In March the Salon du livre de Paris featured contemporary Brazilian literature, and 48 writers were invited to attend by the Centre national du livre. An article in Livres de France (L850.b.568) no. 392 for March 2015 gave brief biographical details of each invitee. Although the majority of authors are active in the field of belle lettres, the list of names also includes a theologian (Leonardo Boff), an environmentalist (Davi Kopenawa) and an anthropologist (Betty Mindlin).

All the invited authors have already had their work published in French translation. A few have only so far contributed to French language anthologies and journals, but 43 have independent works published in French translation. The article concludes with a listing of an astonishing 114 new titles in French on Brazil and Brazilian literature, published between January and March 2015 to coincide with the Salon du livre. An interesting point of comparison is that of the 48 names on the list, only 17 appear in English language translation in the University Library catalogue, and only Leonardo Boff, Paulo Coelho and Milton Hatoum have more than two entries for English language texts.

Librarians find lists such as this of enormous value in helping us to determine which authors we should be collecting for the Library. Covering contemporary fiction and poetry effectively is always a particular challenge, regardless of language. Of course, the fact that a Brazilian writer has been invited to the Salon du livre does not automatically mean we should be collecting his or her work. It is nevertheless a pointer, an indication that the writer has achieved a certain prominence. They are names the team in European Collections and Cataloguing need to take time to investigate. If there are names you recognise in the lists below, and if these are people you are convinced should be extensively represented in the University Library’s holdings, please do let us know.

Authors with more than 20 entries in the University Library catalogue: Leonardo Boff, Paulo Coelho

Authors with between 11 and 20 entries in the University Library catalogue: Bernardo Carvalho, Ana Maria Machado, Ana Miranda, Luiz Ruffato, Affonso Romano de Sant’Anna

Authors with between 6 and 10 entries in the University Library catalogue: Daniel Galera, Milton Hatoum, Michel Laub, Adriana Lisboa, Patrícia Melo, Nélida Pinon, Cristovão Tezza, Antônio Torres

Authors with between 1 and 5 entries in the University Library catalogue: Ronaldo Correla de Brito, João Carrascoza, Marina Colasanti, Ferréz, Marcelino Freire, Tatiana Salem Levy, Paulo Lins, Adriana Lunardi, Roger Mello, Betty Milan, Betty Mindlin, Fábio Moon, Fernando Morais, Alberto Mussa, Adauto Novaes, Marcello Quintanilha, Sérgio Rodrigues, Edney Silvestre, Paloma Vidal

Authors not currently represented in the University Library catalogue: Ricardo Aleixo, Edyr Augusto, Bosco Brasil, Rodrigo Ciríaco, Conceição Evaristo, Davi Kopenawa, Angela Lago, S. Lobo, Ana Paula Maia, Lu Menezes, Daniel Munduruku, Sérgio Roveri, Carola Saavedra, Fernanda Torres

David Lowe