Leda Rios, a voice comes out of silence in Brazil

We have recollected most of Leda Rios’ work to present her story and to discuss the place of the female mestizo body in Brazilian society at the beginning of the 20th century. We have carried out the first investigations into the barriers that this writer faced when she began her career. Leda Rios worked in the Brazilian press during the first two decades of the 20th century. After having published several articles and chronicles, as well as two books of poetry and plays, the writer - a young talent who began as a poet at the age of sixteen - gave up writing, at its height of her production, at thirty. Despite the recognition of her work during her time as a writer, Leda Rios has been erased from Brazilian literary history. Only traces of her literary life can be found at the National Library of Rio. We have investigated the obstacles encountered during the Brazilian Belle Epoque period, such as the racism that emerged fiercely at that time, seeking to define social roles and we have studied Rios literary productions. After our research period we concluded that Leda Rios voice was erased from the Brazilian Literary canon mainly by prejudices related to gender issues and racism.  We hope that our research will make her work better known and studied.