Check out the Chiquitos site and a selection of Amazonian music from the Festival Internacional de Musica Barroca Americana.

In 1998 Issue One of Amazonian Literary Review (ALR) was published. This journal is the first of its kind in the English-speaking world. Founded and published by the Center for Amazonian Literature and Culture based at Smith College, it aims to provide a specialized forum for writers from the Amazonian regions of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.

As the celebrated Brazilian poet Thiago de Mello expresses it, the inhabitants of the 7 million square kilometers of Amazonian land are citizens of a patria das àguas (a homeland of the waters). The literary production of that cultural homeland has a profound tradition. The negligence in which it has been held until now speaks of a certain vision of Amazonian culture which suggests that it is solely deserving of anthropological or other scientific attention. Yet the long syncretic history of Amazonia--the blend of cosmopolitan influences with the myriad indigenous expressions--has created and defined a singular literary tradition.

Amazonian Literary Review intends to give voice to the syncretic literatures of the region which find their expression in Portuguese and Spanish. Issues contain representative work by authors, both living and dead. Poems are presented in bilingual format. The journal also includes short stories and passages of longer fiction works, drama, essays on aspects of Amazonian Literature, and reviews of fiction and pertinent critical works.

The first issue features the poetry of Thiago de Mello, Paes Loureiro, Raúl Otero Reiche, Pedro Shimose, and Julio de la Vega, among others. It also includes critical essays by Otero Reiche, Marcio Souza and Euclydes de Cunha which explore the theme of Amazonian identity.

We are fortunate to have the collaboration of eminent writers and critics from each of the six countries of the Amazonian basin. Translations will be carried out by acknowledged professionals. The review will appear annually, at a cost of $15.00.

We hope you share our enthusiasm for this endeavor to clarify and deepen our understanding of this vast portion of the literary map of Latin America. We kindly urge you to support our effort to create a broader understanding of Amazonia.

Sincerely,

Nicomedes Suárez Araúz & Charles Cutler, Editors

Dewey Hall, Smith College, Northampton MA 01063 USA

Tel. Suárez Araúz: 413 585-3461 | Cutler: 413 585-3453
Oficina Central: 413 585-3410 | Fax: 413 585-2075