São Paulo – It all starts when the director of Cultural Heritage of the International Society for the Rescue of Imagination (Sirf) goes to Baghdad, in Iraq, to save Ali Baba, Sherazade, Aladdin and other characters from the Thousand and One Nights who may be in danger amidst the war in 2003. The same director then goes to Jordan, where she finds the magic lamp minus the genie, and then sets off to Palestine in an attempt to find him. The incessant conflict with Israel could only be explained by the fact that the genie landed in villainous hands.
These three phases, the director’s journey through Iraq, Jordan and Palestine, and her interaction with the characters of the most famous piece of literature from the East, form the plot of the series of three children’s books that Brazilian author Luciana Savaget wrote. The first is called “Operation Rescue in Baghdad – The Battle of the Invisible” and was published in Brazil in 2003; the second, “Operation Rescue in Jordan – The Secret of the Desert”, was launched in 2007; and the third, “Operation Rescue in Palestine – Heritage Conflict”, is from 2010.
The last two books are the result of the journeys the writer made to promote her first book in Arab lands. Apart from Portuguese, original language of the three books, “Operation Rescue in Baghdad” was also published in Arabic, which turned Savaget into an author well-known by Arab children, particularly in Palestine, as the government of that country purchased 100,000 copies for the libraries in refugee camps.
“I went to Palestine twice, once for the book launch and then again for talks with youngsters who read my books. From the first trip came the book “Operation Rescue in Jordan”, where we find Aladdin’s lamp, but not the genie. Imagine if an enemy finds this powerful genie who fulfils his master’s every desire? It could destroy the world,” says Savaget. “And on the second trip we find the genie hidden in Nablus, in the hands of the dream demolishers and enemies of our powerful Sirf association,” tells Savaget.
The writer puts herself in the role of the director of the International Society for the Rescue of Imagination, and thus transfers to her character her passion for the Arab world. “The idea [for the book] came from my passion for Arab tales and stories, which have amazing magic. These tales and the stories of the Thousand and One Nights are part of my childhood. When I wrote “Operation Rescue in Baghdad”, right at the beginning of the American attacks on the Iraqi capital city, I couldn’t have imagined other books would follow to complete the series,” stated Savaget.
According to the author, one book called out for the next. “And they also physically took me to those wonderful lands, where Sherazade spoke of ‘happily ever after in Baghdad.’” In Palestine, the operation Baghdad book was translated by Tamer Literature. In Brazil, all books were published by publishing house Nova Fronteira. “To have a book published in far and conflicted lands such as Palestine was an honor. Until now I have only had one book edited in Arabic, but who knows in the future, perhaps the other ones will be published too,” says Savaget.
The writer states she will keep on dreaming and that Sirf shall not abandon the Arab world. She feels like writing more about the East. Savaget says she felt first hand, when she visited the Arab country, the Palestine people’s difficulty in being acknowledged as a country. According to her, it is unacceptable that at this day and age there are still wars in that region, where Jesus Christ was born. “I am the Sirf director of Cultural Heritage and I fight for dreams and for peace, not only in books, but also in life,” says Savaget.
Born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Savaget is a journalist and works for Globo News, a cable TV news channel belonging to network Rede Globo. Savaget translated to Portuguese the book “My Life With Pablo Neruda”, written by the poet’s wife, Matilde Urrutia, and has received many awards for her work in journalism and literature. Her books “Dadá, a Mulher de Corisco” (Dadá, Corisco’s Wife, loosely translated) and “Operation Rescue in Baghdad” are among her prized works. The author was also granted the Vladimir Herzog Amnesty and Human Rights Award, in 2002.
*Translated by Silvia Lindsey