Jeferson Tenorio (born 1977) is a Brazilian writer. He was born in Rio de Janeiro and now lives in Porto Alegre.[1] [2] He obtained a PhD in Literary Theory from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS). His stage texts and short stories have been translated into English and Spanish.
His debut novel O beijo na parede appeared in 2013 and was elected Book of the Year by Associação Gaúcha de Escritores. His novel O avesso da pele (2020) won the Prêmio Jabuti. It was published in English translation as Dark Side of Skin by Charco Press. It has been optioned for translations in Italian, French, Chinese and other languages.
One of Tenório’s motives for beginning to write were his many encounters with police brutality. He believed that his writing could be a way to confront the racism present in the South of Brazil as well as the rest of the country. In general, his works touch on the themes of poverty, racial discrimination, and class inequality in Brazil.
In the majority of his works, the author provides a point of view ranging from early childhood to adolescence. Tenório believes that by using young characters, he can reach a larger audience, producing greater empathy from the readers because the voice of the child is more innocent and sincere.
Since the early 1990s, he began expanding his career in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.[3] During his undergraduate studies, Jefferson was awarded a scholarship from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).[4] With a bachelor in Portuguese and a master’s degree in Luso-African literature from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, he also has a PhD in literary theory from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul.[5] His research is focused on colonialism, post-colonialism, identity, and the African diaspora in post-modernism. Additionally, he teaches Portuguese and literature in the public school system. His debut novel, O beijo na parede, was published in 2013 and was later voted Book of the Year by the Gaucho Writers Association. His short stories and screenplays have been translated to English as well as Spanish.
In 2018, he released his novel Estela sem Deus in association with publishing company Editora Zouk. This novel got a new edition in 2022 by Companhia das Letras (a respected Brazilian publishing company).[6] His book rights have been sold to different countries including Italy, Portugal, France, England, Switzerland, the United States, Belgium, and China.
He also wrote the novel O avesso da pele (The Flipside of Skin) (2020), which won the Prêmio Jabuti in the Literary Novel category of the following year, which follows the story of a young man whose father, a black school teacher, was killed by soldiers of the Military Police Brigade.[7]
Tenório writes two weekly columns for the online newspapers Zero Hora and the UOL portal.[8] Tenório is also currently involved with the project Cartografias Narrativas (Narrative Cartographies) in the Portuguese language. This study occurs in association with the Graduate Program in Portuguese (PPGL) within the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) and began in 2017 with the objective to promote authors, texts, and literary theories within the Lusophone world. Up to the present, several articles have already been produced based on 100+ works, within the project.
He received an honorable mention at the 19th Paulo Leminski Short Story Competition held by the Western Paraná State University; he won the 15th Poemas no Ônibus Contest and the 3rd Poemas no Trem Contest by the local government of Porto Alegre (Poems on the bus; Poems on the train). In 2020 he was the first black man elected as the patron of the Feira do Livro (Book fair) in Porto Alegre. In 2022, Tenório received the title of Citizen of Porto Alegre from the City of Porto Alegre. The author of the proposal, councilwoman Bruna Rodrigues, said “we want to make Jeferson a living legacy of the city such that black people can occupy space in society more and more”.
The author remains active in racial discussions and debates within Brazil. In one of his weekly publications for the online newspaper UOL, he commented on the killing of João Alberto Freitas, who died after being beaten in Porto Alegre on November 19, 2020. Tenório said: “Sometimes I think that we, black people, in the end, have a unique journey to fulfill: which is to forsake being black… No black person lives without the weight of reprisal because of their color”. The author also commented in his column about the difficulties of educating his son about racism in Brazil. When asked by his son about João Freitas’ case, as they were eating lunch, Tenório said “I didn’t know what to say… I didn’t know how to tell him.” The author said to his son “sometimes, the world doesn’t like black people”.[9]