VIDEO: The Marlboro Marine by Luis Sinco | MediaStorm

THE MALBORO MARINE

about

"It's an insane connection that you make with that person... to see somebody in your sights, and to pull that trigger..."


Marine Lance Corporal James Blake Miller is back from Iraq, and is haunted by nightmares of the faces he's seen down the barrel of his gun.


Los Angeles Times photojournalist Luis Sinco has also returned home, after being embedded with Miller's unit during their attack on Fallouja, in 2004. Sinco's photograph of Miller, taken on a rooftop during the conflict, has become an icon of the Iraq war.


The Marlboro Marine is a look at the connection between these two men, as Miller struggles to adapt to life back in the United States. In this parable of the emotional and psychological aftereffects of war, Sinco documents the subtle and devastating ways a man's life can be forever changed.


Originally published: November 16, 2007

Credits
Photography and Audio: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times
Original Music: James Blake Miller
Video: Chad A. Stevens
Photography Editing: Mary Cooney / Los Angeles Times, Alan Hagman / Los Angeles Times
Producer: Chad A. Stevens
Executive Produer: Brian Storm

 

A LUTA CONTINUA: Four Women, One Revolution > Granta Magazine

Four Women, One Revolution

Four months ago, peaceful protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square overthrew the regime of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak. The country’s fate remains uncertain – the first open elections are several months away. What is clear is that the demonstrations have transformed the Middle East and the lives of Egyptians.

The following video profiles four women who participated in the revolution: a student, a cancer researcher, an art curator and a journalist advocate. They talk about how they came to join the protests; how they used online networks to mobilize people and spread information; and how the events in their country revolutionized their own attitudes as citizens.

Micah Garen and Marie-Helene Carleton of Four Corners Media are currently at work on a full-length documentary film, ‘If’, a coming-of-age story about young women and their experiences during the revolution.

 *

 

VIDEO + INTERVIEW: Al Green Performs "Let's Stay Together" > SoulCulture

Al Green Performs

“Let’s Stay Together”

On Friday Night

With Jonathan Ross

| Video

June 19, 2010 by Verse    

Last night the legend that is (Reverend) Al Green appeared on the BBC’s Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, after an interview he delivered an amazing performance of his classic hit “Let’s Stay Together” accompanied by Dave Gilmore of Pink Floyd on Guitar & the amazing Jools Holland on Piano.

Check out the performance below…

Watch the full interview after the jump…

 

 

VIDEO: Jill Scott > Soul Culture

Jill Scott ft. Eve – “Shame”:

Behind-the-Scenes

| Music Video

April 11, 2011 by Marsha Gosho Oakes   


Go behind the scenes with sassy Philadelphia hailing poetic Soul queen Jill Scott on the set of her latest music video for “Shame,” featuring Eve and The A Group, from her forthcoming Light of the Sun LP – due for release this Summer.

While you’re in the mood, check out Jill’s new website: www.missjillscott.com – there’s not much on it yet, but a welcome indication that the album is really on it’s way…

 

 

__________________________

Jill Scott & Anthony Hamilton perform

“So In Love” Live

on The Tonight Show W/ Jay Leno

| TV Catch-Up

June 18, 2011 by Verse   
Filed under Live MusicTV



On the promo trail for her long awaited fourth studio album release The Light Of The Sun, Jill Scott appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno last night and was joined by Anthony Hamilton to perform their duet “So In Love” (watch the official video here) from new LP. Watch the full performance below.

Jill Scott‘s new album The Light Of The Sun will be released on June 21st and features production from Terry Lewis, JR Hutson and Justice League and guest appearances from Anthony Hamilton, Eve, Doug E. Fresh andPaul Wall. 

>via: http://www.soulculture.co.uk/blogs/music-blog/livemusic/jill-scott-anthony-ha...

__________________________

 

Jill Scott performs “Blessed” and “Shame”

on Jimmy Kimmel Live | TV Catch-Up

June 24, 2011 by Verse   


Jilly from Philly dropped into the Jimmy Kimmel Live show on the promo run for her long awaited fourth solo studio album The Light Of The Sun which is set to top the Billboard charts this week. Hitting the stage with a full live bandJill Scott delivered an amazing live performances of her Eve featuring single “Shame” (watch the official video here) and the album’s opening track “Blessed”. Watch the full performances below.

