Famous Brazilian Poets

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis was a Brazilian novelist, playwright, poet, and short-story writer. Hailing from a family of freed slaves, he had a difficult childhood that he overcame to become a famous writer. He founded the Brazilian Academy of Letters and became the organization’s first president. He is credited with having shaped the realism movement in Brazil.   

Vinicius de Moraes was a Brazilian poet, essayist, playwright, lyricist, musician, singer, and diplomat. His compositions and lyrics played important roles in the introduction and popoularization of bossa nova music. Vinicius de Moraes is best remembered for his collaborations with popular musicians like Antônio Carlos Jobim. His play Orfeu da conceição was adapted into an Oscar-winning film titled Black Orpheus.

Cazuza was a Brazilian singer-songwriter remembered as one of the greatest exponents of Brazilian rock music. Over the course of his nine-year career, Cazuza sold over five million albums and achieved 18 Top 10 singles in Brazil. He died due to a septic shock triggered by AIDS at age 32. His life inspired the 2004 biopic Cazuza–O Tempo Não Pára.

One of the pioneers of the Brazilian modernist movement, Mário de Andrade introduced a signature prose style that mirrored colloquial Brazilian language. Apart from writing poems and novels, he influenced ethnomusicology. He was a skilled photographer, too. Hallucinated City remains one of his most celebrated works.

Carlos Drummond de Andrade was a Brazilian poet and writer. Many critics consider him to be the greatest Brazilian poet of all time. His widely influential poem Canção Amiga has been featured on the 50-cruzado novo bill, making him a cultural icon in Brazil. He was much revered by American poets Mark Strand and Lloyd Schwartz, who translated his works. 

Oswald de Andrade was a Brazilian poet and novelist. He was also a cultural critic. He was born into a wealthy family and used his wealth to support modernist artists. He is considered one of the founders of Brazilian modernism. He was a member of the Group of Five, consisting of influential painters and writers.  

Gonçalves Dias was a Brazilian lawyer, poet, playwright, ethnographer, and linguist. A major figure of Brazilian Romanticism, he is credited with having composed Canção do exílio, often considered the best known poem of Brazilian literature. He was posthumously awarded the title of national poet of Brazil and is the patron of the 15th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. 

Known as The Poet of the Slaves because of his support for abolitionism, Castro Alves was one of the major figures of Brazilian literature. In spite of being trained as a lawyer, he became one of the icons of Brazilian romantic poetry and Condorism. He died of tuberculosis worsened by an amputated foot.

João Cabral de Melo Neto was a Brazilian diplomat and poet. One of the most influential and prominent writers in late Brazilian modernism, Melo Neto received the prestigious Camões Prize in 1990. In 1992, he became the first and only Brazilian poet to date to receive the Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

One of the greatest figures of Brazilian modernism, poet Cecília Meireles redefined Portuguese poetry. A feminist, she disliked the word “poetess” and considered it discriminatory. She began writing poems at age 9 and became a teacher at 16. She later also taught at the Federal University.

Gregorio Duvivier is a Brazilian actor and poet. He specializes in comedy and is one of the members of the comedian troupe Porta dos Fundos. The son of a musician and singer, he was exposed to the show business at an early age. He began his training in acting as a child and made his debut in 2007. 

A major figure of Brazilian modernism, or Modernismo, Manuel Bandeira initially wished to be an architect but focused on poetry after suffering from tuberculosis. A professor of literature, he also penned works inspired by Symbolist and Parnassian poetry. He was also a translator and a critic.

Rui Ribeiro Couto was a Brazilian diplomat, journalist, magistrate, poet, novelist, and short story writer. He is best remembered for his book Cabocla, which was adapted twice for television. His books have also been translated into several languages including French, Hungarian, Italian, and Swedish.

Gregório de Matos, or the Brazilian Villon, was a talented lawyer who at times defended the poor free of cost. He later penned many satirical poems, criticizing the Church. He was exiled to Angola, where he contracted a deadly disease. Upon his return to Brazil, he was barred from releasing his poems.

