A Brazilian academic is translating Nigerian poet Femi Morgan’s collection Renegade into Portuguese, a project under way since 2020 that is tentatively due to appear as a full book in 2027.
Samuel Delgado, a researcher, literary translator and language lecturer at the Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo in Guarapari, Espírito Santo, is leading the translation. Renegade was published in 2019 by Baron’s Cafe, an imprint of Fairchild Media, now Fairchild & Brave.
Excerpts of the translated poems include “This Reincarnate Country,” rendered as “Este país reencarnado”; “This Is a Voice”, rendered as “Esta é a voz”; and “Dakar”, dedicated to the poet Tade Ipadeola.
The translation has faced delays. The COVID-19 pandemic and Delgado’s academic research commitments slowed progress, as did a Nigeria-Brazil exchange programme planned for 2023 that did not go ahead. A Portuguese edition, displayed alongside the English text, is expected to mark a notable moment for Nigerian literature.
Delgado’s interest lies in Afro-Brazilian and Mozambican writing that has shaped Nigerian literary culture.
A professor, poet, journalist and translator, he holds a degree in Social Communication/Journalism from Cruzeiro do Sul University and a teaching degree in Portuguese and Spanish from Claretianos/Uniube . He specialised in literature at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, earned a master’s degree in Letters from the Federal University of São Paulo, and holds a PhD in English Linguistic and Literary Studies from the University of São Paulo, where he was a CAPES scholarship recipient.
His current research examines the relationship between East and West in Brazilian, Latin American and Afro-American literature, and he is working on an annotated translation of haikus by the poet Sonia Sanchez. In 2020, he published the poetry collection *Álbum*, which was nominated for the National Library Prize.
Morgan is a journalist, publisher and cultural figure who has written six poetry collections, including The Year of Fire, shortlisted for the Glenna Luschei Prize, Renegade and Whispers, co-written with Tokunbo Dada. He is curatorial and programming director at Griots and Bards and founder of Artmosphere Nigeria. Both platforms have hosted more than 200 writers, poets, musicians, actors and thinkers in Nigeria, among them Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Victor Ehikhamenor, Chuma Nwokolo, Remi Raji, Tolu Oloruntoba, Jumoke Verissimo, Iquo Diana Abasi, Abubakar Sidi, Tunde Adegbola, Kanayo Kanayo, Beautiful Nubia and Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett.
Nigeria and Brazil share long-standing cultural, historical and diplomatic ties, and Nigerian writing has gained readers in Brazil. Brazil’s Law 10.639/2003 requires schools to teach African history and Afro-Brazilian culture. Portuguese editions of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Amos Tutuola, Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Akwaeke Emezi and Chigozie Obioma circulate there, and book clubs and literary festivals engage with them. D.O. Fagunwa’s Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole is available in Portuguese and Yoruba.