{"id":321481,"date":"2022-11-22T18:11:51","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T21:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/a-imensidao-criativa-de-marcelo-maluf\/"},"modified":"2022-11-24T14:44:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T17:44:58","slug":"the-creative-immensity-of-brazilian-writer-marcelo-maluf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/the-creative-immensity-of-brazilian-writer-marcelo-maluf\/","title":{"rendered":"The creative immensity of Brazilian writer Marcelo Maluf"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 One week after his father\u2019s death, writer Marcelo Maluf<\/strong> (pictured above)<\/em> received an unlikely inheritance from his uncle: A secret Marcelo\u2019s grandfather kept about a tragedy in Lebanon<\/strong> in the early 20th century. According to his uncle Sami, Marcelo\u2019s grandfather Assad had been sent to Brazil as a teenager by his father after witnessing the murder of his older brothers, who were hanged in their backyard by an Ottoman-Turkish army officer. For eight years, he mulled over that story, or what he calls his \u201caccursed heritage,\u201d wondering whether or not he should write about it. \u201cIf he kept it a secret, why would I reveal it?\u201d he said to himself. On the other hand, it was a story that needed to be told; it was more than a family tragedy: It was the fate of many immigrants, the picture of a moment in world history and a fact that shaped much of what they, the Maluf family, became. In 2013, thanks to a funding program of the S\u00e3o Paulo State government (PROAC), Marcelo turned his legacy into a book. In 2015, \u2018A Imensid\u00e3o Intima dos Carneiros\u2019<\/strong> [\u2018The Intimate Immensity of the Sheep,\u2019 in free translation] was born, winner of the 2016 S\u00e3o Paulo Literature Prize.<\/p>\n

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Marcelo\u2019s award-winning book<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first novel for Marcelo, who was already known for his children\u2019s and youth books, put him in the spotlight, made him compared with other writers of Arab descent<\/strong>, such as Raduan Nassar and Milton Hatoum, and brought him closer to his origins. Because of the book, he even obtained Lebanese citizenship. \u201cI met the Lebanese consul at a party, and he asked me if I was interested in becoming a citizen. I got interested and went for it,\u201d he said. Until then, all he had in him of Arab heritage were some memories of his childhood in Santa B\u00e1rbara D\u2019Oeste, in the countryside of S\u00e3o Paulo state, where he was born. Things such as the flavors of Arab cuisine \u2013 which he had to adapt ten years ago when he became vegan \u2013 and a punctual memory; the visit of cousin Rita in 1982, when he was eight years old. A little older than him and speaking only Arabic, she and her mother spent two months in Brazil, and he and Rita spent much time together. \u201cI remember going into the room and hearing them speaking in Arabic to my grandmother, and I thought it was very funny; that sound made me laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Rita left, they continued to exchange letters. They sent cassette tapes from Lebanon \u2013 which he calls spoken letters \u2013 in which it was possible to hear the sound of bombs from the Lebanese Civil War (which lasted until 1990) in the background. \u201cBut they said they were safe, in a bomb shelter, and even invited them: Come visit us in Beirut!\u201d Marcelo has already been to Abu Dhabi for a literary festival, but he has never been to Lebanon \u2013 a plan yet to come true.<\/p>\n

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The writer obtained Lebanese citizenship<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Lebanese grandfather, around whom the story of \u2018A Imensid\u00e3o Intima dos Carneiros\u2019 revolves, died before he was born. It is a mythical figure, what he calls a \u201cpresence of absence,\u201d who has always had tremendous weight in his life. Assad was married to Karima Chacur, of Syrian descent. They met in Santa Barbara D\u2019Oeste. He lived with his grandmother until he was about ten years old. The book, which is out of print and expected to be re-released in 2023 by Faria e Silva publishing house, is not a biography of his grandfather, nor even an autobiography of Marcelo, but a mixture of all of these, with historical references and gaps filled with a lot of imagination. \u201cEverything I didn\u2019t know about the true story I made up, inspired by the Arabian Nights, which is always a reference for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcelo had exceptional help filling in some gaps who was also his beta reader of the work when it was under construction: His mother, Cleusa. \u201cShe was a bridge because she actually met my grandfather, lived with him, told me about his personality, sometimes very funny, sometimes very nervous, with his outbursts.\u201d When Marcelo was finishing writing the book, his mother fell ill. When he put the full stop, she passed away. She didn\u2019t get to see the finished book but was amused on the phone when Marcelo called to read some passages. Uncle Sami, the one who entrusted him with the tragic story of his great-uncles, who in turn learned about the story while traveling with his father, a peddler, through Brazil, also never saw the finished book.<\/p>\n