“Shame”


“Blessed”


Jill Scott‘s album The Light Of The Sun is out now.

>via: http://www.soulculture.co.uk/blogs/music-blog/livemusic/jill-scott-performs-b...

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

PUB: Meridian Writing Competition

Competition

Meridian Writing is pleased to announce our summer short story writing competition is now open. We will accept stories of up to 3,000 words, and is open to both published and unpublished writers.

Please note that all entries must be accompanied by an entry form and correct fee.

First Prize          £100

Second Prize      £50

Third Prize           £25

In addition to Prize Money, all winning authors will receive a firstwriter.com   voucher worth $15/£10/15, allowing them to take out a free subscription to firstwriter.com, providing access to details of hundreds of publishers, literary agents, writing competitions, and magazines. firstwriter.com will contact the winning authors directly.

Closing Date - 30th June, 2011

Competition Rules

  • The competition is open to both published and unpublished authors writing in any genre, including children's fiction. Stories must not have been previously published elsewhere either in print or online.
  • Authors must be sixteen years of age or older.
  • Stories should be a maximum of 3,000 words in length, but there is no lower limit.
  • The entry fee for each story is £5.00 GBP. There is no limit on the number of entries any one person may enter but no author may win more than one prize in any competition. Multiple entries may be made on one entry form with all stories listed.
  • Each entry must be accompanied by an entry form (which can be copied from our website, or obtained from our contact address: please enclose a SAE) or the Online Entry Form.
  • The Judges wish to make an unbiased decision on all entries, so please ensure that only the story title is printed on the story itself. This includes NOT having an author contact detail cover sheet. Any entries which do not comply with this rule will be disregarded from the competition. 
  • The closing date for the current competition is: 30th June.
  • The winners will be announced in July, with the winning stories being published on the Meridian Writing website.

Entry Details

  • If you would like confirmation that your postal entry has been received, or the list of winners, please enclose a suitable SAE (either marked 'Received' or 'Winners'). Online entries will receive a confirmation email once we have determined the correct fee has been received.
  • Your story should be clearly typed or printed in English (12pt, Times New Roman preferred) on one side only A4 paper, a word count included and double spaced. Include a 'header' which contains your story title and page number. Online entries will be accepted as an attachment saved as a .doc (or equivalent) file and mailed to our email Entry Address. Please ensure stories are emailed at the same time as the online form is submitted to avoid confusion.
  • If someone else is paying for you via PayPal, please enter a note to this effect to avoid any confusion.
  • Please refer to the 'Contact Us' page to see details on how to pay the entry fee.  
  • No stories will be returned, so make sure you keep a copy of your story.
  • The winning and runner-up stories will be published on the Meridian Writing website.
  • The Judges' decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
  • Winning authors will be required to supply a short (50 - 100 word) bio which will be published alongside their story.
  • Copyright remains with the author, but Meridian Writing has the unrestricted right to publish winning stories online. Additional publishing of any stories will be made with the consultation and agreement of the author.

 

PUB: The Antigonish Review: Contest

The Antigonish Review Announces
Two Writing Contests!

GREAT BLUE HERON POETRY CONTEST

&

SHELDON CURRIE FICTION PRIZE

$2,400 in Prizes!

 

"In Case of a Mail Strike - mail your submission and entry fee whenever the strike is over. But also email a copy of the submission to TAR@stfx.ca This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . As long as we receive emailed submissions before the postage deadline, we will accept them for the contests. We will match the submissions when the post copy arrives. BE SURE TO NOTE THAT IT IS A CONTEST ENTRY."Here are the details:

 

Deadlines:

Fiction entries must be postmarked by May 31, 2011
Poetry must be postmarked by June 30, 2011

Guidelines:

Previously published works, works accepted for publication or simultaneous submissions are ineligible. No electronic submissions, please. Fiction entries must be typed, double-spaced, one side of page only - poetry must be single-spaced. Please include a separate cover sheet containing your identifying information as well as the titles of all entries.
Your name must appear ONLY on the cover page.

