New Issue: The Caribbean Writer, Vol. 24

"Certainly the new volume from The Caribbean Writer holds many gems, but it's particularly gratifying to see some St. Somewhere Journal alums included in its pages. Literary craftsman Geoffrey Philp weighs in with a fine example of his poetry chops, as well as his review of "Possession" by Cecil Gray. In turn, Philp's own book, "Who's Your Daddy? and other stories", is reviewed by Edgar O. Lake."

For more, please follow this link:  The Digital Calabash


Facebook: Volume 24 is finally here! Order your copies today. . .call 340-692-4152 or email orders@thecaribbeanwriter.org

***

Jamaicans at Bread Loaf: Diana McCaulay

Bread Loaf is the oldest writers’ conference in the US.  Each year since 1926, writers gather in the mountains of Vermont at the Bread Loaf Inn and surrounding cabins where they hear readings from some of the best writers of contemporary fiction, take lectures and craft classes from skilled teachers and meet with publishers, agents and editors.  I’ve wanted to go to Bread Loaf since I knew of its existence, but being admitted is not easy and it is not cheap.  I managed it this year due to the publication of my novel Dog-Heart, and was proud to be one of two Jamaicans among over 200 writers – the other, poet Millicent Graham, who was the Fairbanks International Fellow and one afternoon, gave a powerful reading from her new collection of poetry The Damp in Things, published by Peepal Tree Press in the UK.  I sat in the audience, thrilled to hear a Jamaican voice in a packed lecture hall of mostly Americans.  Her books had already sold out.  Big up, Millicent!


The strangest thing about the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference was this:  I did not read a single book in the ten days I was there.  This may not sound so unusual – ten days is not a very long time – but I can hardly remember any such period of my life when I did not read at least one book. 


I read other things, of course – the workshop submissions of my colleagues, handouts for craft classes, the New York Times (a little treat to myself), The Crumb (Bread Loaf’s daily broadsheet to help you keep track of the many and marvelous events of each day).   But no books.


I bought books though, more than a dozen.  There was a little bookshop, which stocked the essentials – the books of the writers who were there, small fans (those rooms were hot!), gadgets to convert three-pronged  to two-pronged plugs, extension cords (one electrical outlet  in the room), ear plugs (nearly everybody had a roommate) and Claritin (there was a meadow across the street, blooming in profusion).   A full Bread Loaf survival kit.  So my reading lies ahead, now that I am home.


Why didn’t I read any books?  There simply wasn’t time; because there was so much to learn, so much to listen to, so much to experience.  Each day started with a lecture at 9.00 am, our two-hour workshops on alternate days until lunchtime,  a special talk at 1.30 pm, craft classes at 2.30 pm, readings at 4.15 pm, dinner at 6.30 pm, readings at 8.15 pm and again at 9.30 pm.  A test of stamina, both physical and mental.  It was my brain that churned, struggling to hold on to all that I was hearing.  I am a writer without formal education, a writer of instinct, a writer who comes to writing via reading and I was hearing much for the first time – the difference between acute and chronic tension, the importance of choosing the point of telling, the dangers of authorial intrusion, the nature of voice.  Hearing these principles in lecture was a kind of homecoming for me, a naming of literary traditions I had absorbed through a lifetime of reading but had no words for. 


Some lessons – the most talented and successful of writers look wrecked in the morning as they are flossing their teeth in the bathroom.  Producing gorgeous fiction or poetry does not necessarily mean you are a nice person.  You can relinquish your BlackBerry and the world will still find you.  It is possible to overcomplicate everything about writing – but in the end it comes down to one thing – do your stories draw people in and keep them reading, and if they don't, why not? 


Every evening after dinner, I left the crowded, noisy dining room, where many of the Fellows (definition of a Fellow - books in print, winners of literary awards) were waiters – yes, waiters – and walked across the meadow of wildflowers, through the woods to a small river.  


