ITAMAR
VIEIRA JUNIOR
SALVAR O FOGO
Translation Maria Papadima
One of the most compelling voices in contemporary Brazilian literature, Itamar Vieira Junior is among the writers who have reshaped the country’s literary landscape with works of remarkable imagination and incisiveness, earning acclaim from both readers and critics alike.
In northern Bahia, along the banks of the Paraguaçu River, where the earth conceals terrible secrets beneath its surface, Luzia is raising her younger brother, Moisés, amid old feuds and the visible and invisible power of the Church. In this Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous community, love is never freely given: it must be earned, protected, and tested. The ghosts of Luzia’s family past become entwined with the ghosts of the nation itself. Each character’s life bears the marks of colonial violence—wounds that remain unhealed to this day.
Wild Soul is a novel about how we take root and continue to bloom despite suffering.
Following Crooked Plow—the acclaimed debut by Brazilian writer Itamar Vieira Junior, shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize and published in Greek by Aiolos Editions—Vieira Junior returns with Wild Soul, winner of the 2024 Jabuti Prize, Brazil’s most prestigious literary award.
Vieira Junior writes with remarkable clarity and force, with the authority of someone who understands how strength can emerge from trauma. His characters do not seek heroic escape, but simply the space to breathe, to remain standing, and to endure.
