Paulo Dutra is a writer, poet, and scholar whose work bridges Luso-Brazilian literature, Afro-Latin American cultural studies, and contemporary critical approaches to race and artistic production. Trained internationally—culminating in a PhD in Latin American Literature from Purdue University—he brings a distinctive interdisciplinary voice to his research, teaching, and creative work.

Dutra is the author of two critically acclaimed books of creative writing, Aversão oficial: resumida (Malê, 2018) and abliterações (Malê, 2019). Abliterações achieved international recognition as a semifinalist for the 2020 Oceanos Prize. His poetry has been celebrated for its innovative fusion of experimental form, everyday language, Afro-diasporic consciousness, and incisive critiques of racism and police brutality.

As a scholar, Dutra specializes in the intersections of race, literature, and cultural expression across the Americas. His research offers independent and often disruptive alternatives to mainstream approaches in Luso-Brazilian and Latin American studies. He has published on topics ranging from racial discourse in Machado de Assis, to rap, urban identity, and the politics of Blackness in the rap of Racionais MC’s, to new theoretical readings of Don Quijote. His academic work appears in journals and edited volumes in Brazil, Argentina, and the United States, and he is increasingly recognized for advancing Afro-descendant perspectives in both scholarship and pedagogy. His widely circulated article “O “Recitatif” de Machado de Assis: Para uma leitura negra de “Missa do galo” e “Teoria do medalhão”” is frequently cited for its intervention in reimagining the teaching of Brazilian literature.

Dutra’s courses at UNM reflect his commitment to justice-oriented humanities: he teaches Latin American and Afro-Latin American literature, Luso-Brazilian culture, race and representation, and literary activism.