On the second afternoon, I followed the path of the river and came across a flat bank, where there were dozens of towers of small rocks, some four feet high.  I was charmed by this, imagining people like me, far away from home, lonely in the heady, literary atmosphere, making a little pile of rocks to say, I was here, even briefly.  I made my own pile, knowing it would be washed away in the first good rain.  Later on in the week, I learned a woman’s children had made the piles – I much preferred my own narrative.  The piles of stones made me think about perception and the stories behind the things we see – our job as novelists is to engage with those stories.  And after the walk to the river, I would emerge into the bowl of the meadow, the forested mountains on all sides, the sky full of the colours of sunset.  What an immense privilege to spend ten days doing nothing but thinking about words and their products, about the ideas behind words, about the methods of bringing words to the waiting page…       


First published by the Jamaica Observer, Bookends, Aug 29 2010.


About the Author


Diana McCaulay is a Jamaican writer, newspaper columnist and environmental activist. She has lived her entire life in Jamaica and engaged in a range of occupations – secretary, insurance executive, racetrack steward, mid-life student, social commentator, environmental advocate. She is the Chief Executive of the Jamaican Environment Trust and the recipient of the 2005 Euan P. McFarlane Award for Outstanding Environmental Leadership. Dog-Heart won first prize in the 2008 Jamaican National Literature awards.

***

Related articles by Zemanta

• Save the Date: Miami Book Fair International (2010) (geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com)

Save the Date: Miami Book Fair International (2010)

Book lovers everywhere rejoice! The 27th edition of the nation’s finest and largest literary gathering, Miami Book Fair International, presented by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts (FCLA) at Miami Dade College (MDC), will take place November 14-21, 2010 at the college’s Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., in downtown Miami. 

The always-popular Street Fair runs Friday, November 19 through Sunday, November 21, with more than 200 exhibitors from around the country selling books in a festive atmosphere. This year, the Fair will celebrate the literature and culture of Mexico.

TOP CONFIRMED AUTHORS

Each year, the Fair raises the bar of excellence by offering a fine roster of prize-winning authors, and this year will be no exception. Confirmed authors include tennis superstar Venus Williams, Harvard biologist and naturalist Edward O. Wilson, MacArthur Fellow and Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat, screenwriter and author Nora Ephron, musician Patti Smith, novelist and memoirist Pat Conroy, local South Florida favorite Dave Barry, novelist Michael Cunningham, filmmaker John Waters, biographer and novelist Susan Cheever, humorist Ian Frazier, fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco, comics creator Charles Burns, NPR’s All Things Considered host Michele Norris, as well as Ann Beattie, Kate DiCamillo, Emilio Estefan, Jonathan Franzen and many others.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Fair will again treat book lovers to more than a week of cultural and educational activities, including the beloved Evenings With…series, the IberoAmerican Authors program, Student Literary Encounters, the Weekend Festival of Authors, the popular Street Fair Nov. 19 – 21 on the closed streets surrounding the campus, Comix Galaxy with Kids Comic Con and School of Comics, Children’s Alley, and much more.

Special Topic Panels will discuss current issues of the day, including the environment, immigration, and the financial crisis.

In addition, the Fair maintains a strong commitment to literary voices of the international community, and always welcomes writers from Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Caribbean. 

This year’s program includes Sir Michael Caine (England), Salman Rushdie (India), Darren Shan (Ireland), Susan Abulhawa (Palestine), Zakes Mda (South Africa), Binyavanga Wainana (Kenya), Okey Ndibe (Nigeria), Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe), EC Osandu (Nigeria), Aappiah Anthony Kwame (Ghana/UK), and others. 

The IberoAmerican program will present Paquito D´Rivera (Cuba-USA), Eduardo Sacheri (Argentina), Alberto Fuguet (Chile), Luis Leante (España), Claudia Piñeiro (Argentina), Pablo Simonetti (Chile), and more.

