The infidelity check (reissued from July 31st 2003)

The quiet state of Kansas is not a liberal one. Life is comfortable and runs smooth, there is no big incentive to look further, it is so perfect already.

The state's most outstanding self-denial has been the controversy involving creationists and evolunionists. This is a local issue but I believe it falls under the same roof as the percentage of Americans who believe they have been abducted by aliens and the number of people who actually think that Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon was just a TV trick.

Topeka's daily newspaper, the Topeka Capital Journal, like any other newspaper or TV station on the planet, bears its share of responsiblity. Wanting to know what's going on in arts and culture (trying to defeat the notion that nothing goes on around here), I flipped through the newspaper's many pages and found nothing. No symphony concerts, no exhibitions, performing arts are just missing. Book reviews? Not really. It apparently has to do with the day of the week.

But I found fun headlines: "Fine furniture, family, make for fine life" and "Web site aims to catch spouses who cheat online". Life is still perfect, what a relief.


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Yesterday and today, a snapshot in time with a few of today's headlines:
US & World
US jets drop bombs in Basra
Consumer spending weak in February
Dean: Bickering Democrats may hurt party
Raul Castro: Cubans can have cell phones
Police close off Lhasa's Muslim quarter
North Korea tests short-range missiles
Strange
Man writes check on 2-ply toilet paper
Iowa county board OKs ghost hunters
Runaway SUV knocks man off his toilet
Woman crashes into water, saves coffee
Woman trying to help after crash bitten
Soap, undies stolen in odd home robbery

No dia em que o Correio da Manhã tiver uma secção chamada "Strange", aí sim, há razão para alarme.

Wristcutters: the debate

Wristcutters: a Love Story seems to be a great movie, by all accounts.

The Sundance discovery of a good director, good actors with what seems to be a promissing future and a strange story in an even stranger set (purgatory in Northern California?).

It would be just another independent film, another Sundance event had it not been for the marketing skills of The DarkFilms who are planning to launch a controversial ad campaign: posters / traffic signs showing people killing themselves, "The images will depict people jumping off a bridge, electrocuting and hanging themselves", as stated on a CNN article that has shot this film up into cyberspace and into international awareness. Fantastic marketing for a well deserving movie. I can't wait to actually watch it in August. Will it have the allure of the latest Sundance hit, Sideways? It remais to be seen.

The wonderful blank page of a new year

It's been so long I've been here that it seems all has changed, I could hardly find my way through the blog-city administration tool. This is a great place to be, despite my absences, I know I will return to Blogcity. [maybe not after all...]

Ever since September, I've been totally busy in a new project, a blog in Portuguese hosted by the very new Portuguese weekly newspaper SOL (http://sol.sapo.pt/blogs/meiadeleite/default.aspx). It has been an interesting experience. Like in any small town, everyone knows your name, but there are some disavantages to that unwanted intimacy. Please visit if you fell like it, if not, thanks for stopping by and have a great 2007!

Mother and child

Canadian photographer Finbarr O’Reilly wins premier award of the World Press Photo contest. As far as I'm concerned, every photo that involves mother and child shoots straight across my heart. It is so difficult to look at a photo like this and only try to imagine what goes on in this woman's mind in the exact split second when the photo is taken. It's what's at the core of photography - catching that split second - allied to what is worth while documenting - human strife.

Frustration

After six months developing a website and store kind of online (for free!!!), I have realized that nobody has had any interest on it except for myself. The brick and mortar owners are nothing but afraid that the online store will reveal too much of their business, their gains have been marginal and they don't believe in the growth of the store in a short term period of time. I have been battling for almost every move, promotions have been given by me personally, discounts the same, info on the monthly newsletter has been vetoed and they have even failed to collect a 120 dollar payment and have requested me, 2 months later to see about recovering it. The signs are all there, it is time for me to call it quits. The most and hardest fight has been to enable customers to pay with a credit card (!) but they're reticent because it envolves a 3% tax on all sales... ok, ok, just whining a little, some days you need to shout your aflictions to the world out there and share just a bit of all the disappointment. Blogging has been on hold for almost six months and what for? There's no such let down feelings in blog city, I have to come back!

