Chez Robert Giron

Gival Press, an independent press located in Arlington, VA, is having a stellar year.
The following books published by Gival Press in 2005 are either finalists for national awards, to be announced on May 19th during Book Exp 2206 in Washington, DC, or have won national awards.

Congratulations to Paula Goldman author of The Great Canopy who is a finalist for the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award for Poetry; the award will be given during the Book Expo DC 2006 at the National Museum of Women.

Congratulations to Robert L. Giron editor of Poetic Voices Without Borders whose collection is a finalist for the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award for Anthologies; the award will be given during the Book Expo DC 2006 at the National Museum of Women.

Congratulations to Carlos Rubio author of Secret Memories / Recuerdos Secretos who is a finalist for the 2005 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award for Translation; the award will be given at the Book Expo DC 2006.

Congratulations to Teresa Bevin author of Tina Springs into Summer / Tina se lanza al verano who has won a 2006 Writers Notes Magazine Book Award—Notable for the Young Adult Literature Category.

Congratulations to Robert L. Giron (editor) and the poets of Poetic Voices Without Borders who have won a 2006 Writers Notes Magazine Book Award—Notable for the Art Category.

Congratualtions to Dr. Brianne Friel and Robert L. Giron editors of An Interdisciplinary Introduction to Women's Studies which won the 2005 DIY Book Festival Book Award for Compilations/Anthologies.

An a heart-felt thank you to Ken Schellenberg whose book design and layout have helped produced such positive results.

Photo by Casimir: Copyright 2004 by Casimir.

Stop by and visit award-winning poet Grace Cavalieri's radio site:
Grace Cavalieri On the Air







The pronouncements of Madam Mayo on books, creative writing, literary translation, Mexico, Washington DC, the world, human potential, soundwork, and pugs




MadamMayo
CM Mayo is a writer, poet, and translator; she also edits Tameme, a bilingual journal.



E. Ethelbert Miller
E. Ethelbert Miller is a poet and educator who lives and works in Washington, DC.


Dee Rimbaud
Dee Rimbaud is both a writer and artist who hails from the UK but who is about to go south on the European continent.




MJ Rose
MJ Rose is a writer.

What makes a Marine? Well, determination and a drive for the unsual is a good start. If you want a taste of an ex-Marine's memoirs of the First Gulf war--Operation Desert Storm, then Jarhead is a good choice. Director Sam Mendes manages to transport the viewer into the mind of the main character Corporal Anthony "Swoff" Swofford based on the real ex-Marine Anthony Swofford who wrote the book which was then written for the screen by S. William Broyles, Jr. The raw reality of war comes through with flying colors and this film is not for the weak or for those who have a fantasy about life as a Marine or war for that matter. Like Apocalyse Now, Jarhead makes use of the music by the Doors made famous in the former as Martin Sheen, who played the main character, hunts down the character played by Marlon Brando, though the Swoff character played by Brokeback Mountain actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who does a superb job at making the viewer become sympathetic to a Marine, states that the Doors' music is from Vietnam and "why can't we get our own music." This note about music is not far from the truth as more and more young people seem to be simply reinventing oldies but goodies because of the lack of a music of their own. Though I don't particularly like war films but admire the direction and acting in such films as Apocalyse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan, Jarhead is a unique film because it shows us the soldier in the raw. The bonding of such unruly testosterone in the film proves that even a Marine has feelings which are kept under guard until a woman or stress unleashes the human condition at which point we realize that men are human and that in Swoff's words "every war's the same" and sadly "we are still in the desert." Even more sad is that we are back in Iraq and we are truly lost in the desert.

Signature Theatre of Arlington, VA delivers another fine production. The play by Julie Marie Myatt is well cast and actors Teresa Castracane, Ralph Coshan, Will Gartshore, Helen Hedman, and Casie Platt play their parts convincingly. As is common with Signature, the set design by Michael Carnahan works well. The only comment of note is that the second cast delivered by video-play during the actual play is distracting and really not central to the play; in other words, cut the video-playing and the play is actually stronger in my opinion. Michael Baron, new to Signature, I believe, certainly is a keep.

