By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – As this year’s edition of the International Literary Festival in Paraty (FLIP) enters the weekend, audiences have been exposed to pressing social debates and have three more days of thought-provoking sessions to look forward to before the wrapping on Sunday, July 29th.
In the setting of a more intimate 16th edition of FLIP, last night (Thursday, July 26th) brought authors Djamila Ribeiro and Selva Almada together to speak about one of the more intense subjects and “burning” social issue, as defined by the curator of FLIP, Josélia Aguiar.
“You can not be a feminist without being anti-racist. You can not be a feminist without fighting oppression for sexual orientation,” summarized Djamila Ribeiro, author of the book Who’s Afraid of Black Feminism?.
“You can not be a feminist and be a pro-life citizen. You can not be a feminist and be in favor of labor reform, because who will suffer from it?” She said, referring to the black population as the most affected by these policies.
“A lot of people think naming is splitting, but it’s the other way around. Society is already split up with white men at the top and black women at the base.”
Responding to table mediator Alice Sant’Anna, Djamila said that a demonstration of the vulnerability of black women was the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco (PSOL), still unsolved after more than four months. “Even though she was a parliamentarian, that did not protect her from being murdered so brutally,” she said.
FLIP will continue through the weekend with a full day today (Friday, July 27th), ending with the 8PM presentation of Hilda Hilst returning to the center of the debate with writer and researcher Eliane Robert de Moraes and actress Iara Jamra.
Jamra played the protagonist of the Pink Notebook by Lori Lamby, one of the author’s most famous books honored. Alice Sant’Anna mediates the table discussion, which promises to expose the mystical side and also the corporeal dimension in Hilda’s work.
On Saturday (July 28th) another highlight among many sessions will be at 12PM, Josef Stalin’s biographer, Simon Sebag Montefiore, tells how he works to portray the intimacy of figures such as the Soviet dictator, the Romanov family, and the czarina Catherine the Great. Guilherme Freitas and Bruno Gomide participate as mediators.
Closing the evening at 8PM, author of tales of terror in a fantastic and political universe, Liudmila Petruchévskaia came to be censored by the Soviet Union and today is considered one of the great names of Russian literature. Anabela Mota Ribeiro mediated the table with the eighty year-old writer.
On Sunday (July 29th) at 10AM, the folklore of Paraty, portrayed by Thereza Maia, finds the mythology of death in the sertao of Bahia, narrated by Franklin Carvalho. The roundtable session is free and has Luciana Araujo Marques in mediation.
At 12PM FLIP’s closing session is another tribute to Hilda Hilst and actress Iara Jamra returns to talk about dating the author. Also participating are the photographer Eder Chiodetto and the singer and composer Zeca Baleiro, who have works based on the work of the author from São Paulo.
What: Festa Literária de Paraty – FLIP Literary Festival
When: this Wednesday, July 25th – this Sunday, July 29th
Where: Paraty, RJ – click here for how to get to Paraty
Entrance: The Festival is free to attend, but events are ticketed; click here for more information or here to buy tickets.