Caribbean writers featured include Earl Lovelace, Raoul Pantin, Gideon Hanoomansingh,  Merle Hodge, Winston Maynard-Moderator, Lasana Kwesi, Diana McCaulay, and Geoffrey Philp.  Confirmed Haitian writers are Miriam Chancy, Michele Voltaire Marcelin and Edwidge Danticat.

An exciting dimension to this year’s Book Fair includes a celebration of Mexico, commemorating the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence and the centennial of the Mexican revolution. The FCLA has partnered with the Mexican government, the Consulate General of Mexico in Miami and the Mexican Cultural Institute in Miami to honor these momentous occasions. Fairgoers will enjoy a grand pavilion dedicated to Mexican culture, and gallery exhibits by Mexican artists.  The diversity of Mexican literature will be represented by authors such as Laura Esquivel, Mario Bellatín, Gonzalo Celorio, Jorge Volpi, Estela Leñero, Natalia Toledo and others.

The celebration of Mexico will also include a local project with a focus on community involvement.  During the Fair, the Miami Book Fair and the Mexican Cultural Institute will collect new or gently used books and build a colossal spiral of books located on the fairgrounds in downtown Miami, and after the Fair, these books will be donated to local jails. The goal is to have more books than prisoners inside jails.

Miami Book Fair International 2010 promises to be another exceptional year! 

MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL AND FLORIDA CENTER FOR THE LITERARY ARTS

Miami Book Fair International is the largest and is regarded as the finest literary gathering in America. It is the premier event of the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College. The Center promotes reading and writing throughout the year by consistently presenting quality literary activities open to all in South Florida. Literacy projects target children of all ages—from kindergarten to high school—as well as college students and adults. Established and emerging writers from South Florida and all over the U.S. read, lecture, and teach workshops. They work with K-12, MDC students, and diverse members of the community, helping to deepen their understanding of literature, and encouraging their work of writers at all stages of development. The Center envisions South Florida as a nexus of literary activity in the Americas and beyond, and will continue to champion its mission of promoting the advancement and appreciation of the literary arts in all forms.

Miami Book Fair International is made possible through the generous support of the State of Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Miami; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Miami Downtown Development; and the Friends of the Fair; as well as many corporate partners.

ABOUT MIAMI DADE COLLEGE

Miami Dade College has a long and rich history of involvement in the cultural arts, providing South Florida with a vast array of artistic and literary offerings including The Miami Book Fair International, The Florida Center for the Literary Arts, The Miami International Film Festival, the Cultura del Lobo performance arts series, The Cuban Cinema Series, the Miami Leadership Roundtable speakers’ series, numerous renowned campus art galleries and theaters, and the nationally recognized School of Entertainment and Design Technology. With an enrollment of more than 170,000 students, MDC is the largest institution of higher education in the country and is a national model for many of its programs. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree programs including baccalaureate, associate in arts and science degrees and numerous career training certificates leading to in-demand jobs. In 2006, MDC admitted its 1.5 millionth student.

For regular updates on the Miami Book Fair, please visit www.miamibookfair.com, call 305-237-3528 or email wbookfair@mdc.edu.

Media-only contacts:

Juan Mendieta, 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu, MDC communications director 

Tere Estorino, 305-237-3949, testorin@mdc.edu, MDC media relations director

Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu, media specialist

Tarnell Carroll, 305-237-3359, tcarroll@mdc.edu, media specialist

Alejandro Rios, 305-237-7482, arios1@mdc.edu

***

Related articles by Zemanta

• FIU/ Books&Books International Writers Conference: Grand Cayman (geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com)

Upcoming Posts!

One of the primary aims of this blog is to stimulate discussion about Caribbean books and events that celebrate our writing. 


So, on August 30, 2010, I'll be posting the lineup for the Miami Book Fair International which will include the Caribbean authors who have already confirmed their appearance. This year's schedule has several Caribbean writers whose work I have admired and I hope I will get a chance to meet them or at the very least listen to them read. It's always interesting to discover whether the author's live reading matches the voice on the page.


