Writing in different languages
Greetings, my dear readers!
I decided to talk a little about how it is being a Brazilian writer in the English market. Sometimes I feel like an expatriate author, even though I still live in my home country. Right now, I'm able to write in English in about the same speed as I do with my native Portuguese, and feel more comfortable about releasing books abroad. It wasn't an easy choice, but it paid off.
That, however, means most of my family and friends, who don't speak English, are unable to read my recent work. My mother, who also read all of my stories from the beginning, wishes she could continue to do so, but can't understand a word of my gringo novels (as I like to call them).
Last year, I spent two months in Costa Rica, living in a beautiful ecological reserve where I wrote my latest book, Sawara: A Jaguar's Memoir. Have you ever seen a film where the American character visits a foreign country and almost everyone there speaks English? I'm afraid that doesn't happen in real life.
In those two months, I had to learn Spanish as fast as possible, or I wouldn't be able to buy a bus ticket or order food. Portuguese and Spanish are very similar, but not the same. It was an interesting experience, and now I have another language in my resumé. Maybe I'll write something in Spanish someday!
My real passion is the Italian language, even though I've never been to Italy. I've had a short story and an essay published there and would love to write a full Italian book in the future. Is this dreaming too big? I believe there's no such thing!
I look forward to telling you more about my experiences and my writing in the next newsletters. Let me know if there's something more you'd like to know.
Warms wishes!
Matt Ferraz
Currently reading: Exploration Fawcett, by Col. Percy Fawcett
Last movie seen: Kursk (Thomas Vinterberg, 2020)
Weird dream I had last night: I was Gollum, trying to hide in a gas station in the middle of the night to watch a ninja movie on TV
I decided to talk a little about how it is being a Brazilian writer in the English market. Sometimes I feel like an expatriate author, even though I still live in my home country. Right now, I'm able to write in English in about the same speed as I do with my native Portuguese, and feel more comfortable about releasing books abroad. It wasn't an easy choice, but it paid off.
That, however, means most of my family and friends, who don't speak English, are unable to read my recent work. My mother, who also read all of my stories from the beginning, wishes she could continue to do so, but can't understand a word of my gringo novels (as I like to call them).
Last year, I spent two months in Costa Rica, living in a beautiful ecological reserve where I wrote my latest book, Sawara: A Jaguar's Memoir. Have you ever seen a film where the American character visits a foreign country and almost everyone there speaks English? I'm afraid that doesn't happen in real life.
In those two months, I had to learn Spanish as fast as possible, or I wouldn't be able to buy a bus ticket or order food. Portuguese and Spanish are very similar, but not the same. It was an interesting experience, and now I have another language in my resumé. Maybe I'll write something in Spanish someday!
My real passion is the Italian language, even though I've never been to Italy. I've had a short story and an essay published there and would love to write a full Italian book in the future. Is this dreaming too big? I believe there's no such thing!
I look forward to telling you more about my experiences and my writing in the next newsletters. Let me know if there's something more you'd like to know.
Warms wishes!
Matt Ferraz
Currently reading: Exploration Fawcett, by Col. Percy Fawcett
Last movie seen: Kursk (Thomas Vinterberg, 2020)
Weird dream I had last night: I was Gollum, trying to hide in a gas station in the middle of the night to watch a ninja movie on TV
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