By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Celebrating literature in Rio de Janeiro’s favela communities, the Festa Literária das Periferias, better known simply as FLUPP, will return for its fourth edition on November 3rd. Continuing through November 8th, the festival will feature events including lectures, readings, and poetry competitions that will take place for six days in various locations throughout the Babilônia and Chapéu Mangueira communities in Zona Sul (South Zone).
This year the festival will welcome more than fifty national and international authors and artists. The guests including Scottish author Alan Campbell, French writer Caryl Férey, German writer Uwe Timm, Brazilian authors Amyr Klink and Jean Wyllys, among many others, will participate by holding lectures and discussions that focus on issues related to urban violence, the environment, science, literature, literacy, and the pleasure of reading, among other topics.
All guests of the festival will stay in hotels and hostels located within the Babilônia/Chapéu Mangueira complex, giving residents greater access to the authors and artists and giving participants a first-hand experience of the residents’ daily life. This edition of FLUPP is part of the ongoing celebrations of Rio de Janeiro’s 450th anniversary and aims to promote the coexistence of the two sides of the city going forward into future.
In addition to the guest authors, events in this edition of the FLUPP literary festival will include Rio Poetry Slam, a spoken poetry competition featuring contenders from sixteen countries. FLUPP Slam BNDES, a poetry slam featuring Brazilian and international poets; De Porta em Porta (Door to Door), an activity where volunteers will read books for children and teenagers in 450 houses in the complex; Para Além do Grafite (Beyond Graffiti), where Swiss artists Raphael Borer and Carl Rudolf Meins will paint the community’s walls; Poemas Para Viagem (Poems for Travel), a poetry luncheon with David Bar; and Quadinhos para Barbados (Comics for Barbados) which will feature comic panels portraying the history of the complex’s residents posted on the walls of the community.
Additionally this year, the festival will pay special tribute to Doctor Nise da Silveira, a Brazilian psychiatrist who questioned and fought against the uses of electroshock, insulin therapy, lobotomies and other forms of aggressive treatments for mental illness.
FLUPP was created by writers Ecio Salles and Julio Ludemir in 2012 and is divided into three main sections FLUPP Pensa (FLUPP Thought), which features authors and readers visiting schools in Rio’s favelas during a six month period; the upcoming FLUPP festival; and FLUPP Parque (FLUPP Park), a literary contest for aspiring writers. During 2015 alone, FLUPP has published three novels written by authors in its training program.
Organizers estimate that approximately twenty thousand people attended the festival in 2014 and they expect even more for this year’s edition. For additional information about the festival and the complete schedule, see the official FLUPP website.
What: FLUPP (Festa Literária das Periferias)
When: November 3rd through 8th
Where: Babilônia/Chapéu Mangueira, Rio de Janeiro
Entrance: FREE