FONO45 // Cris Judar, trans. by Lara Norgaard – They Marched Under the Sun (print; paperback)
$18.00
A lyrical feminist novel by Brazilian journalist Cris Judar, translated from the Portuguese by Lara Norgaard.
Ana and Joan. The first, a woman of daytime, of the contemporary, bombarded by consumerism and the aesthetic and behavioral pressures of our times. The second, a woman immersed in the realm of the night, attuned to ancestralism, rites of passage, and the intuitions of her subconscious. Both are on the brink of turning eighteen, and their stories run in parallel, month by month, until their birthdays. But more than just a tale of the two young women’s journeys, They Marched Under the Sun is a novel about violence, religious persecution, the loss of freedom and rights, as well as a statement on our need for ritual, dreams, and the resignification of bodies and social roles, conveyed in the author’s vibrant and singular literary voice.
About the Author
Cris Judar is a prize-winning Brazilian writer. In their fiction, they explore themes of feminism, gender identity, contemporary life, violence, and the fantastical. With a background in journalism, Judar has written and edited for arts and culture publications in Brazil. They have published two graphic novels, Lina and Vermelho Vivo, as well as the short story collection Roteiros para uma Vida Curta, which received honorable mention from the SESC Literature Prize. Their first novel, Oito do Sete, was a finalist for the Jabuti Prize and winner of the São Paulo Prize for Literature. They Marched Under the Sun is their second novel and has been translated into Italian and Arabic, with a new edition in Mozambique. Currently, Judar is pursuing their doctorate at the University of São Paulo, where they research contemporary Brazilian literature and dissidence in gender identity and sexuality.
About the Translator
Lara Norgaard is a translator of contemporary Indonesian and Brazilian fiction. Her translation of the Indonesian novel 24 Hours with Gaspar by Sabda Armandio, supported by a PEN/Heim Translation Grant, was shortlisted for the 2024 ALTA First Translation Prize. Her second book-length translation, People from Oetimu by West Timorese writer Felix Nesi, was published in 2025 by Archipelago Books. She has also published essays about Latin American and Indonesian literature in publications such as Full Stop, Asymptote Journal, Public Books, The Jakarta Post, Suspect, and The Mekong Review. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in comparative literature at Harvard University researching literary translation and cultural circulation between Latin America and Southeast Asia during the Cold War.
Praise
“In their fiction, Cristina Judar carries out what philosopher Paul Preciado suggests in his reflections on artistic production: that it is necessary to view works of art as counter-narratives that throw into question the dominant ways in which we perceive norms and deviance.”
—Raimundo Neto, São Paulo Review
“A poetic and incisive narrative written in cutting language that undoes and restructures everything. There is no way to escape or leave unscathed. A stunning novel, the kind readers dream of.”
—Carola Saavedra
“Voices, body fluids, life and death in tangled stories: who are these folks spilling their secrets to us? How does violence shape us, in this world and in this not-so-distant country? They Marched Under the Sun, marvelously translated, is one of those books you read in one sitting, like someone who downs a shot and wonders if it was water or poison they just swallowed.”
—Pedro Meira Monteiro
