Department of Literature promotes debate with writer Márcio Benjamin

The Horto de Letras book club, from the Department of Letters (LET) at UFRN, is promoting the round table on Horror literature, culture and popular context next Thursday, October 26th. The event will be held in auditorium C of the Center for Human Sciences, Letters and Arts (CCHLA), from 2pm to 4pm. The action is open to the public and has 50 places.
The debate is attended by the writer from Rio Grande do Norte Márcio Benjamin, winner of the 2019 Moacy Cirne Fiction Awards and the 2020 Odisseia de Literatura Fantástica Narrativa Curta de Horror 2020. The meeting aims to discuss the elements that shape horror literature, relating them to popular culture and context. The conversation is coordinated by LET teacher Jaqueline Castilho Machuca.
For Márcio Benjamin, the event is important for those who are interested in one day writing about the world of horror and also for breaking down prejudices related to the genre. "It is necessary to effectively stimulate writing, knowledge about Brazilian culture, literature itself, the implementation of this stimulus, the fight against prejudice in horror literature. People need to finally learn that it is a very interesting branch and has a lot to contribute to culture", he explains.
The round table lasts two hours. Participants will be entered to win the book Friday the 13th – Crystal Lake Archives, by David Grove. Registration for the event must be made via Sigaa.
Popularization of terror
According to Benjamin, authors such as Machado de Assis and Lygia Fagundes Telles also worked on horror and fantastic works, but were not recognized as writers of this literary genre due to the unpopularity of the theme until recently. Currently, the situation has changed.
"Today it is extremely well accepted by children. This is very interesting because the genre is very honest, it is free, open and lucid. It is a theme that talks about reality", he says.
According to the writer, the state of Rio Grande do Norte has strong potential in horror writing, but, in most cases, the people of Rio Grande do Norte do not have the necessary means to present written works. "RN is a state that has a great exponent in all artistic paths, with literature being no different. There are a lot of incredible people that we don't know", he reports.