Rio - The historical town of Paraty, on the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, with its colonial architecture, is hosting the Second Paraty Literary Festa this week. One of the objectives of the event is to find and stimulate new writers. A workshop at the festa will do just that by selecting 50 novelists who will compete for two prizes worth R$12,000 (around US$4,000) which will be used to finance the publication of their books. The workshop is being run by Miltom Hatoum and has candidates from the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, as well as Brasília.

Aline Beckestein
Repórter da Agência Brasil
(Translator:Allen Bennett)