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This interview began in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil on September 4, 2012 at the Inter- continental Hotel on Almeda Santos Blvd. We finished via Skype and Facebook in August 2013. This conversation is a glimpse of a relationship that spans nearly fifteen years.
RC: Since the 1995 publication of Enfim . . . Nós: Escritoras Negras Brasilerias Contemporaneas [Finally . . . Us: Contemporary Black Brazilian Women Writers], you have become one of the big names in the literary world. What does this mean to you?
MA: When you met us, we were already known. Our work had taken wings to reach you. To publish our poetry was a battle. But moving ahead, our poems flew to places we never imagined. We only published one thousand of those books, which is nothing in the world of publishing. And in that book, Conceição and I had four poems each, which is nothing from our creative production.1
RC: Are you speaking of Cadernos Negros?
MA: No, I am speaking of all of our works. There are only one thousand copies [of Enfim Nós] and this was nothing. But, yes, the book was a victory in terms of literary production and there are a lot of people seeking us out. But it means very little. Publishing and distributing [our works] still demands a force and a battle, but we incorporate this battle into our literature and continue the battle.
RC: It's hard. The Portuguese language is difficult. Even here, the Spanish language dominates our work depending on the university's program. So it is not always easy to translate your works and they are strong works. The 1995 bi-lingual edition with Carolyn Durham as well the Nineties works translated by Carol Boyce Davies made a variety of works available in English. Now, many people are translating other works. The problem for Afro-Brazilian au- thors is that many of you do not earn a living on your writings like a Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, June Jordan and Nancy Morejón. Like these authors ... I don't know . . .
MA: For me, this would be great. This reality seems very far away. The prob- lem is not only language, but we Afro-Brazilian writers, me, Conceição, Cris- tiane Sobral and...