Sheldon Currie Fiction Prize:

 

Stories on any subject. Total entry not to exceed 20 pages.

First prize:

$600 & publication;

Second prize:

$400 & publication;

Third prize:

$200 & publication;

Great Blue Heron Poetry Contest:

 

Poems on any subject. Total entry not to exceed 4 pages. Maximum 150 lines. Entries might be one longer poem, or several shorter poems.

First prize:

$600 & publication;

Second prize:

$400 & publication;

Third prize:

$200 & publication;

Entry Fee: Canada $25.00; the United States $30.00 (US funds); All others $40.00 (US funds) for either contest.

Bonus:
You may enter both contests for an additional $10.00. You may enter as often as you like; only your first entry in each category will be eligible for a subscription which will begin with the fall issue, 2011.

Make cheques or money orders payable to The Antigonish Review.

 

Mail submissions to:

The Antigonish Review Contest,
Box 5000,
St. Francis Xavier University,
Antigonish,
Nova Scotia, Canada,
B2G 2W5.

Entries will not be returned.

Only winners will be notified by September 1, 2011.
A list of winners will be available at this web site.

For further information, Phone 902-867-3962 or email tar@stfx.ca This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

We acknowledge the support of: St. Francis Xavier University; The Canada Council, and The Department of Tourism, Culture & Heritage.

OUR CONGRATULATIONS TO PAST WINNERS
AND OUR SINCERE THANKS TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONTESTS.

 

 

PUB: Writing Contest: A Classic Re-Told > Salem Literary Festival

Writing Contest: A Classic Re-Told

The Salem Literary Festival National Writing Contests returns in 2011!

Call for Manuscripts: June 15, 2011-August 15, 2011

The Salem Literary Festival announces the addition of a national writing contest, offering a $200
prize for the winning work of short fiction on a theme of A Classic Re-Told. Submissions will be read by a panel consisting of members of the Literary Festival Planning Committee and the local literary community; a selection of up to 20 finalists will be forwarded to a judging panel comprised of well-known authors and local legends (TBA). The winning author will be invited to read at the Salem Literary Festival, to be held September 23-25, 2011.

A Classic Re-Told: Choose a childhood fairy tale or story from classic
literature and rewrite it, or mash-up some old favorites with a modern twist!
The Salem Literary Festival Prize will honor an original piece of innovative fiction which
includes sharp dialogue, fully-fleshed-out characters, and an ending that makes us want to talk
about it.

Submission Details: Manuscripts should be a maximum of 3,000 words, consecutively numbered, and double-spacedwith 1” margins. Handwritten manuscripts are not accepted. The title should appear on each page of the manuscript; the author’s name should not. Please include a separate title page with the author’s name, address, phone, and email address; an acknowledgment page or biographical note, if included, should be separate. Translations are not eligible for this award. Previously published works will be considered, but publication should be noted.

Please submit entries electronically via the link below. Submissions must include a $25.00 administrative and reading fee per manuscript. This fee can be paid via PayPal below. Multiple submissions will not be accepted. Entries must be received between June 15 and August 15, 2011

Contest Submission

Contest Submission Payment

Cool Prizes! The winning author will receive a $200 honorarium. In addition, the winning author will be invited to read their piece at the Salem Literary Festival in September 2011, receive feedback from a literary agent, and will be featured in the Salem Gazette, published in the e-magazine Art Throb (http://www.nsartthrob.com/), and the winning story will be posted on the Literary Festival website. Finalists may also be posted on the Literary Festival website. The Salem Literary Festival committee reserves the right to add additional publication,as well as other benefits, to the prize package.

After the judges have selected the winner and finalists, they will be notified by the Literary Festival Committee via email by September 9, 2011, and will be posted on the Festival website.