News from Darfur

Some news from Darfur:

"Darfur Trembles as Peacekeepers' Exit Looms"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2006%2F09%2F10%2Fworld%2Fafrica%2F10darfur.html%3F_r%3D2%26oref%3Dlogin%26oref%3Dslogin

"What happened in Rwanda, it will happen here," said Sheik Abdullah
Muhammad Ali, who fled here from a nearby village seeking the safety
that he hoped the presence of about 200 African Union peacekeepers
would bring. But the Sudanese government has asked the African Union
to quit Darfur rather than hand over its mission to the United
Nations. "If these soldiers leave," Sheik Ali said, "we will all be
slaughtered."

"Darfur: Waiting for the slaughter"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.independent.co.uk%2Fworld%2Fafrica%2Farticle1603856.ece

Rasha Ibrahim Adam and her children may be about to die - just as she
thought they had all escaped to safety.

The 38-year-old mother of four children is one of the latest to flee
the bombs from the Sudanese government that have dropped on their
homes. Today, she finds herself in one of the dusty, benighted refugee
camps that litter the region of Darfur. She sits in her once bright
red tob - a wrap-around dress - that has been faded by the sand-laden
wind that blows across al-Salaam camp on the edge of the town of
el-Fasher.

She was one of the 50,000 people who swelled the scorched camps for
the "internally displaced" in the past month - bringing to about 2.5
million the number of children, women and men now homeless in a
conflict that has dragged on for three years without an end seemingly
in sight. Until now, that is. Because an end is in sight for the
Darfur camps - where at least 300,000 black African farmers have been
slaughtered by the Khartoum government and its Arab proxies, the
Janjaweed militia, whose name means "devils on horseback". One of
those who died was Rasha's husband, Adam.

It could be an end so terrifying, it defies the imagination.

"Annan issues stark message to Security Council about impending
catastrophe in Darfur"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Fapps%2Fnews%2Fstory.asp%3FNewsID%3D19789%26Cr%3DSudan%26Cr1%3DDarfur

Mr. Annan said the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will
have to drastically scale back their humanitarian operations in Darfur
unless the security situation improves.

"Can we, in conscience, leave the people of Darfur to such a fate? Can
the international community, having not done enough for the people of
Rwanda in their time of need, just watch as this tragedy deepens?" he
asked.

"Food crisis looms in North Darfur"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alertnet.org%2Fthenews%2Fnewsdesk%2FIRIN%2F44ebc5a1f83bc561ec2c739dd59de162.htm

On Wednesday, NRF rebels clashed with government forces south of
Tawilla. An Antonov plane and two helicopter gunships reportedly
bombed Dobo Al Umda Dobo and Dobo Al Madrasa town and the surrounding
villages. The number of casualties is unknown.

"If a United Nations force is not deployed soon, something much worse
is going to happen here," the SLM/A commander added.

"Rebels Say They May Abandon Darfur Pact"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2006%2F09%2F13%2FAR2006091301996.html

Abdulrahaman Abdallah, a commander of the rebel group's military
police, said that without a strong international force here, "the
government will go back to its strategy, which is genocide, and
inevitably we will go back to the bush."

---

Comments:

Kevin G:
And even with the demonstrations, how much face time will this get at the UN this week while the world is watching Bush & the Pres. of Iran battle. And the phrase "Never Forget" from the Holocaust seems to be falling on deaf ears of those in power, forget Rawanda and the rivers running red with blood. "Do unto others" I guess can be taken as "do what you feel you need to do to keep yourself in power!" So much for Humanity!

