Alina Paim

In 1979, A Correnteza was published and in 1994, she published A Sétima Vez. In 2007, a group of writers, who were preparing feminist studies on writers from Sergipe, were surprised to learn that Paim had been living for many years in Campo Grande in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Her rediscovery resulted in a re-evaluation of her literary contributions.

When the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état occurred, Paim escaped exile because she went into hiding. Rumors were that she was in Cruzeiro, São Paulo, but she had escaped from there three weeks before. For 23 days communist sympathizers hid her. She did not escape the persecution; because of her ties to the Partido Comunista Brasileiro (PCB) (Brazilian Communist Party) and defense of feminist causes, she was unable to publish any books until the 1979 Amnesty Law was passed. During the Brazilian military government (1964–1985) she translated texts of Vladimir Lenin and published articles in periodicals including O Momento, from Bahia; Época, from Sergipe; and Leitura, in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1962, she began publishing children's literature. O lenço encantado, A casa da coruja verde and Luzbela vestida de cigana were followed in 1966 by Flocos de algodão. The first three volumes share the same characters, and the illustrator, Percy Deane whose work on all three volumes further tied them together. The stories use fantasy and magic to discuss themes of transformation, change and the importance of imagination. Her last children's book, was different from the others, but it was written for the Agricultural Clubs of the Ministry of Education. It disseminates information about cotton, but still reiterates the theme of imagination and intellectual curiosity. While the volumes reinforce cultural beliefs, behaviors, and values, Paim does not treat her child characters as subservient to adults, but rather as peers, which was extremely unusual for the era.

Her publication in 1955 of A Hora Próxima caused an arrest warrant to be issued for her. The book was about the workers' strike on the largest railroad in the country. The government's case against her collapsed when the public group supposed to weigh her recompense for the book's sedition, praised her for accurately telling of their experiences. The communist party had the book translated into both Chinese and Russian. O Sol do Meio-Dia (1961) won the Antonio de Almeida Prize of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL) in 1961 and was translated into German and Bulgarian. Her Trilogia de Catarina (1964) won a Premio Walmap (Walmap Prize) in 1965 from the (ABL).

Beginning in 1945, and for the next 16 years, Paim began to write for a children's program for the Ministry of Education and Culture. The program, "No Reino da Alegria" (In the Realm of Joy) was directed by Geni Marcondes and aired on MEC radio under the direction of Fernando Souza. During this time, she was also writing novels for adults, exploring social situations. Simão Dias was published in 1949 and her third book, A sombra do patriarca (In the Shadow of Patriarchy) was published in 1950. The book, about a young woman who leaves the city and goes to a farm in the north to recuperate from malaria, explores class differences, generational differences, social identity, and how patriarchy effects the various women (and men) in the novel.

1932, she returned to Salvador de Bahia to study at the Colégio Nossa Senhora da Soledade (College of Our Lady of Solitude), wrote her first pieces in the school paper, and graduated as a teacher. She taught until her marriage, to the medical doctor Isaias Paim on 8 January 1943 in Salvador de Bahia. Immediately after their wedding, the couple moved to Rio de Janeiro, where she could not work as a teacher because they refused to recognize her diploma.

Alina Paim (10 October 1919 – 1 March 2011) was a Brazilian novelist, author of children's literature and teacher. She was a communist and women's rights activist who translated Lenin's works into Portuguese. A re-evaluation of her contributions to Brazilian literature has emerged since 2007, when Paim was discovered to still be living in Mato Grosso do Sul. Her works were honored by the Antonio de Almeida Prize in 1961 and the Walmap Prize in 1965, both given by the Brazilian Academy of Letters.