Porto Alegre for Readers

From Érico Veríssimo to Caio Fernando Abreu, from Moacyr Scliar to Fabrício Carpinejar – when it comes to literary life, Porto Alegre is renowned for both established writers and the new generations that sustain and renew the culture of letters. The last decade has also showcased names from the new generation, such as Daniel Galera, Carol Bensimon, and Michel Laub — writers who have crossed the borders of the State and the country and are, in some cases, present in important national awards . The writer and doctor in Literature, who won the Jabuti Award in 2016 with the short story collection Amora, pointed out places in Porto Alegre where literature can be felt, from the most direct ways to the most subtle. In her tips, she brings us another invitation: to enter this field between reality and fiction that literature brings, making places, people, and memories gain new colors and meanings. Bring your favorite book, prepare to take photos, and don’t forget an app for notes. It may be that, while you reconnect with Porto Alegre, a new story emerges.“There is a Village on Santana Street, in the Farroupilha neighborhood, and within it, there is a Whale. The Village offers courses, workshops, chats, launches, good and bad artistic-literary advice; it’s worth getting to know. On Vasco da Gama, in the Bom Fim neighborhood, the aura and soul of Palavraria still concentrate, a very important place for the memory of the city’s literature, where many writers met, gossiped, fought, where ideas for books and films were born, among other things. The Otávio Rocha Viaduct or Borges Viaduct, a unique and multifaceted place. It concentrates everything: wealth, poverty, charm, decay, hipsters, hippies, wanderers, foreigners, breweries, poets, fiction writers, literary critics, performers, two views of Porto Alegre, the low and the high. There are bars, restaurants, second-hand bookstores, everything, all four seasons, the contemplation of life and death. Stories are inscribed there. The Guaíba River is an indefinable Reference, a complex element of the city. Mentioned in many works of fiction, it is through the presence of the Guaíba River and its multicolored waters that the landscape exerts its fascination over the inhabitants. The Guaíba brings visions, critiques, overflow; it brings important dimensions of the human and the urban. On the 7th floor of the PUCRS library, in the Partenon neighborhood, there is an oracle! There, in Delfos – Space for Documentation and Cultural Memory —, you will find treasures of Letters (and other areas too)! Manuscripts, typewritten documents, original books, notebooks, photographs, and even personal objects of great writers who have passed through this city. Highlight for the collection of cassette tapes by Caio Fernando Abreu.Source: www.viagemeturismo.abril.com.br, by Natalia B. Polesso