elephantmacaw

Passo Fundo is known as the “Literature Capital of Brazil”.  Not only do they host the National Literary Journey every two years, they have one of the highest literary rates in Brazil.  While the national average of books read outside of school is 1.3 per inhabitant per year, in Passo Fundo the average is an amazing 6.5!

This National Literary Journey is HUGE

This year I was one of the authors invited to speak at the event, an immense honor.  I was proud to have “The Fortutious Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara” named as a work “of special merit in the formation of young readers”.  Inspiring young readers is what inspires me.

Over two days, I spoke to eleven groups of junior high and high school aged children.  I never felt like a rock star until I participated in the event.  Each time I walked into one of the circus tents, the master of ceremonies would speak my name and over a thousand children would scream and applaud.  In all, I spoke to around 12.000 students.

Speaking to a captive audience – one of eleven…

I saw children reading books, buying books, and most importantly, discussing books.  For a writer, the event was a spiritual high.  It refueled my faith in the next generation.

Interacting with young readers was the best part

At the end, I was presented with the Vasco Prado Trophy for my participation.  It was a great honor to be able to participate and interact with the real stars of the show: the readers.  They are our future, and they’re doing just fine.

Vasco Prado Trophy

(Photographs by Christopher Kastensmidt and National Literary Journey staff)

Originally published at The Elephant and Macaw Banner. You can comment here or there.

One of my Worldcon highlights this year was the panel entitled “F*** Your Knight and the Horse he Rode in on: Fantasy Series not Based on Medieval European Culture”.  This panel featured Aliette de Bodard, Ken Scholes, Saladin Ahmed, and myself as moderator.

The room was packed–standing room only with people spilling out into the hallway.  We spent an hour discussing fantasy series that break away from the typical Medieval Western European settings, and the crowd loved it.  All the panelists were amazing, and fielded some pointed questions from the audience.  The panel proved there is a great demand out there for fantasy series like The Elephant and Macaw Banner.  I had people stopping me in the halls to congratulate me for the rest of the con.

The Untitled Convention Project filmed the panel and put about a quarter of it online.  I hope you enjoy it!

Watch Non-Medieval Fantasy in SciFi & Fantasy | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Originally published at The Elephant and Macaw Banner. You can comment here or there.

And so here goes my Worldcon schedule, in all its glory   Hope to see many of your there!

I have a long writer’s journey ahead…in three acts.  Starting on August 12th, I will participate in three major literary events during a two-week period.  The events include Fantasticon (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Worldcon (Reno, Nevada), and the Jornada Nacional de Literatura (Passo Fundo, Brazil).

During those two weeks, I’ll travel over 15,000 miles by plane, and another 400 by car.  I’ll appear on seven panels, give eleven lectures, participate in four autograph sessions, give one reading, and have at least one interview.  At the Jornada alone, I’ll speak to over 12.000 people.  At the other events, hundreds more.

And I’m looking forward to every minute of it.  Worldcon and Fantasticon are two events I’ve done before, and I enjoy them both immensely.  They are a chance to catch up with dozens of friends from the industry.  The Jornada invite is a once-in-a-lifetime honor.  It is South America’s largest “Literary Journey”, one of the largest events of its type in the world.  It occurs only once every two years, and there are so few authors invited that they don’t tend to repeat very often.

These are two weeks that could change my life, and give me a chance to change in some small way the lives of many others.  For that I’m enormously greatful.  I hope I can live up to the faith the organizers of these events have put in me.

I’ll be posting the agendas shortly.  Fantasticon and the Jornada I’ll put on the Portuguese site, and Worldcon on the English website.

And I hope to see some of you there!

Originally published at The Elephant and Macaw Banner. You can comment here or there.

Here’s a short interview I did with Mike Zipser from Fast Forward right before the Nebulas:

This interview never appeared on the show, it was done during the Fast Forward interviewing workshop.  In it, we discuss “The Fortuitous Meeting”, The Elephant and Macaw Banner series, and how my work with video games has influenced my writing.

Many thanks to Fast Forward for the workshop and for letting me put this online!

Originally published at The Elephant and Macaw Banner. You can comment here or there.

For those who have read “The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara” in any format, please consider posting a quick review on Amazon.  The review page is very lonely:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004H4XQ1U

Thanks so much!

Christopher

Originally published at The Elephant and Macaw Banner. You can comment here or there.

In “The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara”, Gerard is called before Governor Almeida to face charges of “vagrancy and practicing the Protestant religion”.

The governors were the highest authorities in Colonial Brazil, appointed by the King of Portugal himself (or, during the unification, the king of Spain).  The governor was the king’s official representative in the massive colony.

The position originated when King Dom João III appointed Tomé de Sousa first Governor of Brazil and sent him to establish the capital city of Salvador.

Tomé de Souza

Three positions were created just below the governor: the “ouvidor-mor” (head of justice), “capitão-mor” (head of defense), and “provedor-mor” (head of the treasury).  At the regional level, city councils were established which could communicate with the governor or directly to the king.

Over the years, the position of Governor evolved to that of General Governor and eventually to Viceroy, as both Brazil and its importance to Portugal expanded.

Except for two short periods where the colony was spilt into two different territories with two different governors (north and south), the governor and government resided in Salvador.  In 1763, near the end of the Colonial period, the capital was transferred to Rio de Janeiro.  In 1808, when Prince John (later John VI) left Portugal to live in Brazil, the position was discontinued.

Originally published at The Elephant and Macaw Banner. You can comment here or there.

I forgot to post this one here before, there was news report that came out right before the Nebulas on RedeTV. It discusses the series and shows part of an interview with me.  It’s in Portuguese, but shows my home office and a lot of artwork from the series.

I’ve been interviewed over a dozen times in Brazil this year, but this one came out on national TV and is extra special.

I just wish they hadn’t filmed me paging through a Narnia book.

Originally published at The Elephant and Macaw Banner. You can comment here or there.