Dalton Jérson Trevisan (born 14 June 1925) is a Brazilian author of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

. He has been described as an "acclaimed short-story chronicler of lower-class mores and popular dramas." Trevisan won the 2012 Prémio Camões, the leading Portuguese-language author prize, valued at . His short stories are inspired in the daily life of his home city of

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...

, though featuring characters and situations of universal meaning. His extremely concise and refined tales have been called "

Haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

s in

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

". They are often based on dialogue, using a popular language, and underline the torturing and absurd aspects of everyday life. Often brutal, his narratives can be considered the reverse of moral tales, exposing a culture of perversion and violence underlying middle class

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

. As of 2021, only two of his books have been translated into English, ''Novels Not at All Exemplary'' and ''The Vampire of Curitiba'', both in 1972 by translator

Gregory Rabassa Gregory Rabassa, Order of Merit (Portugal), ComM (March 9, 1922 – June 13, 2016), was an American literature, literary translation, translator from Spanish and Portuguese to English. He taught for many years at Columbia University and Queens Co ...

. His reclusive behavior, added to his longevity and the content of his work, gave him the nickname "The Vampire of Curitiba". He graduated from the

Federal University of Paraná The Federal University of Paraná ( pt, Universidade Federal do Paraná, UFPR) is a public university headquartered in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. UFPR is considered to be one of the oldest universities in Brazil. UFPR ranks as 37th best univers ...

in legal studies but seldom worked in the law profession.

''Joaquim''

Dalton Trevisan was the editor of a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

called ''Joaquim'' (portuguese: Revista Joaquim), which put Paraná on the map of brazilian literary discussions in the 1940s. The magazine had a total of 21 issues and circulated between April 1946 and December 1948. ''Joaquim'' was responsible for the first publication in Portuguese of texts by T. S. Elliot,

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He wa ...

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

, Garcia Lorca,

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the Symbolism (arts), symbolist movement, to the advent o ...

and

Jean Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

. Among the sporadic contributors to the magazine it is possible to list

Vinícius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwrigh ...

Carlos Drummond de Andrade Carlos Drummond de Andrade () (October 31, 1902 – August 17, 1987) was a Brazilian poet and writer, considered by some as the greatest Brazilian poet of all time. He has become something of a national cultural symbol in Brazil, where his wi ...

, Mario de Andrade,

Oswald de Andrade José Oswald de Souza Andrade (January 11, 1890 – October 22, 1954) was a Brazilian poet, novelist and cultural critic. He was born, spent most of his life and died in São Paulo. Andrade was one of the founders of Brazilian modernism and a m ...

and Antônio Cândido. The name "Joaquim" was chosen as a common, proximate and universal name in Brazil. ''Joaquim'''s pages displayed original artwork by plastic artists such as

Candido Portinari Candido Portinari (December 29, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was a Brazilian painter. He is considered one of the most important Brazilian painters as well as a prominent and influential practitioner of the neo-realism style in painting. Portinari ...

Di Cavalcanti Emiliano Augusto Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Melo (September 6, 1897 – October 26, 1976), known as Di Cavalcanti, was a Brazilian painter who sought to produce a form of Brazilian art free of any noticeable European influences. His wife was the p ...

, Guido Viaro and

Poty Lazzarotto Napoleon Potyguara Lazzarotto, better known as Poty (Curitiba, March 29, 1924 – Curitiba, May 8, 1998) was a Brazilian artist. His murals - often made of ceramic tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured ...

. Lazzarotto would remain a great editorial partner of Trevisan in the following decades.

Works

* ''Abismo de Rosas'' (1976) * ''Ah, É?'' (1994) * ''A Faca No Coração'' (1975) * ''A Guerra Conjugal'' (1969) * ''A Polaquinha'' (1985) (novel) * ''Arara Bêbada'' (2004) * ''A Trombeta do Anjo Vingador'' (1977) * ''Capitu Sou Eu'' (2003) * ''Cemitério de Elefantes'' (1964) * ''111 Ais'' (2000) * ''Chorinho Brejeiro'' (1981) * ''Contos Eróticos'' (1984) * ''Crimes de Paixão'' (1978) * ''Desastres do Amor'' (1968) * ''Dinorá – Novos Mistérios'' (1994) * ''234'' (1997) * ''Em Busca de Curitiba Perdida'' (1992) * ''Essas Malditas Mulheres'' (1982) * ''Gente Em Conflito'' (com Antônio de Alcântara Machado) (2004) * ''Lincha Tarado'' (1980) * ''Macho não ganha flor'' (2006) * ''Meu Querido Assassino'' (1983) * ''Morte na Praça'' (1964) * ''Mistérios de Curitiba'' (1968) * ''Noites de Amor em Granada'' * ''Novelas nada Exemplares'' (1959) * ''99 Corruíras Nanicas'' (2002) * ''O Grande Deflorador'' (2002) * ''O Pássaro de Cinco Asas'' (1974) * ''O Rei da Terra'' (1972) * ''O Vampiro de Curitiba'' (1965) (''The Vampire of Curitiba'') * ''Pão e Sangue'' (1988) * ''Pico na veia'' (2002) * ''Primeiro Livro de Contos'' (1979) * ''Quem tem medo de vampiro?'' (1998) * ''Vinte Contos Menores'' (1979) * ''Virgem Louca, Loucos Beijos'' (1979) * ''Vozes do Retrato – Quinze Histórias de Mentiras e Verdades'' (1998)

References

External links

Projeto Releitura
(in Portuguese)
Oxford Anthology of the Brazilian Short Story

The Rise of Modern Literature in Southern Brazil
1925 births Living people People from Curitiba Federal University of Paraná alumni Camões Prize winners 20th-century Brazilian male writers 21st-century Brazilian male writers 20th-century Brazilian short story writers 21st-century Brazilian short story writers Brazilian male short story writers {{Brazil-writer-stub