Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	Brazilian
Genre	Fiction

Paulo Coelho (IPA: [ˈpau̯lu ˈko̯eʎu]) (born August 24, 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.

Biography

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His life has in many ways been as varied and unusual as the protagonists of his internationally acclaimed novels. Like them, he followed a dream in a quest for fulfillment. His dream, to be a writer, met with frustration throughout much of his early adult life, a time in which he worked at various professions, some of them materially rewarding but spiritually unfulfilling. "I always knew," he says, "that my Personal Legend, to use a term from alchemy, was to write." He was 38 when he published his first book.

In 1970, after deciding that law school was not for him, he traveled through much of South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe. Returning to Brazil after two years, he began a successful career as a popular songwriter. In 1974 he was imprisoned for a short time by the military dictatorship then ruling in Brazil. In 1986, he experienced one of the defining moments of his life: he walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. On this ancient highway, used for centuries by pilgrims from France to get to the cathedral said to house the remains of St. James, he achieved a self-awareness and a spiritual awakening that he later described in The Pilgrimage.

Coelho once said that following your dream is like learning a foreign language; you will make mistakes but you will get there in the end. In 1988 he published The Alchemist, a novel that explores this theme, and it launched him as an international bestselling author. Specifically, Coelho is recognized for his powerful storytelling technique and the profound spiritual insights he blends seamlessly into his parables. Since then, The Alchemist has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 41 languages. In addition to The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho has written luminous novels about the different streams of our lives, including By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Valkyries, The Fifth Mountain, and Veronika Decides to Die. A winner of numerous literary prizes, Paulo Coelho is also a prominent speaker for humanitarian causes. In 1999 he received a Crystal Award for Artistic Achievement at the Davos Economic Forum Conference.

Career

As part of the Brazilian rock scene, Coelho wrote song lyrics for many famous performers in Brazilian music, such as Elis Regina and Rita Lee. His most well known work was with Raul Seixas. Together they wrote such successes as "Eu nasci há dez mil anos atrás" (I was born ten thousand years ago), "Gita" and "Al Capone", amongst 60 other songs. Seixas taught Coelho the magic of communication: a complex message doesn't need to be hard to understand - the message must be as simple as possible to grasp, even though to live it is the hardest of things. As Seixas sings: "Two hands together at the same prayer" (Coisas do coração )or "the beauty of simplicity" ( Eu quero mesmo ).

Spirituality

His fascination with the spiritual quest dates back to his hippie days, when he travelled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions and mysticism.

As he confesses in an interview to Juan Arias, during that time he was introduced to the work of controversial English mystic Aleister Crowley, which influenced his collaboration with Raul Seixas. The influence extended not only to music, but also to plans for the creation of the "Alternative Society," which was to be an anarchist community in the state of Minas Gerais based on Crowley's premise: "'Do what thou wilt' shall be the whole of the Law." The project was considered subversive by members of the Brazilian military, which imprisoned all prospective members of the group. Coelho is reported to have been tortured during his imprisonment.

After a supernatural experience, described in later on his book The Valkyries, Coelho left the society.

Later in Holland he met a person (whom he would refer to as "J" throughout The Valkyries, The Pilgrimage and his website "Warriors of Light online") who changed his life and Coelho was driven towards Christianity. He said he became member of a Catholic group called Regnus Agnus Mundi, with J as its leader. However, the existence of the group is unverified since his own works are the only source while the Latin name is unverified. In 1986 he walked along the Road of Santiago, an ancient Spanish pilgrimage and his book The Pilgrimage describes his final initiation.

The book has been praised by different personalities ranging from Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe to the singer Madonna, who considers it one of her favourite books. It has equally inspired many projects – such as a musical in Japan, theatre plays in France, Belgium, USA, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland. It is also the theme of two symphonies (Italy and USA) and had its text illustrated by the famous French artist Moebius (author of the sceneries for the Fifth Element and Alien).

Personal life

He and his wife Christina live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil or in Saint Martin, Hautes-Pyrénées, France.

His works have been translated into 66 languages and edited in more than 150 countries. Paulo Coelho is, amongst other accolades:

• Member of the Board of the Shimon Peres Center for Peace
• UNESCO special counsellor for “Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences”
• Board Member of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
• Member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters

His works

In 1982 Coelho published his first book, Hell Archives , which failed to make any kind of impact. In 1985 he contributed to the Practical Manual of Vampirism, although he later tried to take it off the shelves since he considered it “of bad quality”. In 1986, Paulo Coelho made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage.

In the following year, Coelho published The Alchemist, which is based on Jorge Luis Borges' Tale of Two Dreamers, which in turn was based on a tale from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best-selling Brazilian books of all time. It has sold more than 41 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 66 languages. It is also a movie-in-progress produced by Laurence Fishburne, who is a fan of Coelho.

