Monday, October 25, 2021

Literature on the short side

 The Brazilians have stories called cordel literature. The term is Portuguese: string literature. The books, usually 8 pages, are produced as quartos and are illustrated with woodcuts. They are hung on clotheslines to dry.

Galeano’s The Book of Embraces is a model: 180 short notes, essays, anecdotes, accounts, narratives and stories.

The length is distinctive. They are short, like blog posts.

Galeano’s Walking Words is closer to the pure form. Each story would fit that format, about 8 pages with room for woodcuts. The book is illustrated by cordel maestro Jose Francisco Borges of Bezarros.

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