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Fabienne Josaphat's Dancing in the Baron's Shadow

5/15/2016

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     When I arrived at Coral Gable’s Books & Books for Fabienne Josaphat’s launch of her debut novel, Dancing in the Baron’s Shadow, the first thing that struck me was just how filled the local bookstore was with people. it was encouraging to see that the literary event, scheduled at 8 p.m. on February 23rd, a Friday, had still managed to call so many readers at the end of a work week. Every seat in the room was filled, and excited onlookers stood by the bookshelves. I felt lucky I managed to find my seat in the back row.
     The second thing that struck me was just how beautiful a bookstore Books & Books is. Every time I walk in, the sheer variety of books seems to me more like art pieces decoratively arranged on tables and bookshelves in colorful array.
     Josaphat’s Dancing in the Baron’s Shadow regally stood among them, with its bold red and black cover depicting Francois Duvalier, brutal dictator of Haiti and antagonist of the novel. Josaphat’s novel is set in 1965, when Duvalier—or, as he was called, Papa Doc—ruled Haiti with the ruthless Tonton Macoutes militia. The novel follows two brothers struggling to survive in Papa Doc’s Haiti, with one brother imprisoned and the other desperate to try and save him against all odds.
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      Despite the darkness of the literary material, the Books & Books event itself felt light and giddy with anticipation. Among the many attendees were friends of Josaphat’s from her alma mater, Florida International University (FIU), where she had recently received her Masters in Fine Arts; I was one of them. Dancing was Josaphat’s thesis, overseen by Les Standiford, director of the program and author of Last Train to Paradise. Opening the evening’s program, Standiford discussed what a pleasure it had been to follow Josaphat’s work, explaining that he’d first seen this project as a screenplay in a workshop but that Josaphat had insisted she came to FIU to write a novel, and she wanted to try and translate the story to that genre. Dancing was the result of that transition. As Standiford declared his admiration and pride in Josaphat’s writing and its publication, the audience responded with cheers.
     Josaphat’s voice commanded the room as she began to read an excerpt from Dancing in the Baron’s Shadow. The reading was brutal. Josaphat had chosen two passages, each focusing on one of the brothers in the novel, Raymond and Nicolas, as each faced a new low under Papa Doc’s regime. Raymond’s wife and children had left for the United States without him, while Nicolas—a professor writing dangerous propaganda against the dictatorship—was violently arrested and thrown into the infamous Fort Dimanche.
     Josaphat’s careful research shone through with piercing historical detail, creating a Port-au-Prince that was at once vivid and arresting to imagine. Despite having no prior knowledge of Duvalier’s Haiti, I felt oriented by Josaphat’s setting and descriptions. More importantly, however, I felt a twinge of sympathy for each of her characters as they faced the worst tragedies of their lives. The danger, the risk, the devastation all read clearly off the page, and when Josaphat finished I felt emotionally exhausted the way only a good book can leave you. When she closed the book and looked up at her audience, everyone applauded wildly.
     I was unable to stay for Josaphat’s question and answer session (unfortunately my parking meter didn’t last as long as I’d expected), but the amount of hands that shot up when I left showed to me that I was not the only one moved by Josaphat’s prose. By the time I returned, every single copy of Dancing in the Baron’s Shadow had been sold out—in the shocking span of fifteen minutes! I was so impressed I couldn’t even be disappointed. It would be an understatement to call this book launch a success, an auspicious start for Fabienne Josaphat’s book tour.
          —Stephanie Selander
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Nina Romano at Books and Books

3/29/2016

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     I’ve lost count of how many readings I’ve been to at Books & Books in Coral Gables. Up until last night, they’ve all been pretty much the same. Rows of foldout chairs filled with the authors’ Miami-based friends, relatives, and fans, book lovers gathered en masse, have made the sizable store feel smaller and more humid than the tropical air outside.
      Nina Romano’s reading on February 28 was nothing like this.
     There could not have been more than twenty people in attendance. The only full row was directly in front of the podium, its chairs occupied by Romano’s husband, long-time friends, and her former professor, John Dufresne. Still, before the reading even started, Romano’s excitement was as obvious as it was contagious. She moved about the room, introducing strangers to one another and offering wine and food to all with the warmth of a doting Italian grandmother. I felt cared for, welcome.
     As a host, Romano was gracious. As an author, she was grateful. The occasion for her appearance at Books & Books was to promote her latest novel, Lemon Blossoms. It is the second installment of her Wayfarer trilogy in which we are introduced to Angelica Domenico, a Sicilian girl whose idyllic life on her family’s lemon grove is jostled by loss, trauma, and desire. Romano’s gratitude was never clearer than when she announced that Lemon Blossoms is dedicated to John Dufresne, Romano’s thesis advisor while she was earning her MFA at Florida International University. It was his suggestion to embark upon the marathon of publishing a trilogy and his words of encouragement that keep Romano writing. In his introduction to her reading, Dufresne called Romano a “force of nature” in possession of what Nabakov called shamanstvo—the enchanter quality.
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     Romano read from the opening chapter of Lemon Blossoms. Her prose is ripe with stunning cultural detail that transported her audience to turn of the century Sicily. Her homework—consisting of long-term travel, family interviews, and the mining of personal memory—had been done, and thoroughly. Angelica is eight at the novel’s outset, and undergoes a series of rites of passage in the first chapter alone. She buries a beloved pet chicken, menstruates prematurely, and even drinks her father’s wine in secret. Romano’s protagonist is a precocious girl who not only comes of age on the page, she comes alive.
     When Romano finished reading, she opened the floor to questions. None came, only comments. Audience members lauded her gifts as a storyteller and shared their excitement over the release of the final novel in the Wayfarer trilogy, forthcoming from Turner Publishing in July. The first book in the series, The Secret Language of Women, is set in China in the late 1800s and introduces the Italian sailor Giacomo Schimenti, who becomes a major character in Lemon Blossoms.
      At one moment when Romano expressed a bit of disappointment at the audience size, the comment lingered for a breath and then dissipated quicker than it was spoken, as not a single one of us regretted being part of her rapt audience for the night.
 
