FLUP COMBINES SAMBA AND LITERATURE IN ITS NEW TRAINING PROCESS

Roda de Samba Flup 2024 | Foto: divulgação

With master sponsorship from Shell, Flup is hosting the "Mora na Filosofia" program, which offers 70 spots for those who enjoy culture, samba, and philosophy. The initiative includes the publication of a new book.

Participating as guests are the writers Conceição Evaristo, Helena Theodoro, Jurema Werneck, Angélica Ferrarez, Ynaê Lopes, Sabrina Ginga and Janaína Oliveira; Leci Brandão, Marquinhos PQD, Cléber Augusto, Marcelo D2, Arlindinho, Serginho Meriti are among the musicians.

Rio de Janeiro, July 2025 – The Literary Festival of the Peripheries (Flup), with master sponsorship from Shell, launches the "Live in Philosophy" training program. The initiative will select 70 participants for a literary immersion focused on samba as an artistic, poetic, and philosophical expression. The project will result in the publication of a new book featuring 35 selected texts. Conceição Evaristo , the honored author of this 15th edition, opens the "Live in Philosophy" program with Leci Brandão and moderated by Flávia Oliveira , at the panel "The Things Mom Taught."

The training will include in-person and online sessions and is aimed at people interested in literature, samba, and popular culture, with or without previous publications. The 2025 edition pays homage to writer Conceição Evaristo, emphasizing the concept of Escrevivência—writing born from lived experience—and celebrating samba as a tool for narrative and cultural resistance.

"This process connects directly to Conceição Evaristo, the Flup 25 honoree, who is also a samba artist and uses samba as the setting and experience of her characters in her works. Even the motto of this process refers to Conceição: Writing gives samba!" comments Vanessa Pereira, writer, poet, cultural producer, and curator of "Mora na Filosofia."

The "Live in Philosophy" program includes creative writing workshops, mentoring sessions with authors and intellectuals, as well as discussion panels and samba circles open to the public in cultural spaces in Rio de Janeiro, starting on July 29. Among the confirmed names are the writers and intellectuals Conceição Evaristo, Helena Theodoro, Jurema Werneck, Angélica Ferrarez, Ynaê Lopes, Sabrina Ginga and Janaína Oliveira, and big names in samba, such as Leci Brandão, Marcelo D2, Serginho Meriti, Cléber Augusto, Marquinhos PQD and Arlindinho.

The samba circles will feature performances by groups such as Moça Prosa, Colete Curto, Cacique de Ramos, Samba na Serrinha, Batuque Suburbano, Vem Sambar Iaia, and Roda de Samba Canção Abençoada. The meetings will take place until October 2025 at Casa Savana, each lasting 1.5 hours.

Selection criteria and creative challenge

To participate, candidates must submit an unpublished text of up to 3,000 characters, in the style of a short story, chronicle or poetic prose, based on the theme: “What does samba tell us on April 23 in Rio de Janeiro?”, a reference to Saint George's Day, a symbol of faith and resistance in Rio de Janeiro culture.

The texts will be judged on their originality, literary quality, and connection to samba and popular culture. Flup also adopts diversity criteria, prioritizing the selection of voices from peripheral communities, Black people, Indigenous people, LGBTQIAPN+ people, and those from different regions and ages.

Each participant selected during the training process will develop a text inspired by a song by one of the honored samba artists. After the mentoring sessions, the judging panel—composed of writers trained in previous editions of Flup—will select 35 texts for the book "Mora na Filosofia" (Live in Philosophy). The book is scheduled for release on April 23, 2026.

Certification and copyright

Participants who attend at least 80% of the activities will receive a certificate of completion. Selected authors will retain copyright to their texts, granting only publishing rights to Flup. The project also guarantees accessibility at its events and requests that people with disabilities inform their needs at the time of registration.

Flup 25 is presented by the Ministry of Culture, Rio de Janeiro City Hall, Municipal Secretariat of Culture, and Shell. It is master-sponsored by Shell, and sponsored by Motiva (through its Institute), the Vale Cultural Institute, and Itaú Unibanco, through the Federal Law of Cultural Incentives. It also receives support from the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Law of Cultural Incentives (ISS Law) and the Ford Foundation. Produced by: Suave, Na Nave, Ministry of Culture, and Federal Government.

About Flup – The Literary Festival of the Peripheries – Flup's mission is to offer new literary experiences; therefore, it operates in peripheral territories, paving the way for books, ideas, and experiences previously marginalized to reach further. In 13 years of operation in Rio de Janeiro, Flup has visited Morro dos Prazeres, Vigário Geral, Mangueira, Babilônia, Vidigal, Cidade de Deus, Maré, Biblioteca Parque, the Rio Art Museum (MAR), Providência, and Circo Voador (Lapa), promoting encounters between leading figures in literature, both national and international. Flup has received awards and recognition, including the 2012 Faz Diferença Award, the 2016 Awards Excellence, and the 2016 Retratos da Leitura Award, respectively awarded by the newspaper O Globo, the London Book Fair, and the Instituto Pró-Livro. In 2020, it won the Jabuti Award in the Reading Promotion category. In 2023, the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly declared Flup an intangible cultural heritage site. Flup is a festival run by predominantly Black production teams with women in leadership positions.

About Shell

With 112 years in Brazil, Shell Brasil is an integrated energy company with operations in the Oil & Gas, Nature-Based Solutions, Research & Development, and Trading sectors through its trading company Shell Energy Brasil. The company also operates in the Biofuels segment through the Raízen joint venture, which also manages the distribution of Shell-branded fuels in Brazil. Shell Brasil works to meet the growing demand for energy in an economically, environmentally, and socially responsible manner, evaluating trends and scenarios to address the challenges of the future of energy.

Events open to the public | Free entry

July 29 – Casa Savana

Table “The things mom taught”

Leci Brandão + Conceição Evaristo

Mediation: Flávia Oliveira

Samba Circle: Moça Prosa

August 13 – Casa Savana

Marquinhos PQD + Jurema Werneck

Samba Circle: Short Vest

August 27 – Madureira Viaduct

Cléber Augusto + Ynae Lopes

Samba Circle: Cacique de Ramos

September 10 – Casa Savana

Arlindinho + Angelica Ferrarez

Samba Circle: Samba in Serrinha

September 24 – Casa Savana

Marcelo D2 + Sabrina Ginga

Samba Circle: Suburban Batuque

October 8th – Casa Savana

Serginho Meriti + Helena Teodoro

Samba Circle: Come Samba Iaiá

(With Marcelle Motta, Ane Lopes and Bel Barbosa)

October 22 – Casa Savana

Surprise Guest + Janaína Oliveira

Samba Circle: Blessed Song: Orin Ibuku