Victor Heringer

Victor Heringer
BornVictor Doblas Heringer
(1988-03-27)March 27, 1988
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
DiedMarch 7, 2018(2018-03-07) (aged 29)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
OccupationAuthor, translator
LanguagePortuguese
Alma materFederal University of Rio de Janeiro
GenreNovel, poetry, crônica
Years active2009–2018
Notable worksGlória (2012)
O Amor dos Homens Avulsos (2016)
Notable awardsPrêmio Jabuti (2013)

Victor Doblas Heringer (March 27, 1988 – March 7, 2018) was a Brazilian Prêmio Jabuti-winning novelist, translator, cronista and poet, famous for his novels Glória (2012) and O Amor dos Homens Avulsos (2016).

Biography

Victor Doblas Heringer was born on March 27, 1988, to a family of German descent[1] in Rio de Janeiro, in the bairro (neighborhood) of São Cristóvão, but was raised in Nova Friburgo.[2][3] Graduated in Literature from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, before publishing his first books he worked at the Instituto Moreira Salles[4] and at the Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa after obtaining a scholarship for the latter. Between 2014 and 2017 he had a weekly column in the magazine Pessoa,[5] and also periodically wrote for the Pernambuco-based magazine Continente,[6] among many others.

Heringer published his debut novel, Cidade Impossível, through Editora Multifoco in 2009,[7] which was followed by 2011's poetry collection Automatógrafo. In 2012, his critically acclaimed second novel Glória, about a "plastic artist searching for an impossible woman", came out, for which he was awarded the prestigious Prêmio Jabuti the following year.[8][9] Heringer's third novel, O Amor dos Homens Avulsos, was released in 2016 through Companhia das Letras,[10][11][12] and tells the story "of two boys who fall in love with each other, but have their passion interrupted by a tragedy";[13] it was nominated for the Prêmio Rio de Literatura, the São Paulo Prize for Literature and the Prêmio Oceanos.[14] He claims that the fictional carioca neighborhood of Queím, in which the novel takes place, was inspired by the real-life neighborhood of Del Castilho, where he used to visit his grandmother when he was a kid, as well as by his childhood memories of Rio's North Zone as a whole.[15][16]

Heringer's final work to be published during his lifetime was a translation to Portuguese of Loung Ung's 2000 memoir First They Killed My Father, which came out in Brazil in 2017 through HarperCollins.[17][18] The same year, he was included by Forbes Brasil in their "UNDER 30 in Literature" list,[19] and one of his poems was featured in the anthology É Agora como Nunca, edited by singer Adriana Calcanhotto.[20]

Throughout most of his life Heringer struggled with depression.[21] On March 7, 2018, three weeks prior to his 30th birthday, he was found dead near his apartment in Copacabana following an apparent suicide by self-defenestration.[2][22][23] On June 9, 2018, his publisher Companhia das Letras announced that, as a tribute to him, they would re-issue all of his works; they had already re-published his first novel Glória some months prior,[24] and a volume of his complete poetry, containing previously unpublished pieces and originally announced for a 2019 release,[25] eventually came out in 2024.[26] In one of his final interviews, from October 2017, he stated that he was working on a fourth novel, scheduled to be published in 2018 and inspired by his travels across South America, India and Indonesia, but it is unknown if he was able to finish it prior to his death.[8]

A posthumous collection containing seventy of Heringer's crônicas, Vida Desinteressante, came out through Companhia das Letras in 2021;[27][28] it was nominated for another Prêmio Jabuti the following year.[29] An English translation of O Amor dos Homens Avulsos was published by Peirene Press on July 11, 2023,[30] following an earlier translation to Italian by Safarà Editore.[31] The English translation was a finalist for the 2023 John Leonard Prize given by the National Book Critics Circle.[32]

Bibliography

Novels
  • Cidade Impossível (Multifoco, 2009)
  • Glória (7Letras, 2012; re-issued by Companhia das Letras in 2018)
  • O Amor dos Homens Avulsos (Companhia das Letras, 2016[A])
Poetry
  • Automatógrafo (7Letras, 2011)
  • Não Sou Poeta: Poesia Reunida (Companhia das Letras, 2024; posthumous)
Translation
Crônicas
  • Vida Desinteressante: Fragmentos de Memórias (Companhia das Letras, 2021; posthumous)