I'm also excited about two guest posts by Lisa Allen Agostini, who will continue the In My Own Words series and Summer Edward, who extends the conversation about Caribbean classics with a twist: "What is a Caribbean Children’s Book Classic? – A Memetic Perspective."


Over the next two Fridays, I will publish Jennifer Rahim's poem, "Earthquake 2010," a meditation on the earthquake in Haiti, and on September 10, 2010, I'll begin a series called Flash Fiction Friday.


Before the publication of Dub Wise on September 30, 2010, I'll be reading at several venues: University of Miami, Broward County Library, and Miami Dade College. As we draw closer to the dates, I'll be clarifying the details. Dub Wise continues the exploration of many of the themes that have intrigued me over the years: identity, exile, and as Mervyn Morris has said, "The dialogue with myth, literature, the bible, music."


The next few months are going to be hectic, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

***

"Redemption Rain" by Jennifer Rahim

Redemption Rain

I have been praying for rain –

relentless down-pouring

like Mary’s weeping,

that Resurrection morning

when all that was love to her

was lost. O, that morning

was her hurricane of asking,

Who take him? Where they put him?

Not even a body left to touch.

Yes, I have been praying for rain

like that first Easter morning

when so much eye-water fall

it drown her world like Noah’s.

To be sure, that dread morning

when she looked inside that grave,

a womb-turn earthquake

rocked her world again

and bring-down-sorrow flow –

swept away the very image

of what she so loved in its flood.

O yes, I have been praying for rain

to end every dry-season –

heart-water salted like Mary’s

so love can speak redemption

with my name.

© Jennifer Rahim 2010

from the manuscript, REDEMPTION RAIN.



About the Author:

Jennifer Rahim is a Senior Lecturer in Literature in the Department of Liberal Arts, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. She is a critic, poet and short story writer. Her articles on Caribbean literature have appeared in MaComere, The Journal of West Indian Literature, Small Axe and Anthurium. She edited with Barbara Lalla a collection of Cultural Studies essays entitled, Beyond Borders: Cross Culturalism and the Caribbean Canon (UWI Press 2009).

Her creative publications include three poetry collections: Mothers Are Not the Only Linguists (1992) and Between the Fence and the Forest (2002) and Approaching Sabbaths (2009). She has one collection of short stories, Songster and Other Stories (2007). Approaching Sabbaths was awarded the 2010 Casa de las Américas Prize for best book in the category Caribbean Literature in English or Creole.

***

Related articles by Zemanta

• Book Review: Sections of an Orange by Anton Nimblett (geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com)

Excerpt: Cuban Ballet by Octavio Roca

[excerpted from Octavio Roca’s Introduction to his Cuban Ballet, with forewords by Alicia Alonso and Mikhail Baryshnikov]:



(In this brief section, Octavio Roca takes note, that in ballet today, Latins are the new Russians—their impact is comparable to that of the Soviet defectors who changed the face of dance in the 1970s and ‘80s, and their incomparable style and sabor also is adding new flavors to the dazzling work in progress that is American culture):



“The phenomenon embodied by the Feijóo sisters—from their respective home bases far from Havana in San Francisco and Boston as well as on their world tours alongside dancers from the Cuban diaspora—is changing the face of ballet in the twenty-first century. The sisters are a sign of the times. After nearly half a century of defections from Alicia Alonso’s Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Cuban dancers and teachers are exerting a powerful influence on American and world dance that brings to mind the profound impact Russian dancers brought to the West as their defections mounted in the dusk of the Soviet empire. These dancers are creating for the world the beauty they too often cannot make in their homeland.



“The growing diaspora of Cuban defectors everywhere is giving the tropical island a cultural importance that is miraculously disproportionate to its size. The entire Cuban population of eleven million could fit comfortably in greater Moscow, London, or New York. In addition to Lorena Feijóo and Lorna Feijóo, principal dancers from Cuba today star in the American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet as well the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, Houston Ballet, London's Royal Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Buenos Aires' Ballet del Teatro Colón, and many other major troupes. Cuban ballet teachers, all formed in the rigorous pedagogical tradition of Alicia and Fernando Alonso, head faculties from the Royal Danish Ballet to La Scala, from Madrid to Mexico City, from Buenos Aires to Paris. The Paris Opera Ballet School, in 2003, sent a team of observers to Havana to study the teaching methods of Alicia Alonso's National School of Ballet.



