Esther Dita Kohn de Cohen, founder of the Anna Frank Space: (in the Holocaust, the family) "there were more or less about 500 people; we don't know exactly how many were killed, that was terrible”
Julio Emilio Moliné, co-director “Joan Baez in Latin America: There but for fortune” (clandestine documentary, 1981): “Joan received death threats, and was banned, persecuted…”
Elisa Lerner, writer: “Solitude is the writer's homeland”
Susy Dembo, visual artist: "Engraving is alchemical, it is magical"
Nava Semel, writer: And the Rat Laughed with Jane Fonda
José Pulido, poet: “I'm like a castaway clinging to his tongue”
Rolando Peña, visual artist: "We baptized the group in a bathtub, and the godfather was Andy Warhol"
Carlos Giménez, theater director: “Our country is the empire of consummated facts, of de facto culture”
Beatriz Iriart, poet: “By when I was 10, I was an old woman already. Writing poetry was a way of transmuting that pain”
Dinapiera Di Donato, poet: "Imagination creates versions of life, but I cannot understand life without a version."
María Lamadrid, founder of "África Vive": “We are the first disappeared people in Argentina”
Mariana Rondón, filmmaker: "During my childhood, I thought cinema was only one movie: Yellow Submarine"
Roland Streuli, photographer: “My life is color, I am not an opaque or black and white person”
Viviana Marcela Iriart (1958) is an Argentine-Venezuelan writer and interviewer. She studied journalism for a year in La Plata, Argentina, but for being a pacifist, she was exiled by the Argentine dictatorship in 1979. Venezuela granted her asylum, and four months later, at the age of 21, she wrote her first professional report... on Julio Cortázar, an interview included in this book.
She has published novels, plays, and three books on Carlos Giménez: ¡Bravo Carlos Giménez!, Carlos Giménez el genio irreverente, and María Teresa Castillo-Carlos Giménez-Caracas International Theater Festival 1973-1992.
She is the founder of the publishing house Escritoras Unidas & Cía. Editoras and the cultural blog of the same name.
INTERVIEWS, with graphic design by Jairo Carthy, is available on AMAZON in paperback and ebook versions: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8RDDP2X
Julio Cortázar, escritor argentino: "Un día en
mi vida es siempre una cosa muy hermosa, porque yo me siento muy feliz de estar
vivo".
Esther Dita Kohn de Cohen, fundadora del Espacio Anna Frank,
mecenas de la cultura venezolana, creadora del libro Exilio a la
Vida, sobrevivientes judíos de la Shoá: (en el Holocausto, la familia)
"eran más o menos unas 500 personas; no sabemos con exactitud cuántas
fueron asesinadas, eso fue terrible”.
Julio Emilio Moliné, cineasta estadounidense, co-director de
“Joan Baez in Latin America: There but for fortune”,
(1981) documental filmado clandestinamente
durante la gira de Joan Baez para apoyar a las víctimas de las dictaduras
de Argentina, Chile y Brasil: “Joan recibió amenazas de muerte, fue prohibida y
perseguida…”.
Nava Semel, escritora israleí: And the Rat Laughed
con Jane Fonda (entrevistas) y dos textos en español: "Un paseo con Jane
Fonda" y un fragmento de And the Rat Laughed.
Rolando Peña, artista multimedia venezolano: "Bautizamos al
grupo en una bañera, y el padrino fue Andy Warhol".
Elisa Lerner, escritora y dramaturga venezolana: “La soledad es la patria del
escritor”.
Susy Dembo, artista plástica austríaca-venezolana: "El grabado es
alquímico, es mágico".
José Pulido, poeta, escritor y periodista venezolano: “Soy como un
náufrago abrazado a su lengua”.
Carlos Giménez, director teatral argentino-venezolano, gerente cultural,
fundador del Festival Internacional de Teatro de Caracas y del grupo
Rajatabla: “Nuestro país es el imperio de los hechos consumados, de la
cultura de facto".
Beatriz Iriart, poeta argentina “A los 10 años yo ya era una anciana.
Escribir poesía fue una manera de transmutar ese dolor".
Dinapiera Di Donato, poeta: venezolana: "La imaginación hace
versiones de la vida pero la vida no la puedo entender sin una versión”.
María Lamadrid, activista argentina, fundadora de "África
Vive": “Nosotros somos los primeros desaparecidos de Argentina”.
Mariana Rondón, cineasta: venezolana, directora de la película
"Pelo Malo": "En mi infancia creía que el cine era una
sola película, El Submarino Amarillo".
Roland Streuli, fotografo suizo-venezolano: “Mi vida es color, yo
no soy una persona opaca ni blanco y negro”.