Sadly the irony of the play is that those who write about sexual habits often are the least adept at the art and "in the know."

The Signature Theatre
703.820.9771
http://signature-theatre.org

Artwork/bookcover Copyright © 2005 by JetGallery.com



If you happen to be near Yale University on Saturday, April 29th at 2 PM at the Yale Bookstore, please stop by and hear the following poets read from the collection and from their latest work:

Cathleen Calbert
Victorica Boschi Murray
Wendy Hilsen-Bernard
Mark Saba
Jane Schneeloch

Free & open to the public

The Yale Bookstore
A Barnes & Noble College Store
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT
203.777.8440
The Yale Bookstore


Click here to buy this book

Italian acress Alida Valli, whom I first got to know in the legendary film The Third Man, died on April 22.

If you haven't seen The Third Man with actors Orson Wells and Joseph Cotton, rush to see this fine 1949 b/w (won an Academy Award for its cinematography) film directed by Carol Reed. It is based on the script by the same title by British writer Graham Greene, though the script is more of a working manual--the characters are flat and not developed, but not so in the film. The zither music is almost a character itself in the film which takes place in post-war Vienna with its divided sectors: American, Russian, and German.

Click here for more info:
The Third Man

Artwork/bookcover Copyright © 2005 by JetGallery.com



Join countless book lovers and authors at the Bethesda Literary Festival on Friday-Sunday, April 28th-30th.

Also visit the Small Press Book Fair at the Writer's Center nearby on Walsh Street on Saturday.

Stop by and visit the WNBA--the Women's National Book Associatio-DC--table where you will find books by members, including the award-winning poetry collection Poetic Voices Without Border edited by Robert L. Giron, winner of the 2006 Writers Notes Magazine Book Award--Notable for Art. This collection includes 148 poets from six continents and has poetry in English, Spanish, and French.

Click here for more details about the book and samples from the book:

