Fontela was born in
São João da Boa Vista, in 1940. She published poems in her hometown newspaper
O Município, and in
O Estado de S. Paulo's Suplemento Literário. She graduated in philosophy at the
University of São Paulo. Fontela was awarded the
Jabuti Prize for Poetry, in 1983, for her book
Alba; and the
São Paulo Art Critics Association award, for the book
Teia, in 1996. In 2007 the Brazilian Ministry of Culture honored her posthumously with the
Order of Cultural Merit; her cousin Maria Helena Teixeira de Oliveira received the award. == Works ==