São Paulo – Brazilian writer Milton Hatoum, of Lebanese origin, is in Lebanon to release book “Orphans of Eldorado”, translated into French. On Saturday (6), he should have an autograph session at Antoine Bookstore, at shopping centre ABC, in Beirut, starting at 5 pm.
Apart from the release, Hatoum should participate in two conferences in the capital, one at Saint-Joseph University and another at the American University of Beirut, both under theme “Literature and Life Experience”. The author is in the Lebanese capital at the invitation of the Brazilian embassy.
In the 2009-2010 period, Unesco has elected Beirut the “World Book Capital”, and the Iberian-American universities of the city are promoting the First Iberian-American Literature Fair, which started yesterday and ends on Saturday. The event has the support of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture.
In total, ten countries participated in the fair with renowned writers from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. The event is being promoted at Saint-Joseph University, one of the oldest and most renowned higher education institutions in the country.
Apart from the meetings with Iberian-American writers, in which Hatoum should participate, there should be a book fair with Iberian-American books. This is the first joint cultural activity of the countries in the region, which are home to several Lebanese immigrants.
At the meetings with writers, the themes to be discussed include “The Iberian-American reality through literature”, “Migration and literature”, “Women and Iberian-American literature” and “Iberian-America and the Arab World: perspectives for dialogue”.
At the Brazilian stand at the fair, books published in Spanish and Portuguese should be sold. Publications by famous Brazilian authors should be shown, among them Jorge Amado and Hatoum himself, who also has works translated into Arabic. Other books published in Brazil, written by people of Lebanese descent, should also be shown.
Hatoum
Born in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, in 1952, Hatoum is the son of a Lebanese father and a Brazilian mother. His works have already been translated into several languages. In 2003, for example, Lebanese publishing house Dar Alfarabi published the Arabic version of "The Brothers", a book that shows the conflict between brothers Omar and Yaqub, sons of Lebanese immigrants in Amazonas. In 2006, the writer won the Jabuti Award, a famous Brazilian literary award, for book “Ashes of the Amazon”.
*Translated by Mark Ament