Drummer, teacher, writer: A creator<\/strong><\/p>\n

When he left the countryside, Marcelo played drums, had a band, and composed music. He could have become a musician. But he was also involved in children\u2019s education and studied to become a teacher. First, he obtained an undergraduate degree in art education from the Arts Institute of the State University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNESP) and later a master\u2019s degree, also from UNESP, in visual arts. Marcelo taught classes, worked in museums and moderated visual arts lectures. It was all fascinating, but he wasn\u2019t done yet. When he released his first children\u2019s book, \u2018Jorge do P\u00e2ntano Que Fica Logo Ali\u2019<\/strong> [\u2018Jorge from the Nearby Swamp,\u2019 in free translation], in 2008, he understood his way of working with children\u2019s education would be through the stories he created. Then came works books like \u2018Meu Pai Sabe Voar,\u2019 [\u2018Dad Knows How to Fly,\u2019 in free translation] written in partnership with his wife, Daniela Pinotti, and others of the genre. In 2012, he released his first short story compilation, Esquece Tudo Agora [\u2018Forget it All Now,\u2019 in free translation].<\/p>\n

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Marcelo: Music, education, and books<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2023, in addition to the relaunch of the novel, Marcelo will release three children\u2019s books: \u2018O Cora\u00e7\u00e3o Que Saiu Pela Boca\u2019 [\u2018The Heart Out through the Mouth,\u2019 in free translation]; \u2018O Mist\u00e9rio de Todas as Coisas\u2019 [\u2018The Mystery of All Things\u2019], a poetry book for children, and, again with Daniela, \u2018A Odisseia do Spray Grego\u2019 [\u2018The Greek Spray Odyssey\u2019] \u2013 this one motivated by a greek spray bottle the couple found while walking along the beach, on Cardoso Island (off Sao Paulo state\u2019s coast). \u201cWe began to imagine the entire journey of that spray from Greece to Brazil,\u201d said the author. A new novel will also be printed next year: \u2018Os \u00daltimos Dias de Elias Ghandour\u2019<\/strong> [\u2018The Last Days of Elias Ghandour,\u2019 in free translation]. Still immersed in his Arab roots, Maluf created a character, Elias, who inherits a fabric store on (shopping street) 25 de Mar\u00e7o when his father dies in the 1960s and gives up on his dream of becoming an actor. He becomes successful in business, marries, and fathers a child but lives unhappy because of the choices he (didn\u2019t) make. One day, he meets a Lebanese man with whom he falls in love but loses his boyfriend in the Lebanese Civil War. The story is told by himself, already an older man, from a ranch in Joan\u00f3polis, in the countryside of S\u00e3o Paulo state.<\/p>\n

Amidst so many ideas and productions, Marcelo still thinks about writing about Karima, his Syrian grandmother, on the other Arab side of the family. For him, it would be a way of repairing the invisibility of women in \u2018A Imensid\u00e3o Intima dos Carneiros.\u2019 \u201cIt is a patriarchal book because, in fact, this is a patriarchal society, especially the Arab one. But I also want to tell the story of these women,\u201d he promised himself and his readers who have just read these last lines.<\/p>\n

Read more on Literature and Arabs:<\/em><\/p>\n

New publisher Editora Tabla focuses on Arabic titles\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n

Brazilian author selected for writer\u2019s fellowship in Dubai <\/a><\/p>\n

*Special report by D\u00e9bora Rubin for ANBA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translated by El\u00fasio Brasileiro<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniela Pinotti<\/div>\n
Reproduction<\/div>\n
ANBA<\/div>\n
Daniela Pinotti<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The grandson of a Lebanese man and a Syrian woman, the writer from S\u00e3o Paulo approached his roots when writing his first novel, \u2018A Imensid\u00e3o \u00cdntima dos Carneiros,\u2019 released in 2015. Now, he prepares to release another novel and three children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2309,"featured_media":321453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,114],"tags":[36946,36957,23329,36947,36948,36949,36959,32025,36950,36951,4130,36952,36953,36960,36954,36961,36955,36956,36958],"class_list":{"0":"post-321481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-news","9":"tag-a-imensidao-intima-dos-carneiros-en","10":"tag-arabic-writers","11":"tag-childrens-literature","12":"tag-escritor-marcelo-maluf-en","13":"tag-escritores-arabes-en","14":"tag-escritores-de-origem-arabe-en","15":"tag-lebanon-literature","16":"tag-literatura-en","17":"tag-literatura-infantojuvenil-en","18":"tag-literatura-libano-en","19":"tag-literature","20":"tag-livros-marcelo-maluf-en","21":"tag-marcelo-maluf-en","22":"tag-marcelo-maluf-books","23":"tag-marcelo-maluf-literatura-en","24":"tag-marcelo-maluf-literature","25":"tag-the-intimate-immensity-of-the-sheep","26":"tag-writer-marcelo-maluf","27":"tag-writers-of-arab-origin"},"wps_subtitle":"The grandson of a Lebanese man and a Syrian woman, the writer from S\u00e3o Paulo approached his roots when writing his first novel, \u2018A Imensid\u00e3o \u00cdntima dos Carneiros,\u2019 released in 2015. Now, he prepares to release another novel and three children\u2019s books.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}