São Paulo – French-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani (picture above) is one of the writers invited to take part in the 16th Paraty International Literary Festival (FLIP), which begins this Wednesday (25) in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro. She will be in the event’s main programme, which will feature 27 local and international authors.
Besides the main programme, FLIP also includes other simultaneous activities, among them discussions and events organized by the event’s partner organizations. These events also have their list of guest authors.
Slimani is one of the key names of the new French literature, according to FLIP’s organizers. She won an important literary prize in the Arab world, the Lamamounia, with her book “Dans Le Jardin de l’Ogre” (In the Ogre’s Garden), from 2014, and won the Goncourt with “Lullaby”, published in Brazil this year. One of Slimani’s works, “Sexe et Mensonge: La Vie Sexuelle au Maroc” (Sex and Lies, Sexual Life in Morocco), from 2017, features testimonies from Moroccan women on the taboo surrounding the sexuality in the country.
Slimani will talk this Friday (27) at FLIP, in the roundtable number 10 called Interdito, set to start at 5:30 pm. They will discuss the exercise of the freedom to write and the choice of forbidden or taboo theme, such as homoeroticism, women’s sexuality and religion. Also in her roundtable is the North American writer André Aciman, born in Egypt. Before the discussion, the São Paulo-based writer and visual artist Ricardo Domeneck will do an artistic presentation.
In past editions, FLIP has brought prominent names of Arabic literature, such as the Syrian poet Adonis, the Lebanese author Amin Maalouf and Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif. The festival gathers great local and international authors to discuss literature, the arts and the historic moments. FLIP had its first edition in 2003.
The city of Paraty, at the banks of river Perequê-Açu, is a resort city that becomes a large melting pot of discussions and interaction among the intellectual audience. In addition to the roundtables, there are artistic performances, activities for children and teenagers, among other attractions. Each edition brings a tribute to a Brazilian author – in 2018, this author is the Brazilian poet, fiction writer and playwright Hilda Hilst.
Last year’s edition welcomed 25,000 visitors.
Quick info
16th Paraty International Literary Festival
July 25 to 29, 2018
Paraty – RJ
Click here to visit the event’s website
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani