Ana Maria Machado
Ana Maria Machado was born in 1941 in Rio de Janeiro and is, alongside Lygia Bojunga and Ruth Rocha, one of the most significant children’s book authors in Brazil. She started her career as a painter in Rio de Janeiro and New York. After studying Romance languages she did a PhD with Roland Barthes at the ‘École Pratique des Hautes Études’ in Paris. She worked as journalist for the magazine ‘Elle’ in Paris and the BBC in London. In 1979, she opened the first children’s literature bookshop in Brazil, ‘Malasartes’.
In 1969, Ana Maria Machado started to write. “I belong to that generation of writers who began to write during the military dictatorship, as children’s literature, alongside poetry and song texts, were amongst the few literary forms with which, through the poetic and symbolic use of language, you could make the ideas of a joie de vivre, individual freedom and respect for human rights known.” Her story ‘Menina Bonita do laço de fita’ (1986) about a white and a black rabbit who marry and have a whole hoard of black, white and black and white patterned children, is a charming book about the living together of diverse ethnic groups. In ‘Era uma vez um tirano’ (1982) three children defy a tyrant who has forbidden colour, thoughts and any happiness. Without pointing fingers, Ana Maria Machado always dresses up her messages in humorous stories and trusts the ability of her young readers to also read between the lines.
Similar to many Brazilian children’s book authors of her generation, Ana Maria Machado stands in the tradition of the first great children’s book author, José Bento Monteiro Lobatos (1882-1948). Her writing is marked, in the style of “magical realism”, by a subtle mix of social satire and fantastic elements as well as a conscious and playful use of language and narrative structures. In ‘História meio ao contrario’ (1978), Ana Maria Machado turns the classic narrative structure of the fairytale on its head and lets her story begin with: “And if they didn’t die, then they are still alive today” and end with “once upon a time”.
In ‘Bisa Bia, Bisa Bel’ (1982), one of her central works, Isabell’s internal dialogue with her dead great-grandmother, Bisa Bia, and her own great-grandchild from the future, Bisa Bel, becomes a magical journey to the invisible connections between the generations, which finally allow Isabell to find her own way. For the author, fantasy also means to expand the sense for space and time and to allow reality and fantasy to mix with each other.
Just as brilliantly in ‘Palavra de Honra’ (2005, Engl: Word of Honour) Machado tells the story of a Luso-Brazilian family which has become very wealthy since their arrival in the 19th century. The reader encounters Letícia, who tries to reconstruct her own story out of the dispersed remains of the family legacy.
Ana Maria Machado has written more than hundred books for children and adults in 17 countries for which she has received the most significant Brazilian awards and many international honours. In 2000, she was awarded the ‘Hans Christian Andersen Award’ for her life work, the most significant international pr ize for youth and children’s literature. Ana Maria Machado lives with her family in Rio de Janeiro.
© international literature festival berlin
Recado do Nome
Martins Fontes
Sao Paulo, 1976
Historia meio ao contrario
Atica
Sao Paulo, 1979
Hoje tem espetáculo
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 1984
[Ill: Gerson Conforto]
Menina Bonita do Laço de Fita
Atica
Sao Paulo, 1986
[Ill. Claudius]
Tropica sol de liberdade
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 1988
Bisa Bia, Bisa Bel
Dressler
Hamburg, 1988
[Ü: Maralde Meyer-Minnemann]
Der Regenbogen oder wie die Kinder den Tyrannen vertrieben
Lamuv
Göttingen, 1989
[Ü: Regula Renschler]
Alice e Ulisses
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 1990
Bento que bento é o frade
Salamandra
Rio de Janeiro, 1990
[Ill. Eva Furnari]
Canteiros de saturna
F. Alves Editora
Rio de Janeiro, 1991
Warum der kleine Delphin Purzelbäume schlägt und andere Geschichten
Maier
Ravensburg, 1992
[Ill: Ulises Wensell]
Aos quatro ventos
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 1993
Do outro lado tem segredos
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 1993
[Ill. Gerson Conforto]
O mistério da ilha
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 1993
[Ill. Wilma Martins]
La abuelita aventurera
Editora SM
Madrid, 1995
[Ill. Pablo Nùñez]
O mar nunca transborda
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 1995
Currupaco papaco
Salamandra
Rio de Janeiro, 1997
[Ill. Cláudio Martins]
Esta Força Estranha
Atual
Sao Paulo, 1998
A audácia dessa mulher
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 1999
Contra Corrente
Atica
Sao Paulo, 1999
Para sempre: Amor e tempo
Editora Record
Rio de Janeiro, 2001
Texturas
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 2001
Como e por que ler os clássicos universais desde cedo
Editora Objetiva
Rio de Janeiro, 2002
De Carta em Carta
Salamandra
Rio de Janeiro, 2002
[Ill. Nelson Cruz]
Dia de Chuva
Salamandra
Rio de Janeiro, 2002
[Ill. Nelson Cruz]
Menina bonita do laço de fita
Atica
Sao Paulo, 2002
Portinholas
[ mit Candido Portinari]
Mercuryo Jovem
Sao Paulo, 2003
Abrinda Caminho
Atica
Sao Paolo, 2003
Ah, Cambaxirra, Se Eu Pudesse…
FTD
Sao Paulo, 2003
[Ill. Graça Lima]
Bento que Bento é o Frade
Salamandra
Rio de Janeiro, 2003
[Ill. Cláudio Martins]
O Domador de Monstros
FTD
Sao Paulo, 2003
[Ill. Suppa]
O Barbeiro e o Coronel
FTD
Sao Paulo, 2003
[Ill. Michele Iacocca]
Pimenta no Cocuruto
FTD
Sao Paulo, 2003
[Ill. Roberta Weigand]
Uma Boa Cantoria
FTD
Sao Paulo, 2003
[Ill. Edu]
Ilhas no tempo
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 2004
Camilon, Comilon (El Barco de Vapor)
Ed. SM
Madrid, 2004
Do outro mundo
Atica
Sao Paolo, 2005
Palavra de honra
Editora Nova Fronteira
Rio de Janeiro, 2005
Ponto de Vista
Melhoramentos
Sao Paulo, 2005
[Ill. Ziraldo]
Procura-se Lobo
Atica
Sao Paulo, 2005
[Ill. Laurent Cardon]
Übersetzer: Ute Hermanns, Maralde Meyer-Minnemann, Regula Renschler