Coelho has sold over 100 million books in over 150 countries worldwide and his works have been translated into 66 languages (Goodyear, Dana (2007-05-07), "The Magus", The New Yorker, pp. 38–45 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)). He has received numerous literary awards from a variety of countries, including La Légion d'honneur (France), Grinzane Cavour (Italy). In addition, he has written Maktub, which is a collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, The Manual of the Warrior of Light, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Fifth Mountain, Veronika Decides to Die, The Devil and Miss Prym, Eleven Minutes, Like The Flowing River and The Valkyries. Despite the popularity of Coelho's works in Iran, his 2005 novel The Zahir was banned there, with 1,000 copies being confiscated [1], but a week later it appeared again in bookstores, according to his publisher Caravan. His latest book, The Witch of Portobello was released in 2006 – 2007.

He also adapted The Gift (Henry Drummond) and Love Letters of a Prophet (Khalil Gibran).

His books have appeared on bestseller lists in countries not only in Brazil but in the UK, the United States, France, Germany, Iran, Canada, Italy, Israel, Finland, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Cuba, Poland and Lithuania. He is the all time best-selling Portuguese language author.

Coelho writes a weekly column published in more than 45 countries [2], including O Globo in Brazil, Akşam, a Turkish newspaper, and Freizeit, a weekly supplement published by the Austrian Kurier.

Acclaim and criticism

Although Coelho has achieved great international success, his work has not been unanimously appreciated at home; his election to the Brazilian Academy of Letters proved controversial. Seen by some Brazilian literary critics as a lesser author whose material is too simplistic and similar to that of self-help books, criticism of his work arises mostly from his plain, direct style and borrowing of ideas from other authors, to the extent of plagiarism. Additionally, his works in Portuguese contain grammatical errors and inaccuracies; some of these have been minimized in translation or altered in later editions.

His works are pervaded with spiritual themes but do not endorse any specific religion, aside from using Catholic imagery.

Bibliography

Note: Although the biography section of Coelho's website states that his first book was published in 1982, the Official Fan Club Paulo Coelho website lists two additional books published in 1974: The Manifest of Krig-há and Theater For Education.

Year	Portuguese Title	English Title
1982	Arquivos do Inferno	Hell Archives
1986	O Manual Prático do Vampirismo	Practical Manual of Vampirism
1987	O Diário de um Mago	The Pilgrimage
1988	O Alquimista	The Alchemist
1990	Brida	Brida
1991	O Dom Supremo	The Gift
1992	As Valkírias	The Valkyries
	O Diário de um Magus	The Diary of a Magus
1994	Maktub	Maktub
	Na margem do rio Piedra eu sentei e chorei	By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
1996	O Monte Cinco	The Fifth Mountain
1997	Letras do amor de um prophet	Love Letters from a Prophet
	Manual do guerreiro da luz	The Manual of the Warrior of Light
1998	Veronika decide morrer	Veronika Decides to Die
	Palavras essenciais	Essential Words
2000	O Demônio e a srta Prym	The Devil and Miss Prym
2001	Histórias para pais, filhos e netos	Fathers, Sons and Grandsons
2003	Onze Minutos	Eleven Minutes
2004	O Gênio e as Rosas	The Genie and the Roses
	E no sétimo dia	And on the Seventh Day (collection of three previously published novels)
2005	O Zahir	The Zahir
	Caminhos Recolhidos	Revived Paths
2006	Ser como um rio que flui	Like the Flowing River
	A bruxa de Portobello	The Witch of Portobello
2007	Vida: Citações selecionadas	Life: Selected Quotations

The Experimental Witch Project

In June, 2007, Paulo Coelho announced on his internet blog The Experimental Witch Project a collaborative project announced by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, on his blog in June, 2007. In the book life story of the main character, Athena, is told in the form of interviews with the other characters. So Coelho has asked aspiring film-makers to tell the tale from the point of view of one of the 13 characters in the book that interact with Athena — or through the eyes of a narrator. The fans of the Brazilian-born writer will post their entry for the collaborative screenplay on the internet site YouTube. A winner will be chosen for each category.

In addition to a €3,000 (£2,000) prize, each winner will have the film edited by professionals and screened at film festivals around the world.

Impressed by the efforts of his fans to interpret his works, Coelho decided to harness their talents to make the collaborative film of The Witch of Portobello, his novel released in 2006-2007.

Musicians are also being asked to use MySpace to send ideas for the soundtrack. The winners will be given a prize of €1,500 and must sign away the rights for the film, though not the record rights.

Messenger of Peace

Marking the International Day of Peace, in September, 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon designated Paulo Coelho as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace raising global awareness of the world body's work and ideals. Paulo Coelho seeks to promote intercultural dialogue in his position as Messenger. Through his Institute which he founded with his wife, Christina Oiticica, he helps underprivileged members of Brazil's society.

"I gladly accept this responsibility and am committed to do my best to work towards a better future for the current and next generations," said Mr. Coelho, who also serves as Special Counsellor for Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

References

• Caravan Books Publishing House, Paulo Coelho's Biography

Further reading

• Goodyear, Dana. "The Magus". The New Yorker, 7 May 2007, pp. 38-45.

External links

• Paulo Coelho at IMDb
• Official site
• Official blog
• Myspace blog
• Support the Paulo Coelho Institute
• Discuss with Paulo
• Buy Paulo's books online
• Official UK website
• Warrior of the Light Online
• Appearance on Desert Island Discs, BBC-Radio 4, 3 July 2005
• Articles on openDemocracy
• A 1988 video interview
• Coelho Paulo
• Last.fm Group