Brazilian poet Haroldo de Campos is regarded as the founder of the concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He also translated works such as Homer's Iliad into Portuguese. He was also a professor who taught at prestigious institutes such as Yale, the University of Texas, and the Catholic University.

Augusto de Campos is a Brazilian writer, translator, visual artist, and music critic. He is best known for founding the Concrete poetry movement as well as a literary magazine called Noigandres along with his brother Haroldo de Campos. Augusto de Campos' contributions were honored with the prestigious Order of Cultural Merit in 2015.

João da Cruz e Sousa was a Brazilian journalist and poet best remembered as one of the first Symbolist poets from Brazil. His books Broquéis and Missal, which he published in 1893, introduced the Symbolist movement in Brazil. As a journalist, João da Cruz e Sousa worked for the famous newspaper Tribuna Popular and wrote abolitionist articles.

Ciro Pessoa was a Brazilian singer-songwriter, lyricist, guitarist, and journalist. He was one of the founding members of the influential rock band Titãs. He developed an early interest in music and began to perform in local music festivals when he was just 12. Throughout his career, he formed numerous musical projects and also performed solo.  

Bernardo Guimarães was a Brazilian novelist and poet. He is best remembered for his popular romantic novels, O Seminarista and A Escrava Isaura. As a poet, he is credited with introducing the verso bestialógico to Brazilian poetry. Bernardo Guimarães also worked as a teacher and taught Rhetoric, Poetics, French, and Latin.

Tomás Antônio Gonzaga was a Brazilian poet who also served as the ombudsman and the ouvidor of the city of Ouro Preto. His life and career have been featured in many Brazilian films and telenovels. Popular actors like Eduardo Galvão, Luiz Linhares, and Gianfrancesco Guarnieri have played Tomás Antônio Gonzaga on-screen.

Jorge de Lima was a Brazilian politician, poet, novelist, and biographer. Born into a wealthy family, he studied to be a physician. However, he was more inclined toward writing and wanted to make a name for himself as a poet. He eventually ended up pursuing both medicine and literature. Later in his career, he ventured into politics as well.  

Sergio Sant'Anna was a Brazilian writer who tried his hand at writing poems, short stories, plays, novels, and novellas. Many of his books have been translated into Italian and German. Sergio Sant'Anna's works have also been credited with influencing a newer generation of writers in Brazil.

Farah Chamma is a Palestinian spoken-word poet best known as the founder of a band called Parea that combines music with spoken word. A popular poet, Chamma is part of the famous Poeticians Club where she is one of the youngest members. A polyglot, Farah Chamma can speak six languages including French, English, and Arabic.

Basílio da Gama was a Portuguese poet best remembered for his epic poem, O Uraguai. An important member of the Society of Jesus, Basílio traveled across Europe, visiting many countries like Italy and Portugal. These travels helped him in his literary career.

Murilo Mendes was a Brazilian poet best remembered as one of the leading architects of the Surrealist movement in Brazil. His first poetry book Poemas earned him the prestigious Graça Aranha Prize in 1930. Murilo Mendes also worked as a teacher and taught at popular institutions like the Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Pisa.    

José de Santa Rita Durão was a Colonial Brazilian Neoclassic poet and orator. He was also an Augustinian friar. He composed the epic poem Caramuru. He studied at the University of Coimbra and began an academic career. He was persecuted during the reign of the Marquis of Pombal and went to exile in Rome. 

Olga Savary was a Brazilian writer, literary critic, and poet. She is best remembered for her work, Espelho Provisório, which earned her the prestigious Prêmio Jabuti in 1970. A prolific writer, Olga Savary wrote many books and poems and was an important member of PEN International.

Cassiano Ricardo was a Brazilian poet, literary critic, and journalist. An exponent of Brazilian modernism, Ricardo is credited with co-founding the mystical nationalist journal Novíssima. He also launched the Green-Yellow movement and co-founded the Flag group as part of his efforts to popularize modernism in Brazil. In 1937, Cassiano Ricardo was made a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.