Luisa Richter, artista plástica alemana-venezolana: “La creatividad es
enigmàtica. La vida es enigmática”.
Sonia Zilzer, socióloga venezolana, coordinadora del libro Exilio a la
Vida, sobrevivientes judíos de la Shoá: “La memoria es el camino a la
identidad”
Viviana Marcela Iriart (1958) es una escritora y
entrevistadora argentina-venezolana. Estudió
un año periodismo en La Plata, Argentina, pero por ser pacifista fue exiliada
por la dictadura argentina en 1979. Venezuela le dio asilo y a los 4 meses
realiza su primer reportaje profesional a los 21 años... a Julio Cortázar,
entrevista incluída en este libro.
Ha publicado novelas, obras de teatro y tres libros sobre Carlos Giménez: ¡Bravo
Carlos Giménez!,Carlos Giménez el genio irreverente y María
Teresa Castillo-Carlos Giménez-Festival Internacional de Teatro de Caracas
1973-1992. Fundadora de la editorial Escritoras Unidas & Cía. Editoras y del
blog de cultura del mismo nombre.
ENTREVISTAS, con diseño gráfico de Jairo Carthy, está a la venta en AMAZON en versión papel y ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8RDDP2X
I’m skipping out on you again, Jake, but I swear this is the last time.
This job—let’s call it a mission—is going to take care of our future. I was in
such a hurry that I didn’t have time to pack a suitcase. Didn’t even take a
toothbrush. I’ll buy one on the way, and you can add it to the junk piled up in
the darkroom, which you call a boydem. I hope you won’t take advantage
of my absence to chuck it all out.
Believe
me, Jake, it was a spontaneous decision. An irresistible impulse, to use the
legal jargon. I didn’t call a travel agent, didn’t even book a room. If I’m
lucky I’ll get a discounted ticket; tourist season is over, thank God, and all
the kids being dragged around the sites by their parents have finally gone back
to school.
So
listen to me, Jake, before you change the locks and count me out for good.
There comes a moment when you have to take a gamble. The slightest hesitation
or delay could mean that the tracks are erased, and then it’s a lost cause. I’m
not going to come home with my tail between my legs like I did last time.
That son
of a bitch Lenox woke me up when he called.
We’ll pay any price, Simon, he
said.
His
voice pecked at me through the cloud of Jack Daniels. I was in the middle of a
nice dream about swimming in a puddle of money. And then Lenox starts kissing
my ass, like he always does, as if he’s offering to show my photos in some
upscale gallery.
Turn on
the TV, now! he yelled.
Every
channel was showing the primary results, and her face was all over the screen.
She had that grin her consultants told her to use, very aware of the importance
of the occasion, and she wore a designer outfit that Lenox helpfully informed
me was red, to match her trademark red hair. While Lenox nattered on and I
started shoving my camera into the bag and strapping on my lens case, I noticed
something shining right at the presidential candidate’s neckline. At first I
thought it was a technical glitch in the broadcast, but then I picked up a
lighthouse signal in the rhythm of her breaths, a tiny light flashing on and
off. And that’s what convinced me that I had a real chance this time—because I
could smell her fear, too.
The
smell of fear, Jake. There is no sharper perfume.
Job, did
I say? Mission? Let’s settle on ‘professional challenge.’ To disrobe the lady
of all her theatrical costumes and expose her for what she is. A fair deal for
the voters.
Lenox
kept up his dizzying stream of flattery: You’re the only one who can shadow
her, Simon. Stake out the house and the campaign headquarters, get past the
security detail, bribe whoever needs to be bribed. We’ll cover all your
expenses. Just get us the picture.
He spoke
in the first-person plural, like he and I were partners in some grandiose plan
that would alter the course of history. I was completely awake at this point,
and my dream about the puddle of money began to seem real. I saw us bathing in
a cascade of dollar bills. It would be like getting a windfall inheritance from
a relative we didn’t even know existed.
How much
are your promises worth, Lenox? I asked. Because last time you strung me along
and ended up not buying a single shot, after I worked my ass off for you
chasing that porn star whose silicone implants burst.
Lenox
said: I give you my word, Simon. You’ve got two days. A rare window of
opportunity, as politicians like to say. Then he laughed out loud, brimming
with self-satisfaction. This is your lucky chip, Simon!
I didn’t
tell the son of a bitch: It’s a good thing I’m the pursuer and not the pursued.
Because who wants his picture spread all over the front page with his hand down
his pants? Although, let’s be real: a photo of me, no matter how embarrassing,
is not going to topple a presidential candidate, and whatever we do or do not
do within the narrow confines of our options is not going to reverse history.
