Illustrated book delicately and poetically portrays themes such as changes, memories, encounters and discoveries.
Two stories intertwine. That of a girl and her mother, who are moving, arriving at a new house. And the story, which the mother tells her daughter, of a princess who lived trapped in a forest. This narrative game builds the plot of The Memory of the Woods , a book by Chilean writer Sara Bertrand and Colombian illustrator Elizabeth Builes that is being published in Brazil by the Selo Emília/Solisluna Editora partnership, now available in bookstores.
The princess in the story doesn't live in a castle. She saw her village burn, experienced violence and took refuge in a lake. But, one day, a cat approaches, instilling in her the desire to go out, a call to live the life that continues outside. The dialogue between mother and daughter records the reflections surrounding the saga of the princess and the cat. Both stories feature careful visual construction throughout the pages. The text changes color in each one and Builes' illustrations feature alternating strokes and intensities within a palette of soft tones.
Originally published by Colombian publisher Cataplum, the book was born from an invitation for Sara to write a fairy tale. A challenge that took shape from a simple observation of everyday life. ”One day I was sitting on the terrace of my house, it had rained a lot and in a puddle in the garden the moon was shining, which gave a certain mysterious depth to the water and I thought "the princess lived in the pond”. The question immediately arose: as?
Because anyone knows that princesses don't live in lakes, but in castles, or at least, they imagine one, in bright and well-ordered rooms, regardless of the horror of walking through their corridors, but this interference gave rise to the structure of the book, or In other words, a story interrupted by dialogue between a mother and a daughter and which allowed me to play with the fictional pact that the books propose”, explains the author. “They tell you a story and you, the reader, decide whether to believe it or not, and in this tug of war, questions necessarily arise until you finally let yourself be seduced and dive into it”, he adds.
The translation of the work took place in four hands between Sara Bertrand and the editor Valéria Pergentino. For weeks, they met to discuss in depth the original text in Spanish and the path to Portuguese, as well as the process of creating the book, which allowed a special contribution from the author herself to the Brazilian edition.
LATINA AUTHORS
Sara Bertrand is a Chilean writer. She won the New Horizons Bologna Ragazzi Award 2017 with La mujer de la Guarda (Babel, 2016); from the White Ravens 2017 with No se lo coma (Hueders, 2016); Medalla Colibrí 2019, with Manifesto Literal, mujeres impresas (Planeta, 2018); of the 2016 Banco del Libro de Venezuela Prize with Cuando los peces se fueron volando (Tragaluz, 2015), and in 2018, with La mujer de la Guarda . It has been translated into French, Catalan, Italian and Portuguese. His latest books are Afuera (2019, Emecé), A Mulher da Guarda (Selo Emília/Solisluna, 2018) - the latter having obtained the Seal of Distinction from the UNESCO Chair in Brazil, in 2019 - and Patos e lobos-marines - conversations about literature and youth (Selo Emília/Solisluna, 2021).
Elizabeth Builes is an illustrator, born in Medellín, Colombia. She studied fine arts at the National University and worked as a scientific illustrator at the Herbarium of the University of Antioquia. Currently, he dedicates himself to editorial illustration; In his work, botany and the relationship between nature and the interior live latently. Her curious and investigative personality accompanies her, and she thinks of herself as a visual narrator. He has published books in publishers such as Cataplum, Tragaluz, SM, Alfaguara, Kalandraka, Random House and Ediciones El Naranjo.
THE BRAZILIAN EDITION
The book arrives in Brazil in a co-edition by Selo Emília and Solisluna Editora, a partnership that has already been consolidated in the publication of literary works and theoretical books in the field of reading study, with nine titles released.
Selo Emília is the editorial arm of Instituto Emília ( emilia.org.br ), a civil society organization that works in content production, reader training, and book and reading promotion.
Solisluna Editora publishes works with themes of universal interest, but which also recognize and value Brazilian traditions. Prose, poetry, novels, essays, Afro-Brazilian studies, art books and books for children and young people ( solisluna.com.br ).
Text: Priscila Brossi
Photographs: Kin Guerra
The Memory of the Forest
Sara Bertrand and Elizabeth Builes
ISBN: 9786586539714
Edition: 1st
Year: 2022
Portuguese language
Edition: Selo Emília/Solisluna Editora
Binding: hardcover
Format: 23 x 28 cm
Number of pages: 44
Price: R$ 65.00
