20130605_141519My name is Andrew Downie and I am a foreign correspondent based in Brazil.

I recently published ‘Doctor Socrates: Footballer, Philosopher, Legend,’ which is a biography of the most revolutionary footballer of all time.

Nowadays I mostly write about sports for Reuters but I have written about Brazil for a host of publications including Time magazine, The Financial Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and The New York Times.

I have worked for Monocle, GQ, Esquire, and was, until a few years ago, the South America correspondent for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

I have also done some commercial work, reporting and writing for foreign investors who promote the state of Goias.

The purpose of this blog is to comment on the stories that I have been writing about from Brazil and draw attention to others. Although Brazil is the fifth biggest country in the world, the level of interest in South America’s largest nation is not huge and newspapers simply don’t have the budget to cover it properly. Yet there is so much happening and so many stories to be told.

The idea is to call attention to some of these stories, as well as highlight some of the unusual and entertaining stories that make Brazil such a unique place.

It’s also a way for me to write about issues and stories that I feel strongly about.