Noted Translator to Give Reading of Brazilian Poet’s Works on Oct. 30

Alexis Levitin will read Salgado Maranhão award-winning works

WOOSTER, Ohio — Alexis Levitin, noted translator of Portuguese poetry, will give a reading of the poetry of Brazilian writer, lyricist, and composer Salgado Maranhão, on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at The College of Wooster. Maranhão will be in attendance at the reading, which begins at 7 p.m. in the lounge of Babcock Hall (1315 Beall Ave.), and is free and open to the public. Maranhão’s first book of poetry translated into English, Sol Sangüíeo (Blood of the Sun), was published this fall by Milkweed Editions. Refreshments will be available, and a book signing will take place following the reading.

Born in 1953, Maranhão received Brazil's highest literary award, the Brazilian Academy of Letters Prize, for his collection The Color of the Word in 2011. He also received the prestigious Prêmio Jabuti for Mural of Winds in 1999. In addition to his eight books of poetry, including The Snake’s Fists, The Kiss of the Beast, and Tiger’s Fur, Maranhão has written song lyrics and made recordings with some of Brazil’s leading jazz and pop musicians. In fact, his rise to prominence as a lyricist began through his work with such Brazilian musical artists as Elba Ramalho, Ney Matogrosso, and Paulinho da Viola. Maranhão currently lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.

Levitin is the translator of numerous books of translations of Portuguese-language writers, including Forbidden Words: The Selected Poems of Eugenio de Andrade (New Directions, 2002) and Egito Goncalves' News from the Blockade and Other Poems (Guernica Editions, 2001). Previously, his translations of Eugénio de Andrade, Rosa Alice Branco and other Portuguese-language poets have appeared in more than 200 magazines, including The College of Wooster’s Artful Dodge, American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, Translation, Massachusetts Review, Prairie Schooner, and Partisan Review, and in such anthologies as Macmillan’s Women Poets of the World and St. Martin’s Press’s Latin American Writers. Levitin is the winner of an NEA Translation Award, a New York State Council on the Arts Translation Award, and the Fernando Pessoa Translation Award from The Translation Center at Columbia University.

Levitin’s appearance at Wooster is sponsored by the Department of English and the Donaldson Fund. Additional information is available by phone (330-263-2575) or e-mail.