visitor:
Day 105 24/7 DC VIGIL for DARFUR; Day 35 HUNGER STRIKE (54 days so far this summer, with breaks); ARRESTED Sept 9th at White House with 29 others from Africa Action; http://wwww.standwithdarfurwhitehouseii.blogspot.com
THE ONLY HOPE FOR DARFUR: WE-THE-WORLD’S-PEOPLE. Duh.
It is said that the mark of truly being “crazy” is expecting different results from doing the same thing over and over and…. Ok, we needed to try some new approaches, hoping we could find a new formula for mass social change (stopping Genocide has NEVER been done); looking for an approach that would be comfortable, convenient, safe, executed from our computer terminal / phone / TV or office in some combination. The variations we’ve tried are: * Blame (Bush, UN, EU…) , * Emails, letters, postcards…,* Letting the Nonprofits do it, * Divestment. And the results are in. WE ARE NOT, STOPPING THE GENOCIDE!
You mean that the answer for Darfur is the same answer we found for…* Ending the Vietnam War, * Gaining Civil Rights in the US, * Gaining Women the right to Vote in the US, * Ending apartheid in South Africa, * Throwing off the British oppression at our start....?
Yup. No one else, nothing else can stop it, can save 4,000,000 in Concentration Camps in Sudan and Chad. The buck stops with WE-THE-WORLD’S-PEOPLE. Let’s stop talking and start - marching, demonstrating, sitting-in, hunger striking….
The next step is September 17th (SaveDarfur.org; DayForDarfur.org). BUT, then we need to be ready on SEPTEMBER 18th, 19th… AS LONG AS IT TAKES, WHATEVER IT TAKES.
Jay McGinley, jymcginley@cs.com

Brokeback and parallel lives

I watched Brokeback Mountain much after all the fuss when there is actually space to see and have a clear mind about it. The most impressive feature for me is of course Wyoming, that paradise on earth, the mountains, a place to die. I liked the guys, the performing was convincing, realistic and contained as it should have been. Those guys made their characters real, flesh and bone, the magic worked.

So much has been said about homosexuality, so many jokes on the evening talk shows, unending press and reviews. Funny enough I didn't make much of the fact that the two main characters were men. I found the fact that the film portrays a hidden life much more interesting. It reminds me of some French films that analyse the characters inside out and show how rich and sophisticated humans really are. Who knows you for real? Your spouse, your co-workers, friends, family? The whole of a human being is in my mind unattainable and untranslatable, just like the quote I keep on the header, by Perec. We are the onion being, peel after peel, until nothingness, a web of intricated relations, feelings, purposes and pain. It is the acknowledgement of that web that I really liked about Brokeback Mountain.

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1213 reads

I'm ready

Listening to I'm ready by Steve "The Harp" Blues Band on Blue Icewater Radio, offered by live365.com. Ooooohh yeah!

A History of Violence

I have just watched A History of Violence by David Cronenberg. Most reviews I've read after watching it are good and I guess people generally like Cronenberg. I had no premade ideas about the film, no clue about director or anything else and I am sorry to say that I didn't like it that much. It is slow and unlikely, the small town feeling unreal and pushed on us all the time. The main character is too enigmatic, you just can't figure what is going on most of the time, the kids are not like real kids, all is unsaid, the perfect family in the perfect small town, too much perfect and an unlikely past. The violence is always too sudden and unexpected, shown as perfectly normal and maybe even acceptable. May be Cronenberg fans appreciate the style, I can't say that I do. For me, the redeeming thing about it was Maria Bello, powerful, volcanic hot under the perfect wife cover, the hotest sex on the stairs I've seen in a while. Not to keep, but good for a quite evening when there's nothing else to do.

The primacy of matter over thought

Above Man Ray's Primat de la matière sur la pensée, 1929.
Looking back at the genius of the early twentieth century, I wonder how we are going to look back at ourselves, one hundred years from now. Where is the genius now that will be so clear in just a century

The Persians by Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly is a glass artist, his prolific work is scattered all around the planet. Wherever it is, the impact is always stunning. His work is revolutionary and it has been breaking boundaries for many years. His website is very complete and well structured, light and easy to navigate through, a complete Chihuly gallery online.

I have chosen one piece from the Persians creations. The Persians recreates the rich mythological ocean floors of Homer and of our dreams, his art goes one step further than reality.