I was
still zapping through channels, trying to catch a rerun of the primary results.
I had to make sure I wasn’t wrong, that the shiny spot at the candidate’s
neckline was more than just a digital illusion or some new eyesight problem.
While the pundits splattered their clichés about the crossroads of American
democracy and the premature—or belated—maturity of the voter, the only thing I
could think was that her image consultants had made a big mistake. If I were
them I would have vetoed the glimmering pendant—the candidate’s Achilles heel.
And that’s when the penny dropped: This time, Jake, I really have a chance to
make it.
Lenox
yelled: Get off your ass, Simon, before it’s too late!
It’s the
only U.S. state I’ve never been to, and everyone says it’s a special place.
You’re in the picture, too, Jake – it’s your chance to take a journey to your
roots and go back home, all through my camera lens.
So this
is it, partner. I’m taking the first flight I can get to Isra Isle.
What are Jews doing in the chaotic Middle East when they could have
been living peacefully in the state of "Isra-Isle," near Niagara
Falls?
In 1825 Mordecai Noah, a diplomat, bought Grand Island as a refuge for
Jews. The novel opens in September 2001 when Liam Emanuel, an Israeli
descendant of Noah, learns about and inherits the island. He leaves Israel with
a burning desire to reclaim this historic Promised Land in America. Shortly
after he arrives in America, Liam vanishes with no trace. Simon T. Lenox, a
police investigator of Native American origin, tries to recover Israel's
"missing son." While following in Liam Emanuel's footsteps, Lenox learns
about Jews and Israelis, and why this strange tribe of wanderers has been
troubling the world for so long.
Nava Semel has published novels, short stories, poetry, plays, children’s
books, and a number of TV scripts. Her stories have been adapted for radio,
film, TV, and stage in Israel, Europe, and the United States. Her books have
been translated and published in many countries. Her novel And the Rat
Laughed was adapted into a successful opera, and it is also being made
into a feature film, directed by David Fisher. Semel is on the board of
governors of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Her book Becoming Gershona
received the 1990 National Jewish Book Award in the U.S. She has received many
other literary prizes including the Women Writers of the Mediterranean Award
(1994) and the Prime Minister’s Prize (1996). She is married to Noam Semel,
Director General of the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv, and a mother of three
children. She lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Jessica Cohen, translator, has worked with some of Israel’s finest writers,
including David Grossman, Etgar Keret, Assaf Gavron, Rutu Modan, Amir
Gutfreund, Yael Hedaya, Ronit Matalon, and Tom Segev, as well as such prominent
screenwriters as Ari Folman and Ron Leshem. She has served as a board member of
the American Literary Translators Association, and is also a member of the
American Translators Association, the Israel Translators Association, the
Colorado Translators Association, and PEN American Center. She lives in Denver, Colorado.
Reviews For Isra Isle
“Semel’s novel
explores an intriguing what-if scenario based on historical fact. In 1825,
Jewish-American Mordecai Manuel Noah purchased Grand Island, near Niagara
Falls, from Native Americans, planning to create a place of refuge for Jews.
Semel’s novel asks the question, What if this plan had worked?... In this
changed world, Israel never existed, Native American and Jewish customs have
been merged, and the American Jewish state affects many issues in the world.
Each of the main characters struggles with issues of religion, spirituality,
and identity in streaming thoughts and discussions. Through those voices, Semel
explores issues of global importance—such as terrorism, prejudice, and
politics—in this singular, thought-provoking novel." -- Publishers
Weekly
"[A] spellbinding alternate-history….Semel’s true achievement with this
book is her seemingly effortless ability to demolish the walls we instinctively
put up in our minds between the “past,” the “present,” and the “future.” Each
section is on the surface self-contained, but names, narrators’ styles, and
traumatic events bleed through and into one another, suggesting recent theories
in quantum mechanics about how time doesn’t necessarily flow in just one
direction. Rather, Isra Isle suggests that, in two different universes (one in
which Israel doesn’t exist, and one in which it does), the same problems
persist: what does “home” mean? What about “exile”? Can we ever really escape
tragedy and catastrophe, even if the conditions are vastly different? And then
there’s the narrative style itself… that dazzles the reader. Jessica Cohen
masterfully brings this through in her translation, and we’re lucky to have the
opportunity to read this beautiful novel in English." -- Rachel
Cordasco, Speculative Fiction in Translation, October 16, 2016
“In a daring and brilliant book, Nava Semel turns the Zionist narrative
upside-down and contemplates whether it would have been possible to change the
history of the Jewish people. She creates a world in which a prosperous Jewish
state under American patronage arises at Grand Island, near the Niagara Falls,
in the wake of the vision of Mordecai Manuel Noah. This is a fascinating book
that connects Jews, Indians and Afro-Americans, all with a persecuted past and
searching for a homeland, and asks the question, “What would have happened if .
