Monteiro, Luana

PERSONAL: Born in Recife, Brazil; immigrated to United States, 1993. Education: University of South Florida, B.A., 2002; University of Wisconsin, M.F.A., 2004. Hobbies and other interests: Music, astrology.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Delphinium Books, 10 E. 53rd St., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10022.

WRITINGS:

Little Star of Bela Lua: A Novella and Stories, Delphinium Books (Harrison, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Luana Monteiro is a native Brazilian who tells stories inspired by her life in Brazil and the fables and tales she heard as a child in Little Star of Bela Lua: A Novella and Stories. Monteiro lived in both Brazil and the United States until 1993, when she became a permanent resident of the United States, settling in Madison, Wisconsin.

Her debut, called "glorious" "beautifully written and wonderfully drawn" by a People reviewer, contains three stories and the title novella, are set in arid northeast Brazil. "Curado" is the story of a doctor who accepts a turkey as payment for his services and places it in the trunk of his girlfriend's Mustang, with disastrous results. Cloe abandons her erotic life for a life devoted to God in "The Whirling Dove," and a colorful fish that can work miracles with unexpected consequences is discovered in the latrine of a peasant in "A Fish in the Desert." The priest of the title novella is uncertain as to the morality of converting natives in the Amazon. "Full of the smells and cadences of the old country, these are pleasant, whimsical tales with personality and a gentle-pedaling Christian message," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Entertainment Weekly, July 29, 2005, Ben Spier, review of Little Star of Bela Lua: A Novella and Stories, p. 73.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2005, review of Little Star of Bela Lua, p. 561.

People, August 22, 2005, review of Little Star of Bela Lua, p. 49.