Notes

  • ^ A. Released in English as The Love of Singular Men (trans. by James Young, Peirene Press, 2023) and in Italian as L'amore degli uomini soli (trans. by Vincenzo Barca, Safarà Editore, 2023)
  • ^ B. Released in Portuguese as Primeiro Mataram Meu Pai

References

  1. ^ "Elogio de um amigo teuto-carioca: sobre o escritor Victor Heringer". UOL (in Portuguese). March 13, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Aos 29 anos, morre no Rio o escritor Victor Heringer". O Globo (in Portuguese). March 7, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  3. ^ "Criado em Friburgo, escritor Victor Heringer morre aos 29 anos". A Voz da Serra (in Portuguese). March 9, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  4. ^ "Sobre Victor Heringer". Blog do IMS (in Portuguese). March 8, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  5. ^ Revista Pessoa – Colunas: Victor Heringer (in Portuguese)
  6. ^ Victor Heringer (August 1, 2017). "Os sinos que dobram e os homens que não se dobram". Revista Continente. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  7. ^ "Cidade Impossível". Editora Multifoco (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Escritor Victor Heringer, finalista do Prêmio Jabuti, morre aos 29 anos". Correio Braziliense (in Portuguese). March 8, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  9. ^ "Absurdo e divertido, romance Glória nos faz rir onde deveria nos fazer chorar". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). January 25, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  10. ^ "'Escrever é uma reação um tanto patética contra o desaparecimento inevitável de tudo que existe'". Jornal Opção (in Portuguese). November 12, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  11. ^ "Multiplataforma, Victor Heringer pediu ajuda na rede para escrever seu novo livro". Época (in Portuguese). September 2, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Bolívar Torres (August 23, 2016). "Victor Heringer, ativista da ternura e do afeto". O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  13. ^ "Morre o escritor carioca Victor Heringer". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). March 7, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  14. ^ "Difusão da língua portuguesa distingue Prêmio Oceanos". Correio Braziliense (in Portuguese). November 23, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  15. ^ "O Amor dos Homens Avulsos, de Victor Heringer, recria um mundo de afetos e dores através da memória". Porco Espinho (in Portuguese). December 8, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  16. ^ "Uma maneira de estar no mundo". Deriva (in Portuguese). February 9, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  17. ^ "Primeiro Mataram Meu Pai, livro que inspirou filme de Angelina Jolie, chega ao Brasil". Omelete (in Portuguese). September 12, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  18. ^ "Resenha: Primeiro Mataram Meu Pai, livro que inspirou filme de Angelina Jolie". Blah Cultural (in Portuguese). October 20, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  19. ^ "Victor Heringer, UNDER 30 em 2017, é encontrado morto no Rio". Forbes Brasil (in Portuguese). March 8, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  20. ^ "Adriana Calcanhotto apresenta nova safra de poetas do Rio". O Globo (in Portuguese). February 12, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  21. ^ "Na flor da idade". Veja (in Portuguese). June 19, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  22. ^ "Suicídios no Brasil, o país onde o passado não passa". Combate Racismo Ambiental (in Portuguese). May 7, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  23. ^ "CONSIDERAÇÕES EM TORNO DE "O AMOR DOS HOMENS AVULSOS", DE VICTOR HERINGER". Psychiatry Online Brasil (in Portuguese). May 2, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  24. ^ "Vendas de livro de Victor Heringer disparam e editora vai reunir obra do autor". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). June 9, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  25. ^ "Oito meses após a morte de Victor Heringer, Glória ganha reedição, e poesias inéditas saem em 2019". O Globo (in Portuguese). November 9, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  26. ^ "Não Sou Poeta: Poesia Reunida". Companhia das Letras (in Portuguese). Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  27. ^ "'Anticrônicas' de Victor Heringer ganham edição". Rascunho (in Portuguese). September 9, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  28. ^ "De Victor Heringer, 'Vida Desinteressante' é mote de uma geração". ISTOÉ (in Portuguese). January 4, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  29. ^ "Prêmio Jabuti 2022 anuncia finalistas". Rascunho (in Portuguese). October 26, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  30. ^ "The Love of Singular Men". Peirene Press. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  31. ^ "L'amore degli uomini soli – Victor Heringer". Safarà Editore (in Italian). Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  32. ^ "National Book Critics Circle: 2023 NBCC Award Winners", www.bookcritics.org. Retrieved May 6, 2024.