NARLAN MATOS – Brazil-USA - Born in Itaquara, 1975. "One of the biggest virtues of Narlan Matos' poetry is his capacity to listen and to identify the deepest problems of our times, in art and social criticism. The vigor, generosity and wisdom of Narlan Matos' poetry confer him the category of a universal poet." (Junpa Books, Kyoto, Japan) He is considered to be  a leading new voice of universal poetry today. Literary critics in America and Europe have highlighted the importance of his universal poetry. Dr. George Walter Wink, University of Copenhagen, has compared his poetry to Goethe’s, in a master craft article. And the great Slovenian poet Tomaz Salamun called him "A great poet, like Maiakovski". For Robert Creeley, Narlan's poetry is a "Breath of fresh air". Yevgeny Yevtushenko wrote "Dear brother, I bless you. You are a true poet not just for your poems but for your character."

Once upon, Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote to young Narlan that "I have read your poems in translation and, although I sense that the translation is not by a native English speaker, the poems do convey in general a despairing consciousness in which there is no singing. And poetry must sing, even in the darkest of times! Thank you for sending them." That critique was pivotal in the reshaping of his upcoming poetry.

At the age of 21, he published his first poetry book Ladies and Gentleman: the Dawn!, which won the Jorge Amado Foundation Award in 1997. His second poetry book In the Campsite of the Shades won his first national award: the XEROX Award for Brazilian Literature in 2000. In 2002, he participated of the International Writing Program, University of Iowa, as guest of the State Department. His third poetry book Elegy to the New World, published by 7 Letras Publishers – the best one in Brazil -  has been already translated into several languages and it has been chosen as one of the best poetry books of 2012,  also nominated for the prestigious Portugal /Telecom International Award. Dr. Eleuterio Diaz, from the University of New Mexico, wrote a long essay about this book stating that it has inaugurated a new Latin American avant-garde. He has kept a long correspondence with Noam Chomsky.

He participates actively in various literary programs and festivals in the United States and Europe and is the recipient of numerous literary and artistic accolades. His poetry has been translated into Slovenian, Italian, Croatian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Slovenian, English, Lithuanian, Japanese, Hindi, Romanian, Russian, Swedish and Spanish. Legendary American poet Michael Palmer has translated two of his poems into English. He is a member of the Japanese Universal Poets Association and has been featured on Literature Across Frontiers, a prestigious website from the United Kingdom.

Collections of his poems have been published in Slovenia, Spain, Italy and Japan. Magazines in Sweden, China, Japan and Lithuania have highlighted his poetry. In 2014, legendary Italian poetry magazine “Poesia” dedicated thirteen pages to his life and poetry.  He holds a masters degree from the University of New Mexico and a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. In 2016, the Croatian National Radio presented a half hour program about his life and poetry. In July 2017, he organized and led the first delegation of American poets to visit Cuba since the Cuban Revolution. The delegation had names such as Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Hass, Claudia Keelan, Brenda Hillman, among others. He has now published seven original books in Portuguese.  He is a former lecturer at The George Washington University, in the USA. He lives in Washington DC, with wife and son.