Edney Silvestre
(Brazil, 1950) can be regarded as a Brazilian Adriaan van Dis. Coming from a poor family he left for Rio de Janeiro at age fourteen to study. He made a living out of doing translations from English and Spanish language books. He ended up in journalism and for years was a correspondent in New York. He was the first Brazilian journalist to make it to the scene of the 9/11 catastrophe. He also made a series of reports in Iraq. Since 2002 he has interviewed great writers like Mario Vargas Llosa, Nadine Gordimer en Orhan Pamuk for Globonews. Silvestre had written three non fiction books before making his debut in 2009 with the novel Se eu fechar os olhos agora (When I close my eyes), which won the prestigious Jabuti Prize for best novel, as well as the São Paulo Literary Award for Best Novel of the year. The novel appears in Dutch early 2012. In 2011 his second novel was published, A felicidade e fácil (Happiness is easy). Its launch was a happening in which writers, actresses and other fans were queueing in order to get hold of an autographed copy. In both novels Silvestre draws from his own experiences as a journalist. Recent Brazilian history plays an important role, sex and violence being recurring themes.
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Archive available for: Edney Silvestre
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Lust and Colour
What about sexual relationships between white and black in post-apartheid South Africa? Do women in Brazil, which swelters with eroticism, move as freely as it seems? Dutch men, fantasising about black women - and the other way round. Kopano Matlwa, Edney Silvestre and Robert Vuijsje talk about the clichés surrounding sex in multicultural societies. Host: Wim Brands. In English.
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Family Ties
A discussion between Bernice Chauly (Malaysia) and Edney Silvestre (Brazil) about choking family ties and how religious and cultural pressure destroy dreams and frustrate loves. Host: Nicole Lefever. In English.
Edney Silvestre replaces Mansoura ez Eldin, who had to cancel for family reasons. -
Writers reading
Enjoy the work of the writers you have come to see. They read old and new work. Without further ado and without discussion, introduced by Nicole Terborg. Dutch and English.