Martini Rossi

It is so hot today, one of those inviting hot summer nights.

It brings to mind Martini Rossi. I love everything about it, I love the sexy, cool commercial, I love the drink on the rocks and a slice of lemmon. In parts of Europe, a Martini means a Martini-Rossi vermouth, rosso or white, served with that same ice and lemon, just like in the add. Europeans in the U.S have a hard time getting their Martinis.

Here's to summer and to hot and cool, the Martini Rossi add: (it's all I can really talk about tonigh, I apologize for the lack of inspiration!

World Cup Final

Everyone ready for the very European World Cup Final today. Italy and France, the old school, are still great after all these years. Goodbye to Zidane, it'll be good to see Barthez and Thierry Henri. Italy's back to the old glory days of Paolo Rossi. Having rooted for Portugal, too bad about the loss yesterday, but hey Germany deserved a party. Shame on England's sore loosers and on the difamation campaign played on Cristiano Ronaldo. No matter what, he is still best second young player in the world! Eat that. As for Portuguese haters, hey...Mourinho is still there and he is no. 1.

A game is a game, I admire those who party whether they loose or win. Cheers Brazil and Angola! And let the "best man" win this evening!

Hey, it's been such a long time!

Hey! It's been such a long time since I've been here back home that I feel like I've been travelling and it's nothing other but trying to set up a small beauty and health store online! It takes months, I've been baffled by the enormous task. In the meantime, a heap of opportunistic cheap posters are have been taking advantage of the fact that I do allow comments to do nothing but posting their links and spam on my blog. Fortunately it isn't so hard to keep track of these mean creatures and deleting them here at blog city so that will be the first thing I do when I come back. Missing it here!!

Moby Dick

This will be a very short and unusual posting, a hommage to my shrink who is a very patient an optimistic person, unlike myself. I doubt that there are many people now who actually read Moby Dick, that amazing book the size of a big brick. At the time I was forced to read it all (no summaries) I wondered why would anybody chose that big of a book, I wondered what the point was, the same could be written in about one fourth of the size. I doubt I would be able to read it now, when screens take most of the time. Anyway, at the time I wrote something about one of the chapters and I gave my deepest thoughts about the eternal circling of the Pequod and Ahab searching for Moby Dick, the illusive yet threatning whale that could never be captured. Unlike the powerful Moby Dick, my whale of a problem is an immense whale, slow and dying, that nobody really wants to catch anymore. And here it is, a small posting for my brave shrink and a remembrance to my literary good ole times.

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And some comments:
1
'Christopher' posted on the Tue 21 Nov 2006, 3:21 pm
I was glad to see that I'm not the only blog-city resident to invoke this book of late.
http://cfaille.blog-city.com/call_me_ishmael__why_is_that_a_great_opening.htm

2
'A visitor' posted on the Tue 4 Jul 2006, 7:56 pm
As a young girl, I was a geek (still am a geek) but I was convinced Moby Dick was boring, until I realized the classic Trek episode with Kirk and the Commodore chasing the planet killer was essentially the same story...somehow the geekery in that got me through the book...
Melville had some valid points to make about obsession, I guess, but he could have done it in half the words.

3
'kevin g' posted on the Fri 26 May 2006, 8:23 pm
Don't know what your problem (whale of a) is, but I'm sure talking with your therapist is a good idea, right? I never finished Moby Dick, and am not in a rush to pick it back up, however, some problems that we face are elusive, and often take the insight of an "outsider" to really observe what's going on. We're all dealing with something, whether an elusive white whale, addictions, self-hate, disappointment, and the lack of love, but you have to keep moving, because if you settle, you'll never get to the heart of the problem. Just a thought.

Big Man By Ron Mueck

I've had a wonderful Brasilian meal tonight and at the end, I was given a Brasilian magazine of sorts geared toward the Brasilian community. So far so good, the surprise was finding Ron Mueck there, of all places. And so here is Mueck's Big Man.

