AMERICA won the Paraná Literary Prize in 2012.
Vidal Porto is a career diplomat, Harvard-trained lawyer, and advocate for sexual minority rights. He is a frequent contributor to Folha de S.Paulo, the leading Brazilian newspaper, for which he wrote a weekly column from 2012 to 2016. The author has lived in Brasília, New York City, Santiago de Chile, Washington DC, Mexico City and Tokyo. Currently, he works and lives in Amsterdam.
For further information, please visit: > alexandrevidalporto.com/

»When faced with crisis, they choose life. His writing moves from dark to light, as his characters walk to higher ground for safety.«
Bruna Dantas Lobato, Bomb Magazine

Alexandre Vidal Porto© Alexia Fidalgo

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Sodomite

Vidal Porto’s Sodomite (“Sodomita”) takes us back to the 17th century, when homosexuality was a crime sometimes punished by penal transportation to Brazil. Mixing historical facts with wild fable, the author discusses current issues without ever losing his ironic verve.
The fourth novel by Alexandre Vidal Porto, who is known for his clear style in dealing with contemporary issues, goes back several centuries to tell the saga of Delgado, a guitar player from Évora in Portugal who arrived in Salvador in 1669, deported for the crime of sodomy – a code for homosexuality.
In Brazil, with his past erased, Delgado reinvents himself as a merchant, enters into a sham marriage and throws himself into carnal delights with the beautiful young men who cross his path.
Mixing a made-up archaic Portuguese with today’s spoken language, Sodomita explores current-day issues – from the secularisation of the state to the vestiges of slavery – in an unusual and amusing guise.

Quotes

Sodomite

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Chlorine

Up to what point is it possible to hide from oneself? In Chlorine (“Cloro”), a family tragedy undermines the life of an affluent homosexual in the closet. This is a small study on the irresistible force of sexuality. Constantino is a dead narrator. In the limbo where he finds himself, he revisits decisive facts of his life– up to his unexpected death at age fifty. A well-established lawyer in São Paulo, he learned in childhood that “being a faggot was no good.” From an early age, he concealed his desires and took on a heterosexual persona. He married his teenage sweetheart Debora and fathered two children. A tragic accident destroys the fragile balance which he maintained, and he is suddenly confronted with his homosexuality. He starts to lead a double life, has sexual encounters with men and falls for Emílio, a diplomat he meets in Brasília. Through the voices of Constantino and his family and friends, Alexandre Vidal Porto presents a clear narrative that is needed in times like ours—when to be oneself is often an act of courage.

Quotes

Chlorine

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Sergio Y. Goes to America

Sergio Y. Goes to America (“Sergio Y. Vai à América”) Armando is one of the best therapists in São Paulo. After a trip to New York, his 17-year-old patient Sergio decides to quit therapy abruptly. His short explanation to Armando is that he has finally “found his way to happiness” and must pursue it. For years Armando is left with no clue of what happened to his patient, until he learns that he is living a fulfilled life in New York – as Sandra. Weeks later, however, he is shocked to read about Sergio’s unexpected death. Trying to get to the root of both Sergio and Sandra’s life, Armando starts investigating on his own.
A surprising and inspirational tale about the importance of seeking happiness.

Quotes

Sergio Y. Goes to America

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Matias in the City

In the second edition of his debut novel Matias in the City (“Matias na Cidade”), completely revised by the author, Alexandre Vidal Porto shows us a man trapped in the Kafkaesque nightmare of everyday life, and his desperate – albeit fruitless – attempt to free himself.
Matias Grappeggia is almost fifty years old. He’s married, but lonely; healthy, but a hypochondriac; a womaniser, but unable to connect. With such a predictable life, you would not expect this successful lawyer to run any risks.
However, when Matias finds himself on the verge of an amorous-religious revelation, he realises that he has to make a definitive choice. Travelling around the city of São Paulo for four days, the lawyer relives an important part of his memories, but also uncovers his innermost desires.
The search for connection, love and identification with the other is the theme of this first novel by Alexandre Vidal Porto, originally published in 2005 and now with a second edition completely revised by the author.

Quotes

Matias in the City

RIGHTS

NOVELS
Sodomite (“Sodomita”)
São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2023, 160 p.
Mixliterário award for best book at the Mix Brasil Festival 2023
English and German sample translation available
Portugal: Tinta da China

Chlorine (“Cloro”)
São Paulo: Companhia das Letras 2018, 152 p.
Finalist of the Jabuti Prize 2019
Longlist of the Oceanos Prize 2019
Complete English translation by Alison Entrekin available

Sergio Y. Goes to America (“Sergio Y. Vai à América”)
São Paulo: Companhia das Letras 2014, 181 p.
Longlist of the Dublin Literary Award 2016
Longlist of the São Paulo Prize 2014
Paraná Literary Prize 2012

Best Summer Books, Financial Times 2016
Italy: Edizioni E/O 2016 · UK/USA: Europa Editions 2016

Matias in the City (“Matias na Cidade”)
Rio de Janeiro: Record 2005, 159 p.; São Paulo: Companhia das Letras 2023, 144 p.

Complete English translation available

SHORT STORIES
Betrayal (“Traição”)

In: Crows (“Corvos”)
Portugal: Granta/Tinta da China 2020

PARTICIPATION IN ANTHOLOGIES
Contemporary Brazilian Literature (“Littérature Brésilienne Contemporaine – Édition spéciale Salon du Livre de Paris 2015”)
Tupi’s Widow (“La veuve de Tupi”)
Brazil: Mombak Éditeurs 2015

Free Style (“Nado Libre”)
In: Artur’s Gold (“El oro de Artur”) and Car Crash Without Victims (“Accidente de tránsito sin víctimas”)
Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México/UNAM 2013

Passions and Obsessions (“Pasiones y Obsesiones”)
In: Passions’ Killer (“Matador de Pasiones”)
Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica 2012