This is the writer’s desk, an overview of all posts.
ivanBRAVE_DoesSantaCry_900words Deep in the heart of downtown Hanoi, I walked down to the hostel lounge for some cheap breakfast. There, among a handful of hungover backpackers, I turned to what I thought would be the next empty page in my moleskin notebook. What I found, at the top left corner […]
ivanBRAVE_La Albiceleste1_1300 The beginning. Will there be redemption? Follow failed soccer star Semis, and teenage dreamer Zulema, on their journey to fulfill their destiny. El principio. ¿Habrá redención? Sigue a Semis, un excampeón de futbol, y a Zulema, una adolecente soñadora, en sus caminos a cumplir sus destinos.
Click here for PDF –_Practice Perspective This semester I enrolled in Susan Bell’s Fiction Workshop. It runs like most MFA workshops–write material, present it to a classroom of peers, and then a week later listen to their comments/critiques. Bell’s class however, unlike other workshops, has two twists: the first […]
Click here for PDF –_5august0313 This reading is best enjoyed after reading Levrero’s Preface. So please check out last week’s translation post first. Hope you enjoy. Have you read the original? How do you remember it? I am very interested in Translation in theory and in practice, […]
(“rare” “literally” “literary”) Little rare gems, gladly listening to lore, glisten literally to scripture, wiping Friar Lawrence clean of literary literature.
Click here for a PDF — A Short Story in Five Tenses As an exercise for my wonderful English students at New York Language Center, I asked them to write the final page, all sentences in future tense. It takes a lot of concentration to not run through prose. […]
(“fl” “fi” “ja” “ju”) The flowery flim-flam jabiru finds the fox’s jewelery flim-flam.
Our Writing & Publishing Lab course, lead by Luis Jaramillo and John Reed at The New School, began with one simple exercise: “Write a story in five snapshots.” To do this, we followed what’s called the “Five-part story structure”: (A) First you write Action. (B) Second you write Background. (D) […]
(“ua” “uer” “ue”) The walls were wide with world wide web, while washing woopies whirled without words in a world of warring wookies, notwithstanding missing words pearls too were missing in this world of warring wookies, always worrying ever washing these whirling woopies, here, where the walls were tie-dyed […]
Los sabios saben del sapo que solo supo soplar sopas so saladas so sanas sin salpicar sobre sus sabanas suaves saltando soledades sin suspiros en esos santos sábados soleados.
Click here for a PDF — “Floto sobre tú” … Me fascina la combinación de “na” y “va,” y la de “na” y “ve,” casi tanto como la de las silabas de mi nombre al revés. Primero empecé con estas líneas: “Un navío vacío Navega vagamente” Luego las tire al […]
Click here for a link to my transcription and translation: VIVIR by DJ AFRO (feat Carlos Fraga) Searching the dollar bin at Cactus Records in Houston, I found this gem by Venezuelan DJ Afro, founder of renowned acid-jazz-funk group Los Amigos Invisibles. Listening to the first nine tracks is akin […]
[Art by Edgar Degas: “Woman with a Towel”; 1894 or 1898] Click here for the PDF — “Ardor” I wrote this short story on the balcony of my grandmother’s fourth floor apartment in Barrio Norte, Buenos Aires. My cousin and I were sharing a couple of tasty matecitos over an […]
For the polyglots and language lovers, enjoy: “40 Brilliant Idioms” by Helene Batt and Kate Torgovnick May (from TED Blog > Language) My favorite from the list: From Russian translator Aliaksandr Autayeu: The idiom: Галопом по Европам Literal translation: “Galloping across Europe.” What it means: “To do something hastily, […]
Para los quien quieren leer mejor en voz alta, aquí tienen una herramienta para afilar sus ondas físicas. “Herramientas para leer mejor en voz alta” by Lourdes Morán (from IMAGINAlee) Varios de los principios presentados los he empleado en mis clases de inglés, como las de practicar trabalenguas. Uno […]
This video is essentially a multi-vitamin. It energizes, inspires, and boosts your mental metabolism. Consider watching it from time to time, think and feel. The Greatest Speech by Charlie Chaplin (on Youtube) Please let me know your response in the comment section below.
The original “Art of” book, in its auditory entirety, is below: Art of War – Sun Tzu (audiobook on Archive.org) Some of the lessons have always stuck with me, as in “Even if you are competent, appear to be incompetent; Though effective, appear to be ineffective.” Not sure why. […]
Write, fly; fly, write. I love stories where the setting and the characters don’t seem to match up perfectly. This can lead to conflict, learning, love, or a laugh. All it takes to swoon an audience–around a campfire, or by candle light–is the voice of a skilled author to tell […]
To the sophisticated and well-versed reader, below you will find a list of useful Latin words and phrases from the Art of Manliness. Which one from the list is your favorite? Latin Words and Phrases Every Man Should Know (from Art of Manliness) Mine, from the list: nosce te […]