The International Literary Festival of Paraty (Flip) announced this Tuesday (10) the poet Orides Fontela (1940-1998) as the honored author of its 24th edition, scheduled for the period from 22 to 26 July. The author had nature as a great inspiration, where in her poems there are many birds, flowers and rivers.
“Owner of concise poetry, stripped of ornaments, and fond of short poems, Orides Fontela received extraordinary attention from literary critics, who saw her as a renewer of Modernism, and even from renowned poets, such as [Carlos] Drummond [de Andrade]. It is an unavoidable reference in the contemporary Brazilian poetry scene”, stated, in a note, Rita Palmeira, literary curator of this edition of Flip.
Born in São João da Boa Vista, in the interior of São Paulo, the poet graduated in Philosophy, in addition to being a primary school teacher and librarian. Fontela is the author of the books Transposition (1969), Helianthus (1973), Rosacea (1986), Albawinner of the Jabuti Prize in 1983, and Webwhich received an award from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics (APCA) in 1996.
The poet was discovered by Davi Arrigucci Jr., professor of literary theory at the University of São Paulo (USP), who read her poem Elegy in the newspaper The Municipalitypublished in his hometown, in 1965. In his career, he also had enthusiasts such as the literary critic Antonio Candido and the philosopher Marilena Chaui.
Life in the countryside, philosophical readings and Zen Buddhism lessons, which he began practicing in 1972, helped shape Orides Fontela’s poetry. According to Flip’s organization, Editora Hedra, which holds the rights to the author’s works, plans to relaunch her books between March and April this year.
Fontela died in 1998, two years after the release of Weband had his work compiled on three occasions, with Clover (1988), Poetry collected (2006) and Complete poetry (2015), this latest volume contains 22 unpublished poems, published posthumously. In 2007, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Cultural Merit, in the Grand Cross category, from the Ministry of Culture.
It is the second year in a row that Flip honors authors who stand out for their poetic production. In last year’s edition, the tribute was paid to the Curitiba poet Paulo Leminski. Other names in poetry that have already been honored at the event are Vinícius de Moraes, Oswald de Andrade, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Ana Cristina César, Hilda Hilst and Elizabeth Bishop.