(Here, also from the introduction to Cuban Ballet by Octavio Roca, the author touches on a theme developed throughout his book, that the global phenomenon embodied by Cuban dancers today—as well as their heartbreaking, life-affirming stories—is not at all limited to dance inside Cuba. Even a casual YouTube search will confirm that Cuban culture is a culture in exile, and it is alive and thriving in these amazing dancers. Ballet, an old art from the Old World is decidedly being revitalized in the New World by these beautiful Hispanics in the 21st century. These dancers are today’s ambassadors of Latin culture at its finest. Cuban Ballet is an intensely personal account of these stories—there is no other way the Cuban Octavio Roca could tell it ):



“Alicia Alonso’s lessons do not stop with Alicia Alonso. Of course, her example continues to represent a blueprint for Cuban greatness in dance—this is what a Cuban dancer looks like, this is what the New World can give back to the Old. But beyond Cuba, in fact especially in the Cuban Diaspora, what these Cuban dancers have done and continue to do is one of the most entertaining and exhilarating spectacles of dance in our time. What has been done to them, to all of us exiles, is cruel. That exile is for so much of the world a natural condition is little consolation. But the consolation is there, in our imaginations. Reinaldo Arenas once told me, far from the tropics and sitting in his cramped Hells’ Kitchen walk-up in New York, that they had taken away his beloved Caribbean Sea but now he had the freedom to imagine it, to create it anew. He did just that, and his impossibly beautiful oeuvre stands as a monument of hope and possibility in Latin American arts.



“That hope is alive in a generation of Cuban dancers in exile. There is, of course, a danger of perennial mourning for the path not taken—a danger to which both those who stayed and those who left may be vulnerable. What would have happened had these dancers not had to leave their country? What an even greater company the Ballet Nacional de Cuba might have been without Cuba’s long nightmare? But with José Martí we say, “No vamos a preguntar, sino a responder,” “Let us not ask, but answer.” What a gift to the world it has been that these dancers enrich and will continue to enrich one company after another around the world.  That is our answer.  There is vital momentum to their living history, there is hope. That, too, is our answer. They are exiles, artists who freely take up the sacerdotal responsibility of an art that becomes universal precisely because it remains so defiantly Cuban. It is a responsibility taken up not so much by followers of the Cuban School of Ballet as by heroes and heroines in their own right, creating new worlds of dance even as they struggle to keep their own identities as Cuban artists. There is a sacrament of kindness bestowed in all its holiness each time they step on stage. They dance with a Cuban accent, and their dance is at home in the world.



“Lorena Feijóo and Lorna Feijóo, Jorge Esquivel, Osmay Molina, Joan Boada, the ever-growing number of Carreños from Lázaro and Alvaro up to Alihaydée, José Manuel and Joel, Rolando Sarabia and Daniel Sarabia, Xiomara Reyes, Carlos Miguel Guerra, Miguel Angel Blanco, Luis Serrano, Isanusi García Rodríguez, Carlos Quenedit, Hayna Gutiérrez, Adiarys Almeida, Gema Díaz, Cervilio Amador, Taras Domitro, and so many more dancing in Havana but soon to arrive on foreign shores as I write this, all of them are improbably at ease while splendidly, heroically creating a Cuban culture in the absence of the free Cuba they deserve.  In the process, they are enriching the lands where at first they were strangers. American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Houston Ballet, Washington Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden and many more companies all are better for it, and different for it.



