The reader is not a ‘customer’: Bernardo Carvalho at DLF

Born in 1960 in Rio de Janeiro, Bernardo Carvalho worked in Paris and New York as a foreign correspondent for the Brazilian daily newspaper ‘Folha de Sao Paulo‘ in the early 1990s. His 1993 debut, a collection of stories entitled ‘Aberracao,’ was nominated for the country’s most prestigious literary award. Nove Noites (2007) (Nine Nights) and Mongolia (2003) are some of Bernardo’s most appreciated works.

The reader is not a ‘customer’
Bernardo in his 40-minute lecture revealed and decoded a number of factors and aspects that govern authors’ method of writing, and dictate readers’ choice of selecting books. Unfortunately, today, the ‘market’ defines and decides what kind of literature to be ‘sold’. “Literature should travel well. It must mean more than business.