The CLMP Code of Ethics: CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that
ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional
writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process
form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as
ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or
editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all
parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.
This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model
can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a
publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

Click on the title to read  SOMETHING REAL FINE by Dann Anthony Maurno, 2010 Salem Literary Festival’s Writing Contest Winner! Congratulations, Dann!

 

INTERVIEW + REVIEW: Book—Vietnamerica

Vietnamerica:

Interview with author and illustrator

GB Tran

I don’t usually stop short at the sight of a book cover, but that’s exactly what happened at New York Comic Con this October.

A colorful illustration (below) caught my eye as I walked through a sea of comics and costumed Chewbaccas on the convention floor. In a twist on communist propaganda, the stars and stripes of the American flag were bathed in yellow and red.

This was my introduction to Vietnamerica, a graphic memoir by Brooklyn-based author GB Tran. The book follows his family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam to the United States, and is a great read for travelers and fans of graphic art.

Interview with the author

To create this compelling look at life during the Vietnam War, GB Tran traveled to Southeast Asia and interviewed family members who fought on both sides of the conflict.

I sat down with the author on a brisk winter day at Café Orlin in the East Village. We discussed his travels to Vietnam, his inspiration for the book and how he scored a publishing deal.

Read on for GB Tran’s insights and advice for up-and-coming authors, and don’t forget to check outVietnamerica (available at local comic shops and on Amazon.com).

 

 

"Vietnamerica" author GB Tran. (photo: Joe Tomcho)

"Vietnamerica" author GB Tran. (Photo by Joe Tomcho)

 “Back” to Vietnam

Tran’s life is a classic American story. The youngest of four children, he was born in the United States a year after his parents left Vietnam. He spent his childhood in South Carolina, earned a BFA from the University of Arizona and moved to New York after college to start a career as an illustrator.

Given his background, I was surprised when he described going “back” to Vietnam in 2001. In fact, that was his first visit to the country.

“Doing this book, so many people have come up that have similar experiences. And we all say the same thing: the first time I went back,” Tran revealed at our meeting.

“And it’s just because [Vietnam] was so deeply rooted in our parents that it was always kind of considered our homeland. We had to go back sooner or later even though we had never physically been there before. I never realized I was saying that until someone else pointed it out to me and said, Oh, I say the same thing.”

Tran’s memoir clearly resonates with New Yorkers. At the book release party at SoHo’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art this January, every seat was filled and the crowd spilled into the hallway.

Not quite a tourist

Tran researched Vietnamerica during trips to Vietnam in 2001 and 2007. He traveled to both the north and south, visiting family and asking about their experiences during the war.

“I’m very fortunate that I still have a lot of family in Vietnam that cover a lot of geographical areas as well as social caste levels,” he explained over tea at Cafe Orlin. “Everything from my grandfather’s family, who basically are war heroes and are set up in the most posh, fancy, coveted part of Saigon, to the family that still farms in the Mekong Delta, in the rice paddies.”

Although he was asking about sensitive subjects, Tran was embraced by his relatives. “Even though these are people I never met before in my life, they really welcomed me,” he noted.

Bicycles in Saigon, Vietnam

A street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (Photo by L Koch)

Vietnam is a popular backpacker destination, but Tran was not a typical tourist. Ever the artist, he spent several hours sitting on curbs, drawing street life. He met quite a few locals this way.

“I always had a sketchbook. Especially the second trip back in 2007, when I knew I was going to do this book,” he recalled.

“It’s just a way to feel another connection to the place you’re in. What you get when you’re sitting in a café and drawing the corner there for two hours, you notice all these small details that you normally wouldn’t notice because you’re busy going from one scenic stop to another. But when you sit there, and you’re really looking at the architecture, at the people across the street, at what they’re eating and doing—for me it’s a way to feel more rooted in where I’m at.”

Illustration from GB Tran's graphic memoir Vietnamerica

An illustration from the graphic memoir "Vietnamerica." (Courtesy GB Tran)

Language barrier

As a Vietnamese-American in Vietnam, Tran found himself in an interesting situation. Locals often assumed he spoke their language, and talked to him in rapid-fire Vietnamese.