“There is beauty in the arduous, unwilling, often unacknowledged transformation of temporary exile into permanent immigration. There certainly is artistic fervor in these lives. This may offer little solace, an unsatisfactory substitute for the land we lost. But what a surprise it can be to find these labors are now part of the culture of new lands we might call our own.  Again let us remember Jose Martí’s dictum, that “Hacer es la mejor manera de decir,”  “Doing is the best way of saying.”  Just as Alicia Alonso once refused to recognize her blindness as a brutal limitation for her art, dancers in the Cuban diaspora refuse to recognize the loss of their homeland.  They are Cuban artists and they are free.  What they do with what has been done to them is a touching, gripping tale. Theirs is a bittersweet victory, or perhaps just a sign of the inexorable momentum of history. Theirs is above all a true tale of the greatness of the human soul, of the indomitable spirit of dance. This is their story.



About the Author:



Octavio Roca has been music and dance critic for The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and the Miami New Times. He wrote Scotto, More Than A Diva, and his works for the stage include commissioned translations of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, Mascagni's Our Friend Fritz, Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice, and Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea, as well as the original libretto for Lucia Hwong's oratorio The Unwelcome Rhythm of Your Pulse. He studied at Emory University and Georgetown University, has taught philosophy at the University of Miami and Barry University, has lectured on the arts at the Smithsonian Institution and at the Catalan Theater Institute of the University of Barcelona, and is now chair of the Arts and Philosophy Department at Miami Dade College. He was born in Havana and presently lives in Miami Beach, where he used to be a lifeguard a while back.

Related articles by Zemanta

• U.S. Tribute to National Ballet of Cuba Director Alicia Alonso (repeatingislands.com)
• Alicia Alonso receives the Pablo Prize (repeatingislands.com)

New Book: Cuban Ballet by Octavio Roca

Forewords by Alicia Alonso and Mikhail Baryshnikov

Gibbs Smith, fall 2010

$40.00 Hardcover, 240 pages, illustrated

“Cubans are a dancing people. Dance matters to us, and it matters deeply.”~ Alicia Alonso

According to Mikhail Baryshnikov, in his foreword to Octavio Roca’s new Cuban Ballet, “It’s impossible not to notice when a Cuban dancer walks into the studio.” He is right, and the world is taking note as wave after wave of Cuban dancers and teachers are exerting a powerful influence on American and world dance.  Their presence brings to mind the profound impact Russian dancers brought to the West as their defections mounted in the dusk of the Soviet empire. These Cuban dancers are creating for the world the beauty they too often cannot make in their homeland. The unique style of the Cuban School of Ballet today is galvanizing the world of dance in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and beyond. The growing diaspora of Cuban defectors everywhere is giving the tropical island a cultural importance that is miraculously disproportionate to its size. The entire Cuban population of eleven million, after all, could fit comfortably in greater Moscow, London, or New York. These Cuban dancers, often far from their homeland and more distinctly Cuban for it, say with every step that, “No, you will not take Cuba away from me.”  Even more than in the case of Cuba’s musical or literary traditions, exile has meant a regeneration and revitalization of Cuban ballet and its rich tradition. Cuban Ballet is a tale of revolution in a country as well as in ballet. It is a tale of a people’s tragedy and hope, of dance and of life. In Octavio Roca’s hands, these dancers’ stories reads like a novel that happens to be true. 

The product of years of research and a lifetime of commitment to Cuban arts and culture, Octavio Roca’s beautifully illustrated book explores the history of Cuban ballet starting with the life and career of the indomitable Alicia Alonso, founder of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Her voice resounds in the book, as do those of today’s Lorena Feijóo and Lorna Feijóo, Joan Boada, José Manuel Carreño, Taras Domitro, Rolando Sarabia, and Carlos Acosta, among others. The book is rich in anecdotes, often heartbreaking in its honesty. Yet Cuban Ballet is not mere reportage, but rather it is a feat of challenging, lucid criticism. There is of course not a little irony in that the Cuban School of Ballet, essentially invented and refined by one of Fidel Castro's strongest cultural supporters, is now being spread all over the world by Cuban artists who are fleeing Castro's regime. One of the most rewarding aspects of Cuban Ballet is the insights it grants into the creation of art in circumstances no one should have to endure. With equal parts of affection, clarity and wit, Octavio Roca offers up a cultural history that goes beyond the world of dance.