This big man has been bought by the Hirschhorn Museum of Washington DC. Some impressive work, other pieces are similar and equally baffling. Ron Mueck was born in Melbourne, Australia, and seems to be doing quite well. Some great work in so many ways.

Here is is bio, by the Australian National Gallery, buyer of his Pregnat Woman 2002 (below):

As a child, Ron Mueck experimented with puppetry and model making, influenced by his parents’ work as toy makers. Failing selection to art school, Mueck began to work as a window-dresser before progressing to make and operate puppet animals for children’s television programs. In America in the mid-1980s he worked on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, before settling in London where he assisted with the special effects for the films Dreamchild (1985)and Labyrinth (1986). In the early 1990s he opened his advertising business but continued to make models as a pastime.

Mueck’s entrée into the art world occurred almost accidentally in 1996. The artist Paula Rego, who was also Mueck’s mother-in-law, asked him to create a model of Pinocchio for her to paint for the exhibition Spellbound at the Hayward Gallery, London. The work captured advertising tycoon Charles Saatchi’s attention, and he immediately commissioned Mueck to make four works including Dead dad. It was then included in Saatchi’s controversial exhibition Sensation at the Royal Academy, London, which travelled to Berlin and Brooklyn.

Mueck participated in the 2001 Venice Biennale where his work Boy became a talking point. He was also appointed Associate Artist at the National Gallery, London (2000–01), and made a series of works that showed his particular interest in representations of the mother and child, including Pregnant woman. His time at the National Gallery, London, culminated in an international travelling exhibition presented in Sydney, London, Berlin and Haarlem. Mueck lives and works in London.

liberté, fraternité, equalité

The French have been at odds with their status of freedom and equality country. The country is actually on fire, ready to explode, and very ready for the current Chirac-Villepin power duo plunge. It started with the ban on religious symbols which is plain discriminatory already, the French riots pretty much showed the world that France is not that great peaceful place the French believe it to be and now the recent strikes and the clashes with the country's youth crowns the whole thing. Fortunately and good for them, the French people, native or immigrants, continue as feisty as ever, Jospin should start worrying about those old head loosing methods.

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After posting this, I've heard Jon Stewart's take on the French "new" riots and gosh was he right and I wrong! It is kind of true, what employer would want to fire such great young people that attack the police, destroy stores and set cars on fire? That against the California peaceful immigrant's protest. But then there's so many like Jeanne Tonnabel (below), 20, who says:

Under this law, the young will become a disposable commodity. Employers will take people on, train them quickly, keep them for a while and then chuck them out to hire replacements. This law legitimises the exploitation of people.

Tonnabel from the BBC website.

Thamae Setshogo, an artist from Botswana

Revisiting my All 55 African countries project, I've decided to visit Botswana, a country I know almost nothing about, except that it has something to do with South Africa. Of course this is easily corrected, just visit the CIA Factbook and the Lonely Planet websites and you'll have an idea.

Searching for artist, I was totally surprised by the amazing cultural richness of Botswana and when I found the Kuru Kalahari website I knew I had to bring it here. The artwork is great, and the ideas behind this incredible group of artists are all I believe in. It was actually very difficult to choose a painting to post here because I liked them all, but one had to be elected so I chose this "Secretary Bird eating a snake and Kori Bastard" by Thamae Setshogo.

Below I include a beautiful text about the Kuru Kalahari project, a website I strongly recommend and a small bio of Thamae Setshogo.

About the Kuru Kalahari project:

"They say it is our ancestors who made the many rock paintings all over southern Africa. I believe it, although I have seen only some of these many paintings. The ones that I have seen illustrate things that I know so well from our culture. Yes I believe the San* made it. I feel it in my body. I do not see myself as just another artist. Being an artist is my heritage. It is part of my existence, as being Ncoakhoe (Bushmen) is part of my existence. I am very serious about my tradition and my culture. I cannot understand why people who do not care for tradition can be an artist, because that is what it is all about. Even in the times when there were no rocks for our people to paint on, they had to satisfy their artistic skills. They made beautiful beadwork designs from ostrich eggshells and wooden beads, and later, when it became available, they also used the brightly coloured glass beads. They carved beautiful things from wood, which they decorated with burnt patterns.
Yes, the main reason for me to paint is to show the world the things that my people and I love. It is a way of making a living, but more than that - it is to show other people who we are and how we live. It is also a way of learning. Through art you learn about new techniques, about other cultures, about how other people think and live. It lifts you out from the darkness."

