Erico Verissimo and Manoelito de Ornellas: literary relations in epistles

Abstract

This paper focuses on a set of letters sent by Erico Verissimo to Manoelito de Ornellas, preserved in the Manoelito de Ornellas Literary Collection, housed in DELFOS - Espaço de Documentação e Memória Cultural in Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, to analyze the correspondence exchanged between the author of O tempo e o vento and the critic, poet, novelist and creator of the thesis of the Hispanic origin of the platinum gaucho. The four letters outlined here were sent by Erico between November 1943 and April 1944. During this period, Erico Verissimo was in the United States at the invitation of the US Department of State and lectured about Brazilian literature at the University of Berkeley - from these conferences resulted the book Breve história da literatura brasileira. Manoelito de Ornelas, in turn, was in Porto Alegre, exercising public functions. The letters sent by Erico reveal personal, professional questions, doubts as a writer, concerns about the reception of his work and the writing process of the conferences that composed Breve história da literatura brasileira.