. . ?” -- Abraham B. Yehoshua, author, Mr. Mani, Five
Seasons, and The Liberated Bride
“Semel once again proves herself one of the most original voices in Israeli
literature. Equal parts detective novel, historical fantasia, and alternate
history, Isra Isle offers a compelling exploration of modern Jewish identity
for a postmodern world. Semel tackles serious topics with swift pacing and a
sly wit: Zionism, multicultural politics, the attacks of 9/11, the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and American Judaism. This what-if novel is
Semel’s Israeli-feminist Yiddish Policemen’s Union—a real triumph of the
imagination.” -- Adam Rovner, author, In the Shadow of
Zion: Promised Lands before Israel, University of Denver
A new English translation of
my acclaimed novel ISRA-ISLE was recently published in America
by “Mandel Vilar Press” and is getting wonderful feedback. It's a political
novel exploring current issues of racism, minorities, refugees and the high
cost of a territorial dispute. It places Jews, Native-Americans,
African-Americans, and all persecuted people in a mutual search for a safe
haven.
What if Israel did not exist?
What if instead there was a Jewish state on an American island, founded
centuries ago? ISRA-ISLE is the state that could have been.
The novel is inspired by a
true historical event. In 1825 Mordechai Manuel Noah, an American journalist,
diplomat, playwright and visionary, founded a Jewish sanctuary on a
Native-American island at the foot of Niagara Falls, and named it
"Ararat". The novel depicts an alternative reality in which the
Jewish people answered Noah’s call, Isra-Isle is the smallest federal state in
America, Israel does not exist, and there was no Holocaust. Imagine that.
For me, the question of
"what if" is a personal one. I could have easily been an American. My
grandfather emigrated to New York in 1921, abandoning his wife and son – my
father. When I was five years old he reunited with the family and reluctantly
moved to Tel Aviv. He strongly believed that America is the only promised land
for the Jewish people, and that "the experiment in the Middle East”, as he
called Israel, would end in disaster. As a stubborn little Zionist girl I would
constantly confront him. In writing ISRA-ISLE I continued our
heated argument. It was like arguing with a ghost. Imagine that.
Award-winning Israeli and international author and
playwright NAVA SEMEL has written twebty books of fiction, plays, scripts and
opera libretti. Ms. Semel was born in Jaffa-Tel Aviv and has an MA in Art
History from the Tel Aviv University. She has worked as a journalist, art
critic, TV, radio and music producer.
Her works include:
Hat of Glass,the first
Israeli book in prose to focus on the Second Generation - children of Holocaust
survivors (published 1985; new edition 1998; translated into German, Italian
and Romanian).
Becoming
Gershona, winner of theNational
Jewish Book Awardin
the USA (1990); published by Viking Penguin; translated into Italian, German,
Romanian, Dutch. Adapted for Israeli television.
Flying Lessonspublished by Simon & Schuster
(1995); adapted for the Israeli television; translated into German, Czech,
Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Serbian, Albanian and Chinese. An Opera version opened
in 2009 (composer: Ella Milch-Sheriff).
Her acclaimed novelAnd
the Rat Laughedwas
published in Israel in 2001 to rave reviews and great success. Germany 2007,
Australia 2008, Italy 2012, Romania 2015. An Opera-Play composed by Ella
Milch-Sheriff and produced by the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv and the Israeli
Chamber Orchestra, premiered in 2005 and ran for five years. Semel and
Milch-Sheriff won the "Rosenblum Award" of the City of Tel Aviv.
North American production, 2009 Toronto. A movie version is currently in the
making.
Semel's her one-woman playThe Child behind the Eyes,first produced in 1986, ran on
the Israeli stage for 11 years. It has also been produced on radio by the BBC
London, Radio France, Radio Belgium, Radio Spain, Radio Ireland, six radio
stations in Germany, Radio Austria, and Radio Romania. It won the "Best Radio
Drama" award in Austria 1996. On the stage it was performed in Rome
(1990), New York (1991), Los Angeles (1996), Prague (1997), Sibiu Theatre
Festival (2004), Resita Theatre in Romania (2005), State Theatre of Ankara,
Turkey (2005), Lodz Theatre - Poland (2006), Bucharest Theatre (2007). A new
production in Israel inArabicopened in 2006. Recently produced in
Amsterdam, (2012) and Alaska. (2016).
