The bilingual publication Cinco vozes brings together five prominent voices in contemporary Brazilian writing. Made available for the first time in German translation, the stories, poems, essays and experimental works by Eliana Alves Cruz, Conceição Evaristo, Ana Maria Gonçalves, Leda Maria Martins and Amara Moira address issues such as the echoes of history in the body, Afro-Brazilian traditions, femininity* and sexuality, as well as violence and Latin America's troubled political past. The contributions exemplify a major shift in Brazilian culture as historically marginalised voices increasingly take centre stage, redefining their country's literature and expanding its means of expression.

 This seventh volume of the con·stel·la·tions series has its origins in the third iteration of the Middle Ground festival at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (10–11 October 2025, realised in collaboration with EXC 2020), which hosted the Festa Literária das Periferias, an event born in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Ana Maria Gonçalves rose to prominence with her epic novel about slavery, Um defeito de cor (2006), voted the best Brazilian book of the twenty-first century in a survey by the country's biggest newspaper, Folha de São Paulo. Conceição Evaristo, the originator of the concept of 'escrevivência', is best known for her novel Ponciá Vicêncio (2003) and the collection of stories Olhos d'água (2014), which trace the experiences of black Brazilian women. Journalist Eliana Alves Cruz, who researches Brazil's African heritage, received the Jabuti Award for her book A vestida: Contos (2022). The writer and activist Amara Moira introduced Bajubá, a Brazilian sociolect used primarily in the travesti community, into the country's literary landscape. Leda Maria Martins, professor at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, explores the role of time in Afro-Brazilian traditions in her studies on performance and ancestrality.

     

Eliana Alves Cruz, Conceição Evaristo, Ana Maria Gonçalves, Leda Maria Martins, Amara Moira. Cinco vozes da literatura brasileira contemporânea. Fünf Stimmen der zeitgenössischen brasilianischen Literatur. con·stel·la·tions 07. Hamburg: Textem Verlag, 2025 (open access).