Poetic Voices Without Borders


Click here to buy this book

The poets included in the anthology are listed below in alphabetical order.
Alenier, Karren L. (USA); Al-Jundi, Assef (Syria/USA); Allison, Shane (USA); Ambroggio, Luis Alberto (Argentina/USA); Amen, John (USA); Antler (USA); Armendariz, Rosanna (USA); Bailey, Scott (USA); Ball, Sally (USA); Baysans, Greg (USA); Belfiglio, Gabriella (USA); Belin, Mel (USA); Ben-Kotel, José (Chile/USA); Benton-Floyd, Morrigan (USA); Bernal, Leonel P. (Cuba/USA); Berroa, Rei (Dominican Republic/USA); Bieler, Linda (USA); Blazek, Larry (USA); Bolton, Jeanell Buida (USA); Bolz, Jody (USA); Bourgeois, Louis E. (USA); Buck, Janet I. (USA); Calbert, Cathleen (USA); Cardenas, Brenda (USA); Carpenter, Carol (USA); Carrión de Fierro, Fanny (Ecuador); Cavalieri, Grace (USA); Cellini, Don (USA); Conlon, Christopher (USA); Corn, Alfred (USA); Corwin, Nina (USA); Curran, James (USA); Curtis, G. L. (Ireland); Darling, Jill (USA); Douglas, Mitchell L. H. (USA); Elledge, Jim (USA); Evans, J. Glenn (USA); Figuroa, Manuel (USA); Finch, Steven (Switzerland); Flannery, Maureen Tolman (USA); Fletcher, Gretchen (USA); Freireich, H. Susan (USA) Gardner, Mary L. (USA); Garza, Efraín (Mexico/USA); Geyer, Bernadette (USA); Gilgun, John (USA); Giron, Robert L. (USA); Godoy, Juan M. (Spain/USA); Goldman, Paula (USA); Gomez, Jewelle (USA); Gonzalez, Rigoberto (USA); Grey, John (Australia/USA); Grossberg, Benjamin Scott (USA); Guerrero, José M. (USA); Gwiazda, Piotr (Poland/USA); Hardy, Myronn (USA); Harjo, Joy (Muscogee Nation/USA); Harjo, Suzan Shown (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee Nations/USA); Hefko, Daniel (USA); Hilsen-Bernard, Wendy (USA); Hinton, Laura (USA); Holland, Walter (USA); Huggins, Peter (USA); Jacob, Lucas J. (USA); Jenkison, John (USA); Jordan, Fran (USA); Joysmith, Claire (USA); Jules, Jacqueline (USA); Kester, Gunilla Theander (Sweden/USA); Klappert, Peter (USA); Klawitter, George (USA); Koch, Randy (USA); Kramer, Teresa Joy (USA); Lader, Bruce (USA); Larkin, Mary Ann C. (USA); Lee, Daniel W. K. (USA); Lehmann, Gary (USA); León, Raina J. (USA); Lifshin, Lyn (USA); López-Luaces, Marta (Spain/USA); Luczak, Raymond (USA); Manchester, Steven (USA); Mann, Jeff (USA); Manrique, Jaime (Colombia/USA); Mayo, C. M. (USA); McCombs, Judith (USA); Meyerhofer, Michael (USA); Michael, Colette (USA); Miller, E. Ethelbert (USA); Moffi, Larry (USA); Mohring, Ron (USA); Montesi, Albert (USA); Murphy, Kay (USA); Murray, Victoria Bosch (USA); Neisser, Yvette (USA); Nkulu-N’Sengha, Mutombo (D.R. of the Congo/USA); Pantano, Daniel (Switzerland/USA); Pastoriza Iyodo, Benito (Puerto Rico/USA); Peabody, Richard (USA); Penha, James (USA); Pobo, Kenneth (USA); Potter, Adrian S. (USA); Pourroy-Braud, Emmanuelle (France/USA); Proitsaki, Maria (Greece/Sweden); Reevy, Tony (USA); Rivera Cohen, Maritza (Puerto Rico/USA); Roberts, Kim (USA); Roberts, Peter (USA); Robinson, J. E. (USA); Rodriguez, Irving (Puerto Rico/USA); Ross, Joseph (USA); Ross, Marianne (Austria/USA); Saba, Mark (USA); Salazar, Jhoanna Calma (The Philippines/USA); Salum, Rose Mary (Mexico/USA); Schneeloch, V. Jane (USA); Scotcher, Keith Richard (England); Shapiro, Gregg (USA); Shapiro, Marian Kaplun (USA); Shulklapper, Lucille Gang (USA); Sklarew, Myra (USA); Slone, G. Tod (USA); Smith, J. D. (USA); Sool, Reet (Estonia); Speer, Laurel (USA); Strasser, Judith (USA); Stryk, Dan (USA); Sweet, John (USA); Tandeciarz, Silvia R. (Argentina/USA); Tham, The late Hilary (Malaysia/USA); Tombe, Sheila (Northern Ireland/USA); Vando, Gloria (Puerto Rico/USA); Wake, Shelley Ann (Australia); Walders, Davi (USA); Walker, Amelia (Australia); Walt, Jeff (USA); Warren, Charlotte Gould (India/USA); Whittenberg, Allison (USA); Wilcox, Fred A. (USA); Williams, Jill (USA/Canada); Winans, A. D. (USA); Wormwood, Ernie (USA); Wozek, Gerard (USA); Wright, Helen E. (USA); Yakovina, Katharina (Ukraine/Russia).

If you live in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, join us on Thursday, April 27th at 7 PM at Olsson's Books (across the street from the Courthouse Metro stop) for the reading of the winning poems which will be posted on Arlington County Metrobuses throughout Northern Virginia from April to September. The reading is opened to the public and is sponsored by the Arlington County Cultural Affairs Office.

Poets reading from their work include:
Cheryl L. Crockett
Robert L. Giron
Jennifer Gresham
Tod Ibrahim
Jillisa Hope Milner
Mark Tarallo


Photo by Casimir: Copyright 2006 by Casimir.