Author
tatiana nascimento
tatiana nascimento
tatiana nascimento is from brasília, brasil. Irê’s mother. nonbinary. poet, song/writer, editor. She celebrates the forces of the Wind and the Earth that conduct her Orí. Through melody and noise in loop, they re-engineer affection, Blackness, the brazilian savannah and the sea. They recently released an album, meio beat meio banzo. tatiana conceptualized the term “cuírlombismo,” opening a new path for the interpretation, critique, and diffusion of Black LGBTQIA+ aesthetic productions. she has published 26 books of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, translations, and children’s literature. Palavra Preta was shortlisted for the 2022 Jabuti prize for poetry. Their debut novel, Água de maré, won the 2025 Best Queer Book of the Year from Mix Literário, the biggest LGBTQ+ literary prize in Brazil, and the 2024 Pallas Literature Award. tatiana’s work has been translated into multiple languages.
Translator
Natália Affonso
Natália Affonso
Natália Affonso is a translator and publishing professional from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, based in Southern California, who sometimes commits (to) poetry. Her translations of Tatiana Nascimento’s work are published in the anthology Cuíer (Two Lines Press, 2021) and in the chapbook lunduzinho (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2022). She is the editor of a Full Stop magazine forthcoming quarterly, Tender Tongues (2026).
Original language
Portuguese
Publishing status
Translation extract
About the book
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About the book
About
tidal water follows two sisters, antonia and nereci, Black lesbians living in a Salvador inner city, and how they make their own happiness, love, and sense of belonging in a world where lesbophobia and transphobia disrupt their lives. The novel draws on Afro-Brazilian spirituality and features nascimento’s signature interplay of standard Portuguese and spoken languages of Black and LGBTQ+ people.
What our readers say
Reading tidal water is like entering the ocean and being led by strong, relentless currents. The sample translation provides the same immersive experience as the original, propelling the reader to a marginalized and underrepresented culture of Brazil. It’s an insightful stream-of-consciousness narrative that explores fundamental questions of the lives of poor, Black, and queer women in a profoundly unequal society. The tone and informal language were masterfully translated through clever solutions that show the translator’s deep understanding of the cultural and linguistic nuances of the original.
– Ana Rita Mendes
Awards
Mix Literário’s 2025 Best Queer Book of the Year
Rights available
World English