We are delighted to announce the winners for PEN Presents: Brazil, the latest round of English PEN’s programme funding the often-unpaid work of creating samples, giving publishers access to titles from underrepresented languages and regions, and helping diversify the translated literature landscape.
For this round of PEN Presents, supported by the British Council as part of the UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025–26, translators based anywhere in the world and working from any of the languages of Brazil were invited to submit proposals to create sample translations of previously untranslated work of any form and genre.
The six winners showcase the diversity of literature from across Brazil, bringing to light stories from across its regions and communities. They were chosen from a shortlist of 13 projects, whose translators were awarded grants to create samples of their proposed works.
The winners have worked editorially with English PEN, and their samples are available to read now on the PEN Presents platform, an online catalogue of outstanding, original, and bibliodiverse literature not yet published in English translation. The projects will be promoted to publishers and commissioning editors across the Anglophone publishing sector over the coming months.
The winning translators are:
- Natália Affonso for a translation from the Portuguese of tidal water by tatiana nascimento
- Lúcia Collischonn for a translation from the Portuguese of One Woman, Two Skeletons by Julia Dantas
- Taty Guedes for a translation from the Portuguese and Makuxi of Makunaimã’s beautiful words by Trudruá Dorrico
- Adrian Minckley for a translation from the Portuguese of The Porno President by Bruna Kalil Othero
- Nina Perrotta for a translation from the Portuguese of The Paediatrician by Andréa del Fuego
- Julia Sanches for a translation from the Portuguese of Mata Doce by Luciany Aparecida
So Mayer, Chair of the selection panel and English PEN Translation Advisory Co-chair, said:
“A wide-ranging, vivid and excellent PEN Presents: Brazil longlist of 13 titles led to a wide-ranging, vivid and excellent discussion. These six exceptional samples were selected from a mixture of translators who are deservedly celebrated in the UK, such as Julia Sanches, and several for whom this represents an exciting and ambitious first, full-length project for the UK market.
The books chosen showcase and celebrate contemporary Brazilian publishing in all its fierce risk-taking: from Trudruá Dorrico’s deep-rooted, deep-singing poetry that blends Makuxi and Portuguese, through sharp, sexy, daring satirical novels from Bruna Kalil Othero – theatrical, experimental, puntastic – and Andréa del Fuego, who skewers the upper middle classes, and a zillennial reflection on COVID confinement and government neglect from Julia Dantas, to the voices of rural Black Brazilians in striking, and strikingly different, novels of defiant queer feminist family by tatiana nascimento and Luciany Aparecida. UK publishers and readers have an exhilarating experience of literary voices awaiting them.”
Rachel Stevens, Director Literature, British Council, said:
“Congratulations to all the writers and translators selected for PEN Presents: Brazil. This list reflects the huge breadth of contemporary Brazilian writing across genres. I’m pleased to see the mix of early career new voices, alongside more established prize winners, including a Tamoios / FNLIJ / UKA New Indigenous Writers contest winner, and a translator shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. The selected writers come from right across Brazil, from Porto Alegre to Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Bahia, São Paulo and Rondônia, sharing with us a multitude of stories from this large and richly diverse country.
We’re delighted to support this round of PEN Presents, as part of the British Council’s UK/Brazil Season of Culture. We hope it will raise the profile of contemporary Brazilian writing internationally, connecting these writers and translators with publishers and readers in Brazil, the UK and beyond.”
Nadia Saeed, Translation and International Manager, English PEN, said:
“The six winning samples are bold and daring, each with a deeply human story that captures the complexity of life, relationships, and our place in the world. With themes of motherhood, power, and queer rights, it became clear through the editorial process that this is a list filled with ferocity and joy, love and empathy. We’re also thrilled to hear that two of these titles, Mata Doce and The Paediatrician, have already been acquired, and we can’t wait for them and the other titles in this issue to reach UK readers.”
The UK/Brazil Season of Culture was a year-long celebration with the aim of strengthening the relationship between the UK and Brazil through cultural exchange. As part of the Season, PEN Presents: Brazil aims to introduce Anglophone audiences to a broader range of contemporary literature from Brazil, with a particular focus on voices which are underrepresented in the national and international literary landscape. It hopes to develop the capacity of the translation sector and provide opportunities for connections between writers and translators in the UK, Brazil and other countries.