This December, we bring you a selection of literature from Afro-Brazilian writers who explore questions of identity, inequality, and resistance. Franciane Conceição Silva provides a panorama of Afro-Brazilian writing from its inception. Cristiane Sobral strikes a tone of defiance and determination in poems translated by MacArthur fellow John Keene. Ricardo Aleixo contributes three poems, including an homage to thirteen youths killed by police in Salvador, Bahia, in 2015. Jean Wyllys takes readers to the Salvador neighborhood of Aflitos in three works of micro-fiction. Felipe Botelho Correa introduces readers to Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto, a contemporary of Machado de Assis who wielded literature as a weapon against prejudice. And we also bring you a Barreto story published in English for the very first time. With an introduction from issue co-editors Eric M. B. Becker and John Keene.
Words Without Borders thanks the Consulate General of Brazil in New York for its support of this issue.