DADA (Coex'ae Qgam) January 2000

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Bio of Thamae Setshogo

Thamae was born late 1960’s early 1970’s in the Ghanzi district. He grew up on a farm on the edge of the central Kalahari game reserve, where his parents worked as farm labourers. At a very young age he learned the ins and outs of farm work and the secrets in the wild. In 1991 he joined the Kuru Art Project. He started working with acrylic on board, but soon changed to oil on canvas. He works mostly in smooth flat planes with colours that complete each other. Another technique that suits his style well is the lino printmaking. An outstanding feature of his art is the almost always symmetric compositions. Very sensitive to details, he depicts small incidences and creatures in nature (like waterinsects) which are often being looked over by other artists. He has no preference for materials, but enjoys using them all. Other than all the other Kuru artists he prefers slightly muted colours and does not always use great colour contrasts. For subject matter, he prefers animals above all. He loves to see them coming alive in his art.

He became famous for his large black and white lino prints. His subject matters are simplified so that they become almost abstract. He always works direct from memory without any preliminary sketches.

Thamae is not afraid to experiment in different material. In 1997 he received a commission to make a large relief wall panel for the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone. Since he also loves woodcarving he created a beautiful panel with layers of carved wood combined with paint. During the same year he also painted a large mural at the Return of the Moon exhibition at the National Museum in Windhoek, Namibia.

With the assistance of the Artists’ Press in Johannesburg, South Africa he made several lithographs. He was one of four Kuru artists to take part in a lithography workshop on the theme of the trickster at the Tamarind Institute at Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He also attended several of the Thapong International Artists' workshops in Botswana and an international workshop in Australia. Thamae is one of the most well-known and famous artists in Botswana. He received several awards at the Artists' exhibitions in Botswana. Becoming an artist was nothing new to him. It has always been there with him. He always loved to make beautiful things with his hands and loved to learn new ways of making things. Without any formal schooling, he feels that his art has given him a chance in life. Through his art, he became recognised as an individual. For him his art is the link between the past, the present and the future.

Neighborhood stores on the web

Having been terribly busy trying to set up a two-small store "chain" that sells beauty and health products, on the web, has been a challenge and a major time consuming activity, done after office hours because I do have a job. The task itself started up being just setting up an informative webpage but one thing leads to another and lately I've just tried to fill the store's shelves, although there is no shopping cart yet. I don't even know if the store owners want or are ready for an online venture. I have no knowledge of programming at all, but there is a lot of software out there that make all the tasks very easy. I'm going to try the Easy Shop Maker, a Dutch program, for the shopping cart, it seems pretty simple, straightforward and easy, all I need. If not, a simple search in Tucows will bring dozens of shopping cart software packages, from free to very expensive.

My biggest frustration has been dealing with the real shop owners, who spend more time in the physical world and less time looking at a screen. I hadn't dealt with people like that in a while, everyone at home is a screen person, except for the to-be 2 year old, at least for the time being. People who do not use computers to work/live don't understand that:
- if you get an email you reply on the same day, if you're a business within the hour, not 48 hours later!
- when you put any webpage out there, you are out there for everyone to see and everyone will see you, not just your family.
- Your online business is as real as any store, people go in and out, they look at the windows, they check the special display shelves, the goodies they're interested in and they leave. They may talk to you and ask you questions. They may become upset and they might want to steal from you.
- If you want to sell you need to share the prices with your customers and the rest of the world, are you ready for the competition?
- Your place is a 24 hour operation.
- Are you ready to go to the post office very often?
- Is there enough stuff on your shelves or are you selling stuff you don't have?

