And now for a bit of historic backdrop

Julio Ludemir, left, and Écio Salles, right, at the 2015 FLUPP with a young writer in the Chapéu Mangueira favela, up the hill from Leme

Imagine a time when Rio de Janeiro favelas occupied white spaces on city maps and there was actual debate about whether or not favela children should be in full-day school programs, as anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro intended for his CIEP pre-fabricated schools, created in the 1980s and 1990s.

Nothing like chewing the fat — grilled sandwiches, water and juice, actually — at day’s end with a couple of old Rio favela hands.

RioRealblog did just this yesterday (as part of book research) at a café in Leme with Julio Ludemir and Écio Salles. After decades of experience among young people from favelas and poor suburbs, Ludemir and Salles in 2012 created the FLUPP, a vibrant literary festival and series of workshops connecting and supporting writers from…