Poncia Vicencio - Tapa dura

Ponciá Vicencio, the debut novel by Afro-Brazilian author Conceição Evaristo, is the story of a young Afro-Brazilian woman's journey from the land of her enslaved ancestors to the emptiness of urban life. However, the generations of creativity, violence and family cannot be so easily left behind as Ponciá is heir to a mysterious psychic gift from her grandfather.Does this gift have the power to bring Ponciá back from the emotional vacuum and absolute solitude that has overtaken her in the city? Do the elemental forces of earth, air, fire and water mean anything in the barren urban landscape? This mystical story of family, dreams and hope by the incomparable Evaristo, illuminates aspects of urban and rural Afro-Brazilian conditions with poetic eloquence and raw urgency.

I grew up listening to my family telling stories about slavery. All of this oral communication that I received had to spill out in some way and it began coming out in what I wrote. My writing has a lot to do with my position in Brazilian society, with my position as a woman, as a black person and as a poor person. My writing depends strongly upon me as an individual to a great extent, but it also depends a lot on my history and upon the history of my community.My great dream is to be able to give my texts back to the people who gave me their life stories. It would be difficult for that to happen because I’m writing in a country where the vast majority is illiterate. In a country like Brazil, I believe that I have a social obligation to return to my origins. I believe in this type of politics and I think that people need to believe it in.– Conceição Evaristo