SÉRGIO VAZ is a poet, writer, and cultural agitator, known across Brazil as the “Poet of the Periphery.” Born in 1964 in Ladainha in the interior of the Southeastern State of Minas Gerais, he was five years old when he moved with his family to Taboão da Serra on the outskirts of the City of São Paulo where he completed high school.
While working in various sales and office jobs, Vaz took his first step as a marginal poet in 1988 with the self-publication of the joint poetry collection, Subindo a Ladeira Mora a Noite (Climbing the Steep Slope at Night), with Adrianne Muciolo. He self-published four more poetry collections:
• A Margin do Vento / The Edge of the Wind (1991)
• Pensamentos Vadios / Vagrant Thoughts (1994)
• A Poesia dos Deuses Inferiores / Poetry of Inferior Gods (2005) and • Cooperifa – Antropologia Periférica / Cooperifa – Peripheral Anthology (2008).
Grupo Editorial Global in São Paulo published the following poetry collections:
• Colecionador de Pedras / Stone Collector (2007)
• Flores de Alvenaria / Masonry Flowers (2016), as well as a book of chronicles
• Literatura, Pão e Poesia / Literature, Bread and Poetry (2011).
In 2000, Vaz founded Cooperifa (Cultural Cooperative of the Periphery)—a movement that transformed a bar on the outskirts of the south zone of São Paulo into a cultural center—where marginalized poets, rappers, and anyone interested in the arts met once weekly in the evenings to read and promote their work. Later, the project expanded to promote poetry in schools of the poor working-class community. Other initiatives include Poetry Against Violence and the Cooperifa Cultural Exhibition.
Over time, the movement gained respect and recognition in other peripheral communities across Brazil and brought its founder Sérgio Vaz into the spotlight. In 2009, he was numbered among Época magazine’s 100 most influential persons in Brazil. More recognition came in 2011 when the Governor of the State of São Paulo awarded him for his outstanding contribution to Cultural Inclusion.
Learn more about Sérgio Vaz at the poet’s official Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/poetasergio.vaz
Photo Credit: Laysla Vasconcelos
