Paulo Henriques Britto is elected to Heloisa Teixeira's former seat at the ABL

Poet Paulo Henriques Britto, 73, was elected this Thursday (22) to occupy seat number 30 of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. The translator and professor fills the vacancy left open by the death of literary critic Heloisa Teixeira after receiving 22 votes from academics.

Britto has published 14 books, including eight poetry books, two short stories, three essays and one for children and young people. His poetry has been translated into English and Swedish and published in Portugal. His essay "A Tradução Literária" was published in Spanish in Chile.

The newest ABL immortal is also recognized as one of the country's leading translators, having translated into Portuguese around 120 works by novelists such as Virginia Woolf, Henry James, Thomas Pynchon and James Baldwin, as well as poets such as Byron, Elizabeth Bishop and Frank O'Hara.

But it is also responsible for translations into English, helping works by Brazilian authors such as Ferreira Gullar and Luiz Costa Lima reach other parts of the world.

Britto was the favorite in the race. He competed for the position with Arlindo Miguel, Eduardo Baccarin Costa, Paulo Renato Ceratti, Spencer Hartmann Júnior and Salgado Maranhão, who came in second place with ten votes. There were no women in the race to replace Heloisa Teixeira, a critic known for her feminist works.

This is remarkable given that, in its entire 128-year history, the ABL has only had 12 immortal women. The first was writer Rachel de Queiroz, and the most recent is journalist Míriam Leitão, elected last month to replace Cacá Diegues.

Next Thursday (29), elections will take place for the seat left vacant by the death of Marcos Vilaça on March 29. On that occasion, there will also be only men running. They are lawyer José Roberto de Castro Neves, who is running as a favorite, Rodrigo Lacerda, Diego Mendes Sousa, Sivaldo Venerando do Nascimento and Evandro Aléssio Rodrigues Pereira.