Writer Isa Silveira Leal is the guest of the week in the Brazilian Authors Series, an initiative of Brazilian Publishers — an industry project fostering the exports of Brazilian editorial content by means of a partnership between the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
Born in the city of Santos in 1910, Isa was an author and journalist who wrote soap operas for the radio and the TV. Her parents were writers Valdomiro Silveira (“Os Caboclos” [Countrymen], “Nas Serras e nas Furnas” [In the mountains and in the caves]) and Maria Isabel Silveira (“Isabel Quis Valdomiro” [Isabel wanted Valdomiro]).
Isa started her career as a book translator, and in 1948 she began to work as a producer at Difusora radio station. During such period she wrote her first novel, “A Rainha do Rádio” (The radio queen), published in 1956 by the station. She also worked for more than 20 years for Folha de S. Paulo and translated texts by William Shakespeare, Pearl S. Buck and André Gide.
Making History in the Jabuti Awards
In 1959, year of the first edition of the Jabuti Awards, a prize conferred by CBL, Isa Leal was the first woman to win a trophy in the event — and the only one to win the prize that year. She was the winner in the Books for Young Readers category for “Glorinha”.
Isa won the prize two other times in the following years for her books “O Menino de Palmares” (The boy from Palmares) and “O Único Amor de Ana Maria” (The only love of Ana Maria). In 1987 she also won the Best Poetry Book prize given by the Art Critics Association of São Paulo (APCA) for “O Pescador Vai ao Mar” (The fisherman goes to the sea).
About the Series: Brazilian Authors
In order to stimulate knowledge about Brazilian contemporary literature, Brazilian Publishers, an industry project fostering exports of Brazilian editorial content through a partnership between the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), created the series “Brazilian Authors”, which brings information about current national writers.
About Brazilian Publishers
Created in 2008, Brazilian Publishers is a sector project that encourages the export of content produced by Brazilian publishing houses. It is a result of a partnership between the Brazilian Book Chamber – CBL and Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency). This initiative aims to promote the Brazilian publishing industry in the global market, contributing to the professionalization of the nation’s publishing houses.