Faber signs 'superb' Brazilian debut

Faber has acquired a debut book by 26-year-old Brazilian writer Geovani Martins.

The Sun On My Head is a collection of 13 short stories set in Rio’s largest favela, Rocinha. The collection gravitates around the childhoods and teenage years of boys who, in spite of having to deal with the anguish and difficulties inherent to their age, also struggle with the violence involved in growing up on the less favoured side of the ‘Broken City’. 

Assistant editor Emmie Francis and publisher Mitzi Angel pre-empted UK & Commonwealth rights from Laurence Laluyaux at Rogers, Coleridge & White. 

First published by Companhia das Letras (Brazil), rights have also been sold to Farrar Straus & Giroux (US), Gallimard (France), Suhrkamp (Germany), Atlas Contact (Holland), Mondadori (Italy), Alfaguara (Spain), Penguin Random House (Portugal) and Penguin Random House (China).

Francis said: "We are so thrilled to be Geovani Martins’ publisher; we’re still reeling from the news. The Sun On My Head is about masculinity, corruption, guilt, poverty and resilience. Martins boasts superb mastery of both form and storytelling; this story collection is completely of our time yet promises to be profoundly timeless. Just as exciting is that this debut work from an author of unparalleled reputation – and not yet 30 years old – only further confirms the resilient and rude health of international fiction in translation."

Martins grew up with his mother and grandmother in Rocinha. He supported his writing by working as a sandwich-board man and selling drinks on the beach; he was discovered during creative writing workshops in Flup, the literary festival of the Rio favelas.

Faber will publish in July 2019.