“I’ve traveled to places where I can’t speak the language, like Indonesia, and it’s a different experience. When you don’t understand the language, there’s no pressure to communicate, you can just enjoy being a tourist. One of the challenging things about knowing the language in Vietnam was that people constantly were talking to me,” he noted.

This complicated his trip; he wasn’t just a tourist, but was deeply connected to the people. After being immersed in the culture for several days, he began picking up the Vietnamese language.

“I started recognizing vocabulary in people’s conversations [and] I realized, how could I have ever learned what this word was growing up? I can’t imagine any context of my parents saying this, much less teaching me this word. But for some reason I would recognize the word.”

A bout of food poisoning turned out to be a breakthrough moment for Tran’s language skills.

“I got violently ill. Our tender American stomachs aren’t really fortified for that type of cuisine. So the best thing about getting violently ill for a few days—the whole vomiting, explosive diarrhea, fever, all that crazy stuff, was near the end of it, I started thinking in Vietnamese… When that happened, I was really excited, actually. Then unfortunately I left and it all disappeared overnight.”

Pho soup in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Pho soup in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (Photo by Christian Haugen/Flickr Commons)

His big break

GB Tran was discovered at San Diego’s Comic Con, when a Random House editor stopped by Tran’s booth and took an interest in his self-published comic books. After securing a book deal and advance for Vietnamerica, Tran was able to take two years off from his day job as a commercial illustrator to focus on the memoir. He calls this the best two years of his life.

“I woke up every morning and I got to draw. I’m sure my wife got sick of me just being in the apartment all day, but it was definitely the best two years of my life. Not only drawing all day but drawing about something that I was really passionate about,” he recalled.

During this time, Tran made several trips to Arizona to interview his parents about their experiences in the Vietnam War. They were skeptical about the project at first, but opened up after seeing Tran’s commitment.

The author turned to books, movies and Google images to ensure he got the period details right in his illustrations.

Any freelance writer knows it can be challenging to focus on assignments with distant deadlines. However, Tran maintained a daily routine that ensured he didn’t fall behind.

“I sketched the entire book first, before moving on to penciling, drawing, inking, coloring. So I knew every day, every week, what I was going to be doing for the next weeks or months. The longest stretch of doing the same thing day in, day out was inking, which took seven months… I would just wake up and ink for twelve hours.”

Tran wrote and illustrated Vietnamerica, and sees the two disciplines as being intertwined. “I think that’s the hallmark of a cartoonist, as opposed to a writer or illustrator,” he noted. “We can’t just write a story and we can’t just draw a story, we have to do it back and forth.”

An illustration from the graphic memoir "Vietnamerica."

An illustration from the graphic memoir "Vietnamerica." (Courtesy GB Tran)

Advice for aspiring authors

For Tran, writing a memoir about his family history was intense; he was essentially reliving experiences from a very emotional period in his parents’ lives.  “I didn’t want to live in this space for an extended amount of time,” he revealed in our interview.

One of the key challenges of writing a book is knowing when you are finished. “You’ve got to be OK with letting go. This book has typos in it,” noted the author, who spotted a few misspellings after the book went to print. “I had to walk away at some point or another. I did the best that I could, given the resources and time I had.”

Tran is modest about his success; he concedes that he worked hard at comic conventions and events to get his name out and sell his work, but considers the book deal a lucky break.

When asked to give advice to aspiring authors and illustrators, Tran stressed the importance of following through on ideas. He advises other cartoonists,

“Just to finish a story. People who want to do comics, they have a billion ideas and they start a billion ideas, but until they actually finish one of them, it’s still kind of a pipe dream. I’m guilty of this too– just having a bunch of projects and starting them and after 10 pages, be like, nah, I’m bored. All the great cartoonists that I love, it’s not because they have great ideas—everybody has great ideas—it’s because they have the discipline to execute their ideas.”

An illustration from the graphic memoir "Vietnamerica" by GB Tran

An illustration from the graphic memoir "Vietnamerica." (Courtesy GB Tran)

What’s next

Tran continues to show his work at comic conventions throughout the US. “If someone’s willing to spend their hard-earned money on my book, I’d like to thank them in person, or meet them, or shake their hand,” he said.

