Trevisan, João Silvério 1944–

PERSONAL: Born June 23, 1944, in Ribeirão Bonito, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Education: Lorena/Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Editora Record, Rua Argentina 171, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

CAREER: Writer, screenwriter, movie director, playwright, translator, journalist, and activist. Director of the film Orgy, or, the Male Who Gave Birth, c. 1990s; University of Texas, writer in residence, 2001.

MEMBER: Writers Association of Brazil, Playwrights Association of Brazil.

AWARDS, HONORS: First prize, Brazilian national short story competition, O Seminario magazine, 1957; Goethe Institute fellow, 1984–85; Prémio Jabuti, 1994, for novels, 1998, for short stories.

WRITINGS:

Testamento de Jãnatas deixado a David: [contos] (stories), Editora Brasiliense (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1976.

As incríveis aventuras de El Condor (juvenile), Editora Brasiliense (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1982.

En nome do dessejo: romance (fiction), Editora Code-cri (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 1983, reprinted, Edi-tora Record (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 2001.

Vagas notícias de Melinha Marchiotti (fiction), Global Editora (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1984.

Devassos no paraíso (nonfiction), Editora M. Limonad (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1986, translation by Martin Foreman published as Perverts in Paradise, GMP (London, England), 1986.

(With Igor A. Caruso) A separacao dos amantes: uma fenomenologia da morte, Cortez (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1989.

O livro do avesso: romance (fiction), Ars Poetica (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1992.

Ana em Veneza (novel), Editora Best Seller (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1994.

Troços & destroços: contos (fiction), Editora Record (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 1997.

Seis balas num buraco só: a crise do masculine, Editora Record (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 1998.

Pedaço de mim, Editora Record (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 2002.

Contributor to the anthology O Amor com olhos de adeus: antologia do conto gay brasileiro, Transviatta (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1995.

SIDELIGHTS: João Silvério Trevisan is a noted Brazilian author who writes novels and short stories and may be best known for his novel Ana em Veneza. He is also the author of a nonfiction history of homosexuality in Brazil titled Devassos no paraíso, which was published in English as Perverts in Paradise. The book focuses on Brazil's gay culture and describes how different aspects of the Brazilian society have contributed to this culture. The author provides a history from the Portuguese invasion of Brazil to modern times, including a first-hand account of the country's gay movement in the 1970s. The author also looks at the influence of religion and law on repressing the homosexual culture, including imprisonment for being a homosexual. In addition, the author delves into homosexual artistic voices in the areas of Brazilian literature, drama, film, and music. Writing in the New Statesman, Gregory Woods noted that the book 'expresses political disappointments' and added that it shows 'that, contrary to all logic, gay lifestyles are not automatically subversive.' Writing on the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives Web site, a contributor called the book 'a fascinating survey of Brazilian gay life, with topics ranging from transvestite voodoo priests to pop music idols to Guevarist revolutionaries, by a pioneering Brazilian gay activist.'

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Geographical, May, 1999, review of Perverts in Paradise, p. 50.

New Statesman (London, England), June 27, 1986, Gregory Woods, review of Perverts in Paradise, p. 33.

ONLINE

Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives, http://www.clga.ca/ (March 5, 2006), brief review of Perverts in Paradise.

Matt & Andrej Koymasky Home Page, http://andrejkoymasky.com/ (March 5, 2006), brief profile of author.

University of Texas Web site, http://www.utexas.edu/ (March 5, 2006), 'Joao Silverio Trevisan: 2001.