          —Miguel Pichardo

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MDC's First Draft Combines Writing Workshop & Happy Hour

4/22/2015

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Nick Garnett leads First Draft writers at The Butcher Shop. (Photo, Miami Center for Writing and Literature)
     By the time I finished writing my first prompt presented by First Draft’s host, Nicholas Garnett, I was more confident by the end of the night I would have at least a rough sketch for a short story.
    Even better, the theme of the night was murder & mayhem, most appropriately taking place at The Butcher Shop, a restaurant and beer garden in Wynwood.
    Spearheaded by The Center for Writing and Literature at Miami Dade College, First Draft was begun last summer by The Center’s program coordinator Nicole Swift as a way to reach out to Miami’s writing community. Swift said, “The idea of First Draft is community. And we thought about how can we make writing fun?”
    And why wouldn’t First Draft be fun? Imagine your favorite creative writing class taking place at a restaurant that serves great sangria.
    In between laughing because you’re having a great time, you discuss Alfred Hitchcock and the best techniques for creating suspense with local authors like Nicholas Garnett.  
    Sure, prompts and exercises are given throughout the workshop. But the whole point of First Draft is to gain better writing skills while being entertained.
    “We wanted to create an event that takes the anxiety away from writing workshops,” said Swift. 
    Every month First Draft has a larger attendance with a new themed workshop, with many regulars returning. To celebrate National Poetry Month, First Draft’s workshop on April 9th was dedicated to poetry.
    In early May, First Draft’s will have two workshops, each at the new Books & Books Bookstore and Cafe at Arsht Center. On May 5th, 7-9 PM,  there will be First Draft ¡en español! with a theme of Obsesiones. May 7th, 6:30 - 8:30 PM novelist Anjanette Delgado will  theme is “changes.” Check out The Center’s website for more information and to RSVP.

        —Jeffrey Fernandez


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Ana Sofia Pelaez, Ellen Silverman, & The Cuban Table at Books & Books

2/4/2015

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     I first met food writer and chef Ana Sofia Pelaez when she was hosting a panel with Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani at Miami Book Fair International in November.
    There she discussed her decision process about which recipes would go in her book, The Cuban Table, her fascinating encounters with people across Cuba as she researched the origins of Cuban recipes, and the importance of being able to cook and pass down the legacy of traditional dishes through the generations.
    As a second generation Dominican, I value the importance of understanding my family’s culture and see the danger of it being lost to generations who might have no interest in comprehending how to make traditional Dominican dishes.
    I unfortunately had to leave Pelaez’s panel before she could delve deeper into her book and why Cuban recipes are pertinent to her heritage. Therefore, when I found out Pelaez would be presenting her book again at Books & Books in Coral Gables on Dec. 11, in collaboration with the University of Miami’s Cuban Heritage Collection, I made sure to go.
    At Books and Books, the room was crowded to the point that there were no chairs left and people were standing, with more arriving.
    Pelaez was co-presenting with the photographer of her book, Ellen Silverman, who has made a career photographing for cookbooks. 
 Silverman’s talent can be seen throughout The Cuban Table, from capturing the kitchens of Cuban homes and the cooks who peel the onions for family dinners, to showing the chefs who’ve converted their homes into small restaurants or residential kitchens, serving customers. Her photographs are enticing, as if each dish photographed was served fresh and steam might begin to rise from the pages.
    Silverman described photographing during her fourth trip to Cuba: “People were so willing to engage. Being able to travel and collaborate together was really wonderful. It made the experience richer for me.”
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Ana Sofie Pelaez signing at Books & Books. Photo: Jeffrey Fernandez
    In the introduction to The Cuban Table, Pelaez mentions how the scarcity of ingredients in Cuba has placed traditional Cuban cuisine in an endangered status.
    Pelaez noted during her very first trip to Cuba people discussing the ingredients which are no longer available and can’t be found on the island. Even worse, her recent trip to Cuba was marked by the extinction of some dishes. “[On] this last trip, it was shocking to see how many things have fallen out of memory.”
    Basic herbs can no longer be obtained on the island. When asked if she could find cilantro, Pelaez explained the herb, which is a staple ingredient in many Latin recipes, hasn’t been available for some time. Many cooks in Cuba now use Culantro as a replacement.
    Towards the end of her discussion, Pelaez opened the floor up to questions. Even though her panel focused on the unfortunate dwindling resources and dying traditional dishes of Cuba, the questions posed to Pelaez ranged from what was her favorite recipe, to whether there was any political iconography in the kitchens that were photographed for the book.
    Yet, I believe Pelaez’s most profound response was her explanation about how much her grandparents influenced her cooking.
    “From my father’s side, my grandparents really loved to cook. I say this in the book, when I asked my grandfather how he learned to cook he said exile. Because when they came to this country in the early 60s, they didn’t know where to start. So they learned together and they came to it late in life, and it was something I think they fell in love with.”

            —Jeffrey Fernandez
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