Ana Paula Maia
Ana Paula Maia (born 1977) is a Brazilian writer and screenwriter.
Career
Maia's first book, O Habitante das falhas subterrâneas was published in 2003. She is the author of the Saga dos Brutos (Saga of Brutes) trilogy, which began with the short novels Entre rinhas de cachorros e porcos abatidos (Between Dog Fights and Hog Slaughter) and O Trabalho sujo dos outros (The Dirty Work of Others) —both published in a single volume— and concluded with the novel Carvão animal (Carbo animalis).[1]
Her 2017 novel, Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra, was published in English as On Earth as it is Beneath, translated by Padma Viswanathan. It was longlisted for the International Booker Prize.[2][3]
Personal life
Maia was born in Nova Iguaçu, in the state of Rio de Janeiro; her mother is a literature teacher and her father is a bar owner. Maia grew up with books in her childhood, but lost interest in them in her adolescence, playing in a punk rock band during her teenage years.[4] Maia graduated in computer science and communication science.[5]
Influences
Maia's writing is influenced by Dostoevsky, Edgar Allan Poe, Quentin Tarantino and Sergio Leone's films, TV series and pulp literature, among others. The main characters of her narratives are men, people working in essential and hazardous jobs, such as garbage collectors, coal miners and slaughterhouse workers.[6][7]
She stated having no interest in writing about women, having said: "I am already a woman twenty-four hours a day. I want to be a man a little bit, a little rough. (...) I want to do something different. And I can only do that in literature, because in this life I won't be able to do that, I don't have that possibility.."[8]
Awards
Maia won the São Paulo Prize for Literature for Best Novel twice, with Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra, in 2018 and Enterre Seus Mortos, in 2019.[9]
Works
- O habitante das falhas subterrâneas (2003)
- A Guerra dos Bastardos (2007)
- Saga dos Brutos trilogy (2009-11)
- Vols. 1 and 2: Entre rinhas de cachorros e porcos abatidos and O trabalho sujo dos outros (2009). Between Dog Fights and Hog Slaughter and The Dirty Work of Others
- Vol. 3: Carvão Animal (2011). Carbo animalis
- De Gados e Homens (2013).
- Of Cattle and Men, trans. Zoë Perry (Charco Press, 2023)
- Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra (2017).
- On Earth As It Is Beneath, trans. Padma Viswanathan (Charco Press, 2025)
- Enterre Seus Mortos (2018)
- Bury Your Dead, trans. Padma Viswanathan (upcoming, Charco Press, 2026)
- De cada quinhentos uma alma (2021)
- Búfalos selvagens (2024)
Compilations in English
- Saga of Brutes, trans. Alexandra Joy Forman (Dalkey Archive Press, 2016). ISBN 978-1628971460
References
- ^ "Divirta-se Notícia – Atraente ritual funesto". archive.is. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "The International Booker Prize 2026". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
- ^ Creamer, Ella (24 February 2026). "Witches, Nazi collaborators and banned books: International Booker prize announces 2026 longlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
- ^ "Entrevista: Ana Paula Maia". Biblioteca Pública do Paraná (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ Entretenimento, Portal Uai (2 December 2018). "Ana Paula Maia fala sobre influência do western e diz: 'minha militância é escrever uma boa história'". Portal Uai Entretenimento (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ [1]
- ^ PublishNews. "Ana Paula Maia fala de novo livro no Sempre Um Papo". PublishNews (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ "Jornal Rascunho" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ "Ana Paula Maia vence o Prêmio SP de Literatura pelo segundo ano seguido". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 9 November 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
External links
- Author's page at Companhia das Letras (in Portuguese)
- page at Editora Record (in Portuguese)