Mineiro Joaquim Celso Freire launches new book in BH this Tuesday (21)

Minas Gerais native Joaquim Celso Freire launches this Tuesday (21), in Belo Horizonte, the book “Gabirobas Roxas, Jabuticabas Amarelas, Lagartixas Alcoviteiras”. The story, according to the writer and professor, is part of a project developed by him that includes three other works, already published, which revolve around a nonagenarian character, José Silva.

“’Purple Gabirobas, Yellow Jabuticabas, Alcoviteiras Lizards’ is part of a fictional project that is perhaps ending its cycle now”, explains Freire. While in the three previous works – “Um Silva de A a Z” (2007), “O Rio das Minhas Manhãs” (2012) and “Meu Pé de Alecrim deu Fulô” (2015) – the story is told by José Silva, the The fourth is narrated by another character: Laura, who was this man’s caregiver for around three decades, for whom he had a desire.

The stories of the four books are connected. “In ‘Um Silva de A a Z’, he narrates his story from ‘a’ to ‘z’, all his exploits from life in the countryside, life in the city and the work accident that leads him to lose a finger ; He has little knowledge of formal education, but is attached to books, until later he manages to do them”, summarizes the writer.

“In the second book, ‘O Rio das Minhas Manhãs’, this character recounts memories of his childhood. In the third book, ‘Meu Pé de Alecrim de Fulô’, he dedicates himself to memories of two days of his existence, in 2013, when he is on a farm, in a mountain region, which is when he most intensely sexual affections with the person who takes care of him, who is Laura. That’s when you start imagining relationship possibilities”, says the Minas Gerais native, based in São Paulo since 1974.

“In ‘Gabirobas Roxas, Jabuticabas Amarelas, Lagartixas Alcoviteiras’, which I’m releasing now, José Silva loses his voice and the narrator is Laura. She talks about the impressions she had of the character during the period they lived together (Laura lived with the man and his wife for three decades). The fact is that her dreams coincide with the dreams he had”, highlights Joaquim Celso Freire.

The title “Gabirobas Roxas, Jabuticabas Amarelas, Lagartixas Alcoviteiras”, according to the author, is a reference to an excerpt from the third work in the project. “In ‘Meu Pé de Alecrim de Fulô’, José Silva imagined inviting Laura to go to a field of gabirobas and jabuticabas that was a few meters from the house. There, without his wife present, he planned to argue that he was a good catch, however, the trip did not happen. The character then picks up some books to read, he starts to imagine some possibilities, there are some geckos on the slab with which he interacts, which encourage him to date Laura”, he explains.

The new work also features illustrations by Joaquim Celso Freire. His image also appears on the cover of “Gabirobas Roxas, Jabuticabas Amarelas, Lagartixas Alcoviteiras”. “This is the second book that I have illustrated. I have always seen drawing and painting as an artistic possibility that I like to work on,” he says.

Service

The launch event for “Gabirobas Roxas, Jabuticabas Amarelas, Lagartixas Alcoviteiras” will be this Tuesday (21), at Livraria Leitura in Shopping Cidade (rua Tupis, 337, center), starting at 6pm. The autograph night will be open to the public and will feature a reading of excerpts from Joaquim Celso Freire’s new work.

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