A Very Brazilian Christmas: The Greatest Brazilian Holiday Stories of All Time

A literary celebration of Christmas south of the equator where the holiday falls during the Brazilian summer and festivities are punctuated by the rhythms of surf and samba. Including works by classic and contemporary authors, this bountiful, surprising anthology features a potent mix of familial feasts, poetry, the peal of church bells, Midnight Masses, and U.S. expatriates flirting at parties in Rio de Janeiro. With writings by Machado de Assis, Mário de Andrade, Clarice Lispector, Paulo Coelho, Graciliano Ramos, Lygia Fagundes Telles, Moacyr Scliar, Rubem Braga, Victor Heringer, Bruna Dantas Lobato, and more.

Mário de Andrade (1893-1945) was a Brazilian novelist, poet, and musicologist deeply involved in the avant-garde movement. His 1928 novel Macunaíma was one of the foundational texts of Brazilian Modernism.

Clarice Lispector (1920-1977) was a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her debut novel, Near to the Wild Heart, published in 1943, was a sensation and won the prestigious Graça Aranha Prize.

Rubem Braga (1913-1990) was a Brazilian writer of short prose sketches. After attending law school, Braga served as a war correspondent in Italy during World War II. During his long career, Braga contributed to newspapers in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Paulo Coelho (1947 - ) was born in Rio de Janeiro. He is the author of twenty-two international bestsellers and is best known for his novel The Alchemist.

St. José de Anchieta (1534-1597) was a Jesuit missionary to Brazil who was instrumental in founding the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Considered the father of Brazilian literature, he composed poems and plays and wrote the first grammar of the Tupí language.

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, is regarded by many as the greatest Brazilian writer and wrote numerous novels, plays, poems, short story collections, and several translations.

Gonçalves Dias (1823-1864) was a prominent poet and playwright of the Brazilian Romantic movement who is often considered Brazil’s national poet.

Victor Heringer (1988-2018) wrote a debut novel Impossible City published in 2009 and his second novel Gloria was awarded Brazil’s Jabuti Prize. His 2016 novel The Love of Singular Men was nominated for numerous awards.

Bruna Dantas Lobato (1991 - ), born in Natal, Brazil, is the author of Blue Light Hours and an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Grinnell College. Her translation of The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel won the National Book Award for Translated Literature.

Graciliano Ramos (1892-1953) was a Brazilian novelist whose works centered on the northeast area of Brazil where he spent most of his life. He is well known for his novels São Bernardo, Anguish, and Barren Lives.

Moacyr Scliar (1937-2011) was a prolific writer and physician. Much of his fiction is centered on Jewish life in Brazil and one of his novels was on the National Yiddish Book Center’s list of the 100 Greatest Works of Modern Jewish Literature.