Telles, Lygia Fagundes (1923–)

Lygia Fagundes Telles (b. 19 April 1923), Brazilian fiction writer. As a law student in São Paulo, Telles published a short story collection, Praia viva (Living Beach), in 1944. In 1949 her collection of short stories O cacto vermelho (The Red Cactus) received the Brazilian Academy of Letters prize for fiction, marking the beginning of a distinguished literary career that includes four novels, seven short-story collections, and eight prizes. Telles's fiction exhibits both modern literary techniques and knowledge of Brazilian life, with emphasis on the female psyche. Her most celebrated novel, As meninas (1973; The Girl in the Photograph, 1982), re-creates aspects of the 1964–1984 military regime. Telles's forte is the short story; she is known for her use of the fantastic. Her fiction reflects her era, attracting both readers and critics. Female readers recognize themselves in her strong characterizations of urban women. Her 1990 novel, As horas nuas (Naked Hours), follows previous directions in presenting an actress's existential concerns in present-day São Paulo. Politically outspoken, Telles participated in protests against the military regime. In 1985 she became the third woman elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters. In 1989, her work As horas nuas won the Dom Infante Santo Prize from Portugal. In 1994 she was a participant in the Festival of the Book in Frankfurt. In 2001, her book Invenção e Memória won the Jabuti Prize for Fiction, and the Grand Prize from the Associaçao Paulista dos Críticos de Arte. That same year, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Universidade de Brasilia. In 2005, she won the Camões Prize, the most prestigious prize for literature in the Portuguese language.

See alsoLiterature: Brazil .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Other works by Telles include Histórias do desencontro (1958); Seminário dos ratos (1977); Mistérios (1981); and Tigrela and Other Stories (1986). Critical attention to her fiction includes Richard Burgin, "Tigrela and Other Stories," in New York Times Book Review (4 May 1986); and John M. Tolman, "New Fiction: Lygia Fagundes Telles," in Review no. 30 (1981): 65-70.

Additional Bibliography

Erro-Peralta, Nora, and Caridad Silva. Beyond the Border: A New Age in Latin American Women's Fiction. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000.

Rector, Monica. Brazilian Writers. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.

Sadlier, Darlene J. One Hundred Years After Tomorrow: Brazilian Women's Fiction in the 20th Century. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.

                                Maria AngÉlica Lopes