Semel's children's bookWho Stole the Show?published in 1997, won the Illustrated
Book of the Year Award (1998), and was cited at the "Ze'ev Award"
(1999). Italy 2003. An English-Romanian bi-lingual edition, was published in
Romania 2008.
A television series, based on the book was produced in
1999.
Other works of fiction include alsoPaper Bride(1996; Romania 2000. Germany
2003. Finalist of the YA German book award 2005, Australia 2012, Turekey 2016);Night Poems(2000) andThe Courage to be Afraid(2005) - two collections of poetry for
young readers on darkness and fears.
Nava Semel's 2005 novelIsraIslehad received rave reviews and its
stage version opened in 2015. US publication: October 2016.
Her YA bookBeginner's
Love(2006) was
published in Italy 2007, Czech Republic 2008, Germany 2010 and Slovakia 2011.
Her biographical fictionAustralian
Weddingcame out
in Israel 2009 to rave reviews and became a best-seller. Her children's bookThe Backpack Fairycame out in 2011. Her novelScrewed on Backwards(2012), the story of a Jewish musician
saved by his Christian lover in Italy under Nazi occupation, received rave
reviews. Italy 2014.
Her latest Theatre works:The Bell Maiden(musical play for the entire family)
2012, Beit Lessin Theatre and the Mediatheque Youth Theatre.
Paper Bride (musical),
the Israeli Festival for New Musicals, Bat Yam 2013.
Her latest books: Hymn to the Bible(dramatic poetry, 2015) andTaking Wing, a Science
fiction crossover, under the pen name Huan B. Landi (2016).
NAVA SEMEL won the Israeli Prime Minister's Award for
Literature in 1996 and the Women Writers of the Mediterranean award in France
1994. She was awarded "Women of the Year in Literature of the City of Tel
Aviv" in 2007.
She translates plays for the Israeli stage. Semel is a
member of the Board of Directors ofMassuah
-the Institute for Holocaust Studiesand served on the Board of Governors
ofYad Vashem.
Ms. Semel is married with three children. She lives in
Tel Aviv, Israel.
“Prima Facie”, de la australiana Suzie Miller, bajo la dirección de Camilla Brett y con la actuación de Regina Blandón. Las mujeres juristas ejercen la abogacía de forma distinta a los hombres, con códigos casi secretos. Deben ganarse la confianza para adueñarse de la sala de un juzgado, pues en los tribunales se requiere paciencia, coraje y resistencia. El liderazgo lo ejercen quienes te prestan los escritos, y no cabe duda: un abogado hombre quizá tenga más suerte para que las pasantes le prioricen sus documentos.
Tessa, una exitosa abogada, tiene el don de defender, investigar y analizar con discreción para ganar casos. Normalmente, estos llegan a ella al azar, por lo que no queda más que aplicar lo aprendido en la facultad de Derecho. Cada caso implica investigación exhaustiva y confiar en el cliente, demostrándole que nunca pierde. Sin embargo, en el juego de la ley —mientras la corte decide entre el fiscal, el juez y las normas—, las reglas se aplican según conveniencias. Como dice el mantra forense: “Nunca se pierde, solo se queda en segundo lugar”. Ganar es complejo: hay que sacar las garras, olvidar el glamour y demostrar que saliste de la carrera con un promedio impecable.
Tessa confiesa que los estudiantes de leyes son quienes cambiarán el país, aunque compitan entre sí. Nunca hay que asumir que alguien dice la verdad; cada quien cuenta su versión, y el abogado no debe juzgar. Pero, ¿quién tiene la verdad absoluta? Es una guerra de manipulación, donde alguien gana y otro pierde. El sistema retórico de Tessa impacta a sus colegas en el despacho donde trabaja.
“Prima Facie” —expresión latina que significa “a primera vista”— en derecho se refiere a un reclamo con pruebas suficientes. Tessa, astuta y especializada en defender a hombres acusados de agresión sexual, enfrenta un giro inesperado que la deja sin palabras.
¿Podrá Tessa desafiar las leyes, siempre insuficientes, para ganar el caso?
Este unipersonal lleva a Regina Blandón a entregarse por completo en un viaje complejo, interpretando a 12 personajes con una tenacidad impecable y magistral, dejando al público en pie ovacionando. Una obra imperdible para abogados(as) y amantes del teatro.
“Prima Facie” se presenta en el Teatro del Centro Cultural Helénico (Av. Revolución 1500, Col. Guadalupe Inn), en una corta temporada del 26 de abril al 11 de mayo de 2025. Funciones: sábados a las 19:00 y domingos a las 18:00. Recomendada para mayores de 15 años.
