REGINA RHEDA: Author bio

1957: Regina Rheda was born in Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo (SP), Brazil. She was the eldest of the four children of a bank teller and a school teacher.

1965: Moved with her family to the State capital, the city of São Paulo.

1975: Entered the Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo (USP).

1980 to 1990: Wrote and directed short films and videos produced by public organizations, such as USP, Secretaria da Cultura do Estado de São Paulo (Department of Culture of the State of São Paulo) and Embrafilme (the national film production company). Rheda's works (here and here) have won awards at the most important Brazilian film and video festivals. Her short films were shown for five years in theaters throughout the country.

1982 to 1984: Was a member of the rock band Esquadrilha da Fumaça as singer-songwriter and participated in the album Tora! Tora! Tora! (Baratos Afins).

1983: Wrote the children's book A astrobolha de sabão (São Paulo: Editora Rios). Illustrator: Ana Mara Abreu.
1984: Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cinema from the Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo (USP).

1988: Spent one year abroad (England, Italy, Germany). Years later her experiences during this time would inspire a first novel.

1990 to 1993: Worked as director for the children’s educational programs X- Tudo and Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum at the public television station TV Cultura.

November 1994: Her collection of short stories entitled Arca sem Noé - histórias do edifício Copan (Stories from the Copan Building) was published by Editora Paulicéia, São Paulo.

December 1994: Rheda received the French award Maison de l'Amérique Latine for the story "O mau vizinho" ("The Neighbor from Hell"), the first story in Arca sem Noé - histórias do edifício Copan.

1995: Received the Jabuti award for Arca sem Noé - histórias do edifício Copan. The Jabuti is the most important award for Brazilian literature.

1996: Her first novel, Pau-de-arara classe turística (First World Third Class), was published by Editora Record (Rio de Janeiro).

1996 to 1998: Worked as editorial assistant for titles in pedagogy at Editora Saraiva, in São Paulo.

1997: Her collection of short stories entitled Amor sem-vergonha was published by Editora Record, Rio de Janeiro.

1998 (June): Participated in the Ledig House International Writers’ Colony (Ghent, New York), starting to write a new novel.

1999: Moved to Florida, USA.

2000: Married an American university professor. Became a vegan for animal rights. (See Rheda talking about it on this short video from 2009).

2002: Published the story "O santuário" ("The Sanctuary") in the anthology Pátria estranha (São Paulo: Nova Alexandria) and the story "Dona Carminda e o príncipe" ("Miss Carminda and the Prince") in the anthology Histórias dos tempos de escola (São Paulo: Nova Alexandria).

2003: Her novel Livro que vende was published by Editora Altana (São Paulo).

2004: Published the story "Dona Carminda e o príncipe" in Portuguese and in English ("Miss Carminda and the Prince", translated by Lydia Billon) in the Fall issue of the American journal Meridians: feminism, race and transnationalism.

2005 (May): Published the story "A frente" in the anthology Mais trinta mulheres que estão fazendo a nova literatura brasileira (Rio: Record). _____

(July): The books Stories from the Copan Building and First World Third Class, as well as the stories "The Enchanted Princess" (from the book Amor sem-vergonha), "The Sanctuary", and "The Front" (which was originally written in English) were published by the University of Texas Press in one volume called First World Third Class and Other Tales of the Global Mix.

2006: Translated into Portuguese Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights, by Tom Regan (Editora Lugano, Porto Alegre).

2007: Began to do authorized translations of texts about animal rights by Gary L. Francione.

2008: The novel Humana festa was published by Editora Record (Rio).

2010: Arca sem Noé - histórias do edifício Copan was republished by Editora Record (Rio).
2011: The story "The Sanctuary" was republished in the anthology Luso-American Literature: Writings by Portuguese-Speaking Authors in North America (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2011).
2012 (March): Humana Festa, A Novel (Columbus, Zip/EP) was published in the US. Translator: Charles A. Perrone.
(December):The story "Dona Carminda e o príncipe" was published in Croatian, in the literary journal Sic - University of Zadar. Translator: Jelena Bulic.
2013 (February): The novel Pau-de-arara Classe Turística came out in ebook format.
(September): Portuguese translation of Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog?, by Gary L. Francione (Editora Unicamp, Campinas).
2014 (April): The story "The Neighbor from Hell," which is part of the book Stories from the Copan Building, was republished in e-book format, both in Portuguese and English, in the anthology of various authors Contrapuntos II (Digitus Indie Publishers).

(May): The narrative "Falta d'água," which is part of the book Arca sem Noé, was reprinted in the book Crônicas Brasileiras: a Reader (University Press of Florida).

2017: Moved to California, USA.

Some events at which the author made a presentation: