For me it’s gotta be “Morte e Vida Severina”/ “Severino Death and Life”. It’s an epic poem narrating the journey of a poor man from Northeastern Brazil, a famously poor and segregated region that’s frequently affected by severe droughts, fleeing from his home and walking to the big city to survive the season. On the way he describes all the misery he experiences and sees.

One stanza that has stuck with me for years goes something like this "And all of us Severinos/With the same lives/Will die of the same/Severe Severino death,/The death died of/Old age before thirty/Of an ambush before twenty/And of hunger day by day/(Of weakness and plague/The Severino death/attacks at all ages/even those not born)

  • NenupharII@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    I think it has been translated, but I don’t know if it’s known much outside of France : La Quête d’Ewilan, written by Pierre Bottero. It’s a book for children, but it’s so full of poetry in a way. It has a sequel : Les Mondes d’Ewilan, and another related trilogy : Ellana. Pierre Bottero really made French children (and teens, and adults) dream, and I hope kids around the world can discover his books! They are naturally inclusive and full of aventures that let us remember that we can do many things, wherever we come from and whatever our gender is. All of it being really well written, in my opinion 😊