He’s also planning a second project that will take him back to Vietnam.

“This book is basically 20 percent of all the stories I heard [from family members]. The best advice I got was to tell the shortest story possible, so that meant constantly editing. If the event didn’t help propel this story, then I just had to leave it out… there’s a lot of stuff on the floor that I would like to go back and dig a little further on.”

For more info

Visit www.gbtran.com and follow @vietnamerica on Twitter for more information on GB Tran’s work and for a list of his upcoming appearances.

Pick up a copy of Vietnamerica on Amazon.com or at your local comic shop.

VIETNAMERICA from Joe Tomcho on Vimeo.

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Graphic Novel Review:

Vietnamerica

 


Bennett here, taking a break from not treating John Matrix's kidnapped daughter very well.

The great American novel. On the surface, it’s a simple concept, but a loaded one. Say you want to write the great American novel in any kind of company and watch the snickers and condescension rain down. In a country with such a variety of faces, with so many strikingly different groups of people, and with such disparity among classes, is there such a thing as the “Great American Novel?” Can there be? Or can you simply appeal to one group at a time?


It’s the same type of discourse that permeates the Asian American community—is there such a community, and if so, is it a legitimate one? A pan-Asian American community implies a shared history, a shared story, but clearly that hasn’t been the case. Not when you consider vastly different issues such as the Japanese internment versus the Southeast Asian exodus.  The only real, legitimate reason for a pan-Asian American community seems to be to react to outside groups (mainstream America) who would confuse East Asian ethnicities, as happened in 1982 to Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American man who was bludgeoned to death by two out-of-work auto workers in Detroit after being confused as Japanese. The two auto workers were given probation. Today, incidentally, is the twenty-nine year anniversary of his death.

As Vietnamese American, I consider myself a detractor of the pan-Asian American identity. While experiences such as Vincent Chin’s death indicate a need for a banner under which Asian Americans can assemble, Asian America should be a more organic concept, one that compartmentalizes itself more often than not. I have no interest in discussing Filipino migrant workers of the 1800s any more than I do Bolivian immigration in Northern Virginia. Black America has, for the most part, a shared history that is integral to the American consciousness and identity. Asian American history operates as piecemeal, a mosaic of groups which have yet to blend together to form a coherent identity informed primarily by a universal American experience. Do Chinese Americans on the west coast who have been here for lord-knows-how-many generations have anything to do with the Hmong that arrived in the 70s and 80s? Why should we think they do? Simply because, to mainstream Americans, all East Asians look similar ?

The great Vietnamese American novel is an enticing idea, one that has been tossed around and attempted to varying degrees of success. One of my favorite memoirs, Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam, by Andrew X. Pham, retells the grand, epic journey of a Vietnamese American man bicycling through Vietnam, searching for an understanding of his heritage, and, at some level, to search for what his family has lost to the cloud hanging over them, the sense of impending doom—a feeling that manifested as dysfunction because they would not, and could not address it. Recently, Gia Bao (GB) Tran’s (graphic) novel, Vietnamerica, attempted to tell the great Vietnamese American story. Though I hesitate to put “graphic” in there at all, as the medium is too easily derided as low-art, or unintelligent. None of these adjectives describe Vietnamerica. Tran, who was born in the USA in 1978, never had much of a strong relationship with his Vietnamese heritage. The book recounts his parent’s often muddied history and their flight from Vietnam, and, briefly, their assimilation into American society.

It’s a common immigrant story, right? Departure, loss, assimilation, and the subsequent fracture in families, and ultimately the reconciliation of heritage, family, identity. And it’s so very tempting to write from the Vietnamese American point of view, particularly as a member of the 1.5 Generation. There are countless American stories about Vietnam, a revolutionary and devastating place and time for not just the country, but the world. Revolutions spread through countries colonized by western forces, and it all seemed to stem from a little country in Southeast Asia. And America cares about Vietnam, if only to see how its own identity as the Western superpower has been influenced by her.  Interestingly, Tran spent much of his life as someone who didn’t care for Vietnam, didn't care for the pain and history his parents (and their parents) endured as they wound their individual ways through French occupation, and civil war, and didn't care about how his heritage and history has changed the course of the country he now lives in.

