.
Sobre o Sebastopol e meus outros livros, perfil no Brazilian Publishers.
.
Brazilian writer Emilio Fraia sold to Prodigo Films the rights of his book Sebastopol (Sevastopol) to be adapted for the big screen. The feature film will be directed by Caio Ortiz and produced by Beto Gauss and Francesco Civita. Alfaguara, the publisher of the title in Brazil, put the author in touch with the production company. “The initial idea is to use the three stories in the film, but anything can happen”, says Emilio. The book that inspired the movie is being translated into English, and the translation will be published in 2021 by American publisher New Directions.
Sebastopol includes three short stories that work independently but are subtly connected to one another somehow. “The seed of what became one of such stories was sowed back in 2012, in a short story selected and published in Granta magazine”, says the author. That issue of the British magazine chose the best Brazilian writers under 40 years old, and one of them was Emilio Fraia. In the first story, a female climber decides to climb the Everest and suffers an accident that changes her life forever. Years later, she finds a video in which an artist seems to be narrating her story. In the second story, set in the Midwest region of Brazil, a man goes to an abandoned inn and then vanishes. The reader slowly discovers the history of that man. In the third and last story, a young woman, together with an old theater director, writes about a Russian painter who has never finished one of his most famous paintings. The artist lived during the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855), the main battle during the Crimean War, which involved some Western powerful countries against the Tsarist Russia in the 19th Century.
“There’s always someone telling stories, imagining and remembering things in the book”, points out the author. The story, expressed in such way, ends up working as comments to the main narrative – and to the book as a whole. The stories, as a group, give more complexity to the book.
Sebastopol was one of the winners of the Brazilian National Library Award and shortlisted for the Jabuti and Oceanos Awards. Last year, one of its three stories was also published in the December issue of The New Yorker magazine. Emilio’s first book, O Verão de Chibo (The Summer of Chibo), also published by Alfaguara, was written in a partnership with Vanessa Barbara, in 2008. The title was shortlisted for the São Paulo Prize for Literature and was well received by critics. “Vanessa and I were guests in the Paraty International Literary Festival that year. We both were 25 years old”, says the writer. In his career, the author developed three works that are very different from one another in terms of format. The first of them was the rich experience of writing a fiction novel with Vanessa Barbara. “It was very challenging because the story often took directions we did not expect, but we had to make it work.” The result was so good that the four-handed book was shortlisted for important prizes.
Exploring a different format, in 2013 Emilio wrote the plot and the script of Campo em Branco (Blank Space), a graphic novel developed in a partnership with visual artist DW Ribatski and published by Companhia das Letras. “I had the opportunity to explore further some themes that were already present in my previous book: the relationship between brothers, the attempt to bring back something that no longer exists”, explains the author.
The partnership with DW Ribatiski was a completely new experience. First, Emilio thought he could write a long story for DW to adapt it. But in his deep dive in the universe of comic books Emilio learned new ways of thinking and producing stories. “During the process I understood that, in order to express certain atmospheres, pace, times and intentions that were inside my head, I had to follow other paths”. Thinking on how the story goes forward by moving from one frame to the next and from one page to the next while immersed in the process was an extremely positive experience for the writer.
Asked about novelties, the author excited our curiosity and said he is working on a novel: “All I can say for now is that it’s the story of two sisters”.
.
Sobre o Sebastopol e meus outros livros, perfil no Brazilian Publishers.
.
Brazilian writer Emilio Fraia sold to Prodigo Films the rights of his book Sebastopol (Sevastopol) to be adapted for the big screen. The feature film will be directed by Caio Ortiz and produced by Beto Gauss and Francesco Civita. Alfaguara, the publisher of the title in Brazil, put the author in touch with the production company. “The initial idea is to use the three stories in the film, but anything can happen”, says Emilio. The book that inspired the movie is being translated into English, and the translation will be published in 2021 by American publisher New Directions.
Sebastopol includes three short stories that work independently but are subtly connected to one another somehow. “The seed of what became one of such stories was sowed back in 2012, in a short story selected and published in Granta magazine”, says the author. That issue of the British magazine chose the best Brazilian writers under 40 years old, and one of them was Emilio Fraia. In the first story, a female climber decides to climb the Everest and suffers an accident that changes her life forever. Years later, she finds a video in which an artist seems to be narrating her story. In the second story, set in the Midwest region of Brazil, a man goes to an abandoned inn and then vanishes. The reader slowly discovers the history of that man. In the third and last story, a young woman, together with an old theater director, writes about a Russian painter who has never finished one of his most famous paintings. The artist lived during the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855), the main battle during the Crimean War, which involved some Western powerful countries against the Tsarist Russia in the 19th Century.
“There’s always someone telling stories, imagining and remembering things in the book”, points out the author. The story, expressed in such way, ends up working as comments to the main narrative – and to the book as a whole. The stories, as a group, give more complexity to the book.
Sebastopol was one of the winners of the Brazilian National Library Award and shortlisted for the Jabuti and Oceanos Awards. Last year, one of its three stories was also published in the December issue of The New Yorker magazine. Emilio’s first book, O Verão de Chibo (The Summer of Chibo), also published by Alfaguara, was written in a partnership with Vanessa Barbara, in 2008. The title was shortlisted for the São Paulo Prize for Literature and was well received by critics. “Vanessa and I were guests in the Paraty International Literary Festival that year. We both were 25 years old”, says the writer. In his career, the author developed three works that are very different from one another in terms of format. The first of them was the rich experience of writing a fiction novel with Vanessa Barbara. “It was very challenging because the story often took directions we did not expect, but we had to make it work.” The result was so good that the four-handed book was shortlisted for important prizes.
Exploring a different format, in 2013 Emilio wrote the plot and the script of Campo em Branco (Blank Space), a graphic novel developed in a partnership with visual artist DW Ribatski and published by Companhia das Letras. “I had the opportunity to explore further some themes that were already present in my previous book: the relationship between brothers, the attempt to bring back something that no longer exists”, explains the author.
The partnership with DW Ribatiski was a completely new experience. First, Emilio thought he could write a long story for DW to adapt it. But in his deep dive in the universe of comic books Emilio learned new ways of thinking and producing stories. “During the process I understood that, in order to express certain atmospheres, pace, times and intentions that were inside my head, I had to follow other paths”. Thinking on how the story goes forward by moving from one frame to the next and from one page to the next while immersed in the process was an extremely positive experience for the writer.
Asked about novelties, the author excited our curiosity and said he is working on a novel: “All I can say for now is that it’s the story of two sisters”.
.
