We were lucky to catch up with Gabriela Lages Veloso recently and have shared our conversation below.
Gabriela, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved reading fairy tales, comics, legends and myths. But I had a hard time answering the famous question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. I had difficulty because I was interested in so many areas of knowledge. I thought about being a psychologist, a mathematician, an engineer, among other things.
But after finishing high school and facing some health problems, I had time to reflect and get to know myself. I took a closer look at my skills and realized two things: firstly, literature had always been an important part of my life; and secondly, I had the facility, and patience, to teach.
So I took a degree in Letras – Língua Portuguesa at the Universidade Estadual do Maranhão (UEMA, Brazil). In other words, I studied for a degree so that I could become a literature teacher. I found myself in this area, but it didn’t stop there. When I started studying and researching Contemporary Brazilian Literature, I felt a call to become a writer too. After graduating from university, I started a Master’s degree in Letras, in the line of Theoretical and Critical Studies in Literature, at the Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA, Brazil).
In 2019, I wrote my first chronicle, entitled “Insight”, which was later a finalist in the AMEI Literary Award 2020. In 2020, I published the short story “O Relicário” in the Revista Intransitiva of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ, Brazil). In 2021, I entered the world of poetry and began publishing my texts in newspapers and magazines in Brazil and abroad (in countries such as Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, among others).
Between 2021 and 2022, I published many poems, and I soon noticed that they had a thematic unity. So I put them together in a book: “O mar de vidro” (Caravana, 2023), my first book of poetry.
The idea for the title came about because of my poem of the same name (“O mar de vidro”), which won second place in the Prêmio Emílio Lansac Toha, held by the Academia de Letras de São João da Boa Vista, in São Paulo (Brazil), in 2022. This poem gave its name to my first book of poetry.
My book “O mar de vidro” was launched at an event held on December 1, 2023, at the Academia Maranhense de Letras (AML), the most important place for literature produced in the state of Maranhão (Brazil). The book, which contains 44 poems, was published in August 2023 by Caravana Grupo Editorial (Minas Gerais, Brazil).
The launch event included a literary soiree and talks by writer José Neres, from the Academia Maranhense de Letras (AML), and Professor Maria Aracy Bonfim, from the Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA).
The book has already received critical reviews from writers Antonio Aílton, from the Academia Ludovicense de Letras (ALL, Brazil), and José Neres, from AML, as well as being the subject of episode 97 of the Multiversos Podcast, presented by Portuguese poet Ana Cláudia Santos.
“O mar de vidro” is already part of the collection of several libraries around the world, such as: the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); the Cambridge University Library, in England; the Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra and Biblioteca da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, both in Portugal.
In the United States, “O mar de vidro” can be consulted at the Widener Library at Harvard University (Massachusetts), the Firestone Library at Princeton University (New Jersey), the Joseph Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago (Illinois) and the Latin American and Iberian Studies – ILAIS at the Catholic University of America (Washington DC).
Those interested in Latin American Literature can buy my book of poetry, in Portuguese, by emailing [email protected].
I’ve always been very methodical, but literary writing has brought chaos into my life, a good chaos, or rather a revolution. Now I’ve finally found my place in the world.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a Brazilian writer, poet, teacher and literary critic. I’m doing my Master’s in Letras, in the line of Theoretical and Critical Studies in Literature, at the Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA, Brazil). I have a degree in Letras – Língua Portuguesa, from the Universidade Estadual do Maranhão (UEMA, Brazil), and am the author of the books “Através dos Espelhos de Guimarães Rosa e Jostein Gaarder: reflexos e figurações” (Editora Diálogos, essay, 2021) and “O mar de vidro” (Caravana, poetry, 2023). In 2023, I organized the anthology “Poéticas Contemporâneas: uma cartografia da escrita de mulheres” (Brecci Books, 2023). I’m currently a columnist for Imirante.com and Feminário Conexões. I also collaborate with magazines in Brazil and around the world.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents Ana Regina and Salomão gave me the greatest wealth a human being can have: knowledge. This wealth cannot be taken away from us by anything or anyone. Since childhood, my parents have encouraged me to cultivate the habit of reading and dreaming big.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://imirante.com/colunas/gabriela-lages-veloso
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_gabriela_lv?igsh=MjZoaWsxdWJ2YWx4
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@gabrielalages?feature=shared
- Other: E-mail: [email protected]