This might be a checklist for internet selling when you already own a store somewhere, but it isn't, it's just personal venting!

Above, photo of one of my favorite stores ever, Foyles of London.

Mia Couto in the International Festival of Literature of Berlin

The prestigious International Festival of Literature of Berlin takes place between September 6th and the 15th. One of the Festival highlights is going to be Literature of the World.

The authors taking part in the Literatures of the World section of the progamme are chosen by a jury of eleven, with each person nominating three authors. The jurors, who are internationally renowned for their knowledge of literature in their region, choose a representative cross-section of prose and poetry for the festival. The visitors will not only get to know many world famous authors, but they will also make exciting discoveries about far away lands.

On the 16th at 7.30pm Mozambican writer Mia Couto will be reading from his book "Sleepwalking Land" at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Seitenbühne. According to the Festival's website, the novel "Sleepwalking Land" recounts the tragic odyssey of Mozambique. The protagonists, young Muidinga and old Tuahir, wander through a land shaken and devastated by civil war.

Mia Couto has been a guest in 2005 as well. Here's his bio, provided by the Festival's website:

Mia (António Emílio Leite) Couto was born in Beira, Mozambique to Portuguese immigrants. At the age of 14 he had his first poems published in the newspaper »Notícias da Beira«. Three years later he began to study Medicine and then worked as a journalist. After Mozambique had achieved independence from Portugal, Couto became the director of the news agency AIM and worked as the editor in chief of the newspapers »Tiempo« and »Notícias de Maputo«. In 1985 he resigned from these posts to study biology. Today he works as an environmental biologist at Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

After the poetry volume »Raiz de Orvalho« (1983; t: Root of dew) and the collection of short stories »Vozes Anoitecidas« (1986; Eng. »Voices Made Night«, 1990) Couto became internationally renowned for his novel »O Último Voo do Flamingo« (2000; Eng. »The Last Flight of the Flamingo«, 2004). In a poetic and innovative way the oral storytelling tradition is fused together with modern literary forms, and motives of popular belief are combined with current political events. In civil war-ridden Mozambique, led by the communist single political party after its independence, UN Blue Helmets disappear in a mysterious way. The investigation into the background of these occurrences develops into a journey through the cultural heritage of this tattered country, in which the boundaries between dream and reality, past and present become blurred. At the awards ceremony for the Prémio Mário António, Couto showed a clear commitment to the moral responsibility of an author. »›The Last Flight of the Flamingo‹ talks about an extreme theft of hope committed by the ruthlessness of the powerful. The advance of these consumers of nations forces us, ourselves, writers, to a growing moral obligation. Against the indecency of those who enrich themselves at the expense of everything and everyone, against those who have their hands dripping with blood, against the lies and crime and fear, against all of this the words of writers should be constructed. This duty to my country and my era has guided not only this book but all my previous novels.« Couto has also pursued this obligation in numerous columns, from which a selection under the title »Cronicando« was printed in 1991. During the Iraq war Couto, in an open letter to the U.S. President George Bush, denounced with fierce words the arrogance of the superpower.

The novel »A Varanda do Frangipani« (Eng. »Under the Frangipani«, 2001), published in 1996, is considered Couto's most important work. A police inspector is investigating a murder of a tyrannical asylum director in a former Portuguese fort which stored slaves and ivory – and all the suspects are eager to claim responsibility for the act. Once again by using the form of parable and alluding to the country’s culture and history, the novel reflects on the end of the civil war and on the democratisation of Mozambique. The book is translated into German, as is »Terra Sonâmbula« (1992; t: A sleep walking land) which was chosen by the jury for the International Book Festival in Zimbabwe as one of the 12 best African books of the twentieth century. Furthermore Couto has also won numerous prizes such as the Prémio Vergílio Ferreira. The author lives in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo.

Translator: Karin von Schweder-Schreiner

A literary review of Sleepwalking Land here.

The Festival is a precious tool to find amazing writers all over the world. As for the U.S., I have decided to add Russel Banks to my to do reading list.