Clarice Lispector

All the Letters brings together the correspondence written by Clarice Lispector throughout her life. This selection of letters, of which about half are unknown to the public, provides a basic resource for understanding the author's literary career.

The unpublished correspondence addressed to writing friends such as Rubem Braga, Otto Lara Resende, Paulo Mendes Campos and Nélida Piñon, among others, stands out in All the Letters. The correspondence has been organized by decades – from 1940 to 1970 – and is accompanied by notes by the biographer Teresa Montero, which place the material in context in terms of time and place and include numerous personal and cultural references.

With a great deal of unpublished material, this book is the result of detailed research carried out by the journalist Larissa Vaz, aided by biographers and family, with the goal of providing a comprehensive vision of the person and the writer. The publication of the author's correspondence constitutes an important literary milestone, because Lispector displays her usual inspiration, lyricism and humour, making it into a chronicle that is as fascinating and creative as her own books – if not more so.

Clarice Lispector lived almost two decades abroad and maintained a long correspondence with family and friends ties and also about the publication of her books. Despite claiming that “she did not know how to write letters”, her letters are as interesting as her novels, short stories and chronicles.