Cultural Cross Sections Alice-Catherine Carls Pachamama / Pichincha / Photo by Scipio Rocío Durán-Barba / Photo by Stephen Carls Rocío Durán-Barba is one of the most important voices of Latin American literature today. The author of more than fifty books in French, Spanish, and many other translations, she writes in a surrealistic vein tethered to history. Fundamentally awake to her surroundings, she fully engages her senses, mind, and spirit in a reading of the present to better guide the future. Whether she questions the identity of Paris, explains the world events of May 1968, or challenges Henri Michaux’s travelogue of Ecuador, she is always awakening her readers’ consciousness. Two of her recent works encourage introspection and dialogue with the cultures of Spanish Latin America in the form of encounters between painters and poets. Neither illustrated poems nor narrated paintings, these encounters are artistic regards croisés. Translation is present as a third art, as the books feature the French and Spanish versions of the poems. A first volume matching twelve Ecuadorian painters with twelve French poets, Regards croisés. Miradas cruzadas. Peintres équatoriens et poètes français, came out in 2016. This desire to make Ecuador better known to the world may have its roots in the devastatingly negative travel impressions noted by Henri Michaux during his trip to Latin America in the late 1930s. Durán-Barba responded to it... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-02-13 15:00:14 UTC ]
The unnamed protagonist in Jack London's 'To Build a Fire' gets into trouble while hiking in the frozen Yukon with his dog. Widely considered to be London’s best short story, 'To Build a Fire' captures the cold with painful accuracy. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"City of Night" was not the first overtly gay-themed book but it may be the most unapologetic, a searing screed of life on the edge.I spent part of Wednesday afternoon at UCLA, on a panel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of John Rechy’s novel “City of Night,” newly reissued to commemorate the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novelist Scott Turow's 'Identical' is a compulsively readable crime story about brothers, feuding families and a long-ago murder.Over the course of nine novels, Scott Turow's Kindle County has become one the best-known settings in American literature. While fictional locations are not uncommon... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James McBride takes liberties as he visits the story of white abolitionist John Brown through the eyes of a young slave in 'The Good Lord Bird.'John Brown, the white abolitionist who sought to free black slaves with the barrel of a gun, is a recurring character in American literature. He's one... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Times Book Critic David L. Ulin reflects on DOMA and writer John Rechy.John Rechy should be proud. It was his 1963 novel "City of Night" ¿ the story of a gay street hustler that took place, in part, in downtown¿s Pershing Square ¿ that helped carve out a place for gay writing in American literature. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 16:11 Brent Council has recommended closing six of its libraries, as protests continue against the cuts. The report follows a three-month community consultation on Brent's "Libraries Transformation Project". It has been... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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