Alicia Alonso writes in her foreword that “Octavio Roca, whom I have known for decades and who has known us his whole life…, has seen our dancers at home and abroad as well as on tour and with other companies. For me, his critical writing on dance carries a unique sensitivity to an art for he clearly loves.” 

“I know that Octavio Roca’s love of Cuba is as profound as his knowledge of ballet,” writes Mikhail Baryshnikov, “and I know this book is from his heart.”


About the Author:

Octavio Roca has been music and dance critic for The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and the Miami New Times. He wrote Scotto, More Than A Diva, and his works for the stage include commissioned translations of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, Mascagni's Our Friend Fritz, Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice, and Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea, as well as the original libretto for Lucia Hwong's oratorio The Unwelcome Rhythm of Your Pulse. He studied at Emory University and Georgetown University, has taught philosophy at the University of Miami and Barry University, has lectured on the arts at the Smithsonian Institution and at the Catalan Theater Institute of the University of Barcelona, and is now chair of the Arts and Philosophy Department at Miami Dade College. He was born in Havana and presently lives in Miami Beach, where he used to be a lifeguard a while back. 

***

For review copies, images, interviews or further information, please get in touch with:

Jennifer King, Gibbs Smith, Publisher, jking@gibbs-smith.com, 801-927-2171

Danny Bellas, DBellas@aol.com, 818-288-3972

***

Related articles by Zemanta

• Cuba's National Ballet to Honor Mirta Plá (repeatingislands.com)
• U.S. Tribute to National Ballet of Cuba Director Alicia Alonso (repeatingislands.com)
• American Ballet Theater hopes to unite countries with Cuba performance (cnn.com)
• Alicia Alonso to Be Honored by Ballet Theater (nytimes.com)
• Alicia Alonso to Be Honored by Ballet Theater (nytimes.com)
• American Ballet cleared for Cuba trip (cbc.ca)
• Alicia Alonso receives the Pablo Prize (repeatingislands.com)
• The National Ballet of Cuba Performs "La leyenda del agua grande" (repeatingislands.com).

Upcoming Posts!

And the hits just keep on coming!

Last week I received two poems, “Redemption Rain" and "Earthquake 2010" from Jennifer Rahim, author of Approaching Sabbaths, winner of a Casa de las Américas Prize 2010. Both poems are from her manuscript, REDEMPTION RAIN.

Continuing the pattern begun by Pam Mordecai, the title poem of Jennifer's collection, “Redemption Rain,” will be published on Friday, August 27, 2010. The second poem, "Earthquake 2010,”  a meditation on the tragedy in Haiti, will be published in  on September 3, 2010.

On Wednesday, August 25, 2010, I will be publishing an excerpt from Octavio Roca’s Cuban Ballet, which according to the publisher, Gibbs Smith, “explores the history of Cuban ballet starting with the life and career of the indomitable Alicia Alonso, founder of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba.”

I've been in contact with several Caribbean writers who will be reading at the Miami Book Fair International and several have pledged to write guest posts for the In My Own Words series.

Speaking about the MBFI, I hope to be able to write a post about Michael Hettich's  most recent collection of poems, Like Happiness. Michael Hettich will be reading at Books & Books on October 15, 2010.

Finally, give thanks to all who participated in the Marcus Garvey poll. 84% of you agreed that Marcus would have been a blogger. I would even venture to conclude, as Colin Grant did, that he would have been a master of social media. Marcus Garvey on Twitter. I like that!

I’ll be rolling out even more good news over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

***

Related articles by Zemanta

• Upcoming: 3 New Poems by Pam Mordecai (geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com)
• "One time jamboree - Darfur maybe" by Pamela Mordecai (geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com)
• Alicia Alonso receives the Pablo Prize (repeatingislands.com)