Amora

Natalia Borges Polesso is from Bento Gonçalves in Brazil. She is a writer and a translator with a PhD in literary theory. She is the author of Cutouts for Photo Album without People (2013), Amora (2015)—which in 2016 won the Prêmio Jabuti, the Jabuti Amazon Reader’s Choice Award, the Book of the Year AGES Award, and the Prêmio Açorianos de Literatura—and Control (2019), among other titles. In 2017, she was one of only two Brazilian authors on the Bogotá39 list, which selects the most promising Latin American authors under thirty-nine.Julia Sanches is a translator of Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Catalan. She has translated works by Susana Moreira Marques, Noemi Jaffe, Daniel Galera, and Geovani Martins, among others. Her shorter translations have appeared in various magazines and periodicals, including Words without Borders, Granta, Tin House, and Guernica.

“With brevity, abstraction, and narrative tension, Polesso offers a poignant look at women alternately broken down and resilient. Fans of Lucia Berlin will love these tense and twisty tales.” —Publishers Weekly“Borges Polesso explores the depths of amorous relationships between women young and old, married and single, out and closeted, independent and cripplingly co-dependent—but first and foremost, in love…A romp through 33 stories of lesbian love.” —Kirkus Reviews“[A] thrillingly idiosyncratic collection.” —OprahMag.com“Offers nuanced snapshots of heartbreak and desire…a springy translation…There’s a lot to love in these 33 stories of love between women…Polesso’s writing is brisk and fresh, and she captures the bleak human comedy of the myriad ways we mess up when it comes to matters of the heart. Her women often have a hefty sense of self-loathing, and a drily pained view of the world. But Polesso can be sweet too. She offers windows into the private worlds created by long-term lovers…an enjoyable collection…many stories ripple with the ingrained fear and shame that comes from feeling you have to keep your sexuality hidden.” —The Guardian (UK)“Natalia Borges Polesso’s brilliant short story collection follows a circle of lesbians living in Brazil, some of whom know one another and some of whom don’t. Love is what threads these 33 stories together—self-love, love for other women, and a love for a freedom that only truth can bring…real, vulnerable, and full of twists you’ll never see coming.” —Bitch Media (UK)“Moving beyond romantic and sexual love in its exploration of women’s relationships, Amora is, at turns, tender and raw.” —Bustle“Less a collection of stories than a collage of vibrant snapshots, Polesso’s entrancing compilation—awarded Brazil’s most prestigious literary prizes—offers pithy-poetic glimpses into the lives of women of various ages who love and desire other women.” —O, the Oprah Magazine“Amora elevates the stories of women loving women…Each story is a new shape. In each of the thirty-three stories (Yes truly. Every single one of them!) a woman confronts her feelings for another woman. Sometimes, like in ‘Dreaming,’ the Sapphic desire is the crux on which everything is built. Other times, like in ‘Bite Your Tongue,’ it’s just a fact vaguely audible to the larger plot. But it’s always there. Even if it’s lurking in the background. And sometimes that’s what feels the most groundbreaking. A story can be queer, even if the point of it isn’t queerness…the stories feel very much alive.” —Lambda Literary“Amora captures the realness of what relationships are like in a real way.” —OprahMag.com“Natalia Borges Polesso is a rising Brazilian writer who deserves to be on all your lists…I was enchanted with these tales at every turn.” —Book Riot