Cristhiano Aguiar Returns with Novel 'Na Outra Margem, O Leviatã' After 12 Years

Cristhiano Aguiar, 37, has published his new fictional work 'Na Outra Margem, O Leviatã' after a twelve-year hiatus. The book comprises seven interconnected stories set in São Paulo, exploring urban brutality and existential malaise through characters like Natanael, Faustine, and Estevão. Aguiar spent six years refining the narrative tone to translate the individual's unease within a landscape of police hostility. The story 'Teresa' examines identities through family scars, incorporating magical elements. Aguiar cites Murilo Mendes, Alice Munro, Hilda Hilst, and Borges as key influences. A literature graduate from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, he now works as a professor at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie. His literary journey includes editing Revista VacaTussa and being featured in the 2012 anthology 'Granta: Os melhores jovens escritores brasileiros'. The novel was launched at Banca Tatuí by independent publisher Lote 42, with Aguiar scheduled to appear at SP-Arte on April 13 for his next release. The work addresses authoritarianism's fissures, particularly through Faustine, granddaughter of a military officer involved in the 1964 coup. Characters confront absurdity in banal urban settings, from an eviction in Paraíba to a Bolivian's police custody. Aguiar reflects on the role of contemporary writers during Brazil's acute political crisis, emphasizing a demand for public narratives.