Marcelino Freire


Marcelino Freire is a Brazilian writer and cultural producer.
Freire is best known for his short story collection Contos negreiros which won the Prêmio Jabuti in 2006 and for his debut novel Nossos ossos, which won the National Library of Brazil Machado de Assis Prize for Best Novel in 2014; it was also nominated for both the Jabuti and the São Paulo Prize for Literature. Other titles include Amar é Crime, Angu de Sangue, BaléRalé and Bagageiro.
His writings often deal into themes such as violence, marginalisation and masculinities.

Life and career

Born in Sertânia in the state of Pernambuco, Freire was the youngest of nine children. He moved with his family to Paulo Afonso, Bahia, in 1969. He remained there for six years, before returning to Pernambuco and settling in the capital, Recife, where he began performing theater. In 1981, he wrote his first plays in this genre, along with a group of visual artists and writers from the city. Throughout the 1980s, he worked as a bank clerk and began a Literature course at the Catholic University of Pernambuco, but did not complete it.
In 1988, he attended the writer Raimundo Carrero's literary workshop and, two years later, received an award from the Pernambuco state government. In 1991, he moved to São Paulo, where he worked in an advertising agency and started publishing his writings in 1995.
Since 2006, Freire promotes in São Paulo the Balada Literária, an event which combines music, literature and arts; the event also had editions in Bahia, Pernambuco and Piauí. He also teaches creative writing classes.

Personal life

In interviews, Freire said jokingly he is a "non-observing" homosexual.

Published works