Vietnamerica’s a beautiful graphic novel, absolutely magnificent in scope, ambition and writing. There are so many moments of poignant reflection: Tran's family doing what they had to in order to stay together; dealing with overbearing parents; the heartache and honesty of a home headed by a man who can’t adapt to American parenting. The art is somewhere between Joe Sacco’s Palestine and the graphic novel that Vietnamerica inevitably draws comparisons to: Art Spiegelman’s Maus. The gritty look of the art suits the book perfectly. The story is dirty, gritty, honest, and done in muted colors, almost a muddied look in black-and-white, well-chosen for a time that ironically can never be considered in black-and-white terms. Tran has created a complex, never-easy-to-read history that evokes an astonishing sense of loss and alienation. I won’t call it a triumph, but it’s certainly a resounding success, a wonderful addition to the Vietnamese American lexicon.

The two major problems with Vietnamerica become apparent about halfway in: the structure is so jumbled that instead of evoking a sense of confusion and muddled history that Tran may have been aiming for, it, at times, simply becomes difficult to read. Characters weave in and out of the story, unnamed, or named, or unrecognizable because of the artwork. We switch tracks constantly, jumping from Tran’s mother’s tale to his father’s, without much of a transition alert for the reader. We begin to forget things that came before, and things that should have much more weight are lost altogether. And the book lacks symmetry, a way to draw it all together. It starts well with Tran’s father visiting his estranged, dead father’s estate and leaving in a hurry, hinting at a tension, a driving point that would propel the story. But then we move outward, encompassing Tran’s mother’s story, and so much more of Tran’s father’s history, that the estranged father angle gets lost and by the time we revisit it, we’re left wondering what we’re supposed to take away from this at all.

In this respect, the main problem becomes obvious: there isn’t enough authorial content. That is, we need more direction provided by GB Tran himself. I get that this is a memoir, and one that he uses to tell his family’s (and ultimately Vietnam’s) story, but we need more of Tran. We need him to point us to the story, to the conflict that drives us. Because while the downfall of South Vietnam and the subsequent, staggered flight from there is a huge conflict, it’s strangely not enough to drive this narrative, because we’re not invested in Vietnam as a country, we're invested in the character that should be driving us: GB Tran. This should be about him, about how he has related to this incredible history with such complacency, and how he became driven to find out more about everything. That narrative layer is sorely needed to draw everything together, and the book really picks up when we get the small flashes of Tran’s more recent, personal history.

No review would be complete without a brief mention of Maus. And, really, that book works because Spiegelman used himself as the main driving force. We followed Spiegelman as the protagonist, as the one who filters the Holocaust story from his father, and we get the relationships and the give-and-take of a family dynamic. Tran completely bypassed this important part of the experience. And it’s not like he isn’t aware of Maus—there are points that are clearly influenced by Maus, the artwork in particular. The large, page-sized panels such as the one in which countless Vietnamese are shown clawing their way out of a ditch shaped to replace Vietnam on a map of Southeast Asia could have been taken directly from the pages of Maus.

 

While Vietnamerica stops just short of creating an immersive tale, it does give  enough to push the reader through, and for the most part, it’s an exhilarating experience. Sure, there are confusing passages, and vague, ambiguously drawn characters, but the drama of the family struggling to stay together trumps most of these issues. Perhaps a sequel would not be out of the question? The title, after all, implies a larger story, and his family, from the upper-academic echelons of Vietnamese society, tells only a small portion of the Vietnamese American experience. Additionally, Vietnamerica operates too much as exposition and within Vietnam to really earn the title. And I really want to explore this story more, especially if it dealt with issues unique to the children of refugees. But a sequel doesn’t even have to be about Tran and his family, necessarily… After all, he came with the First Wave of Vietnamese refugees—and the most common image of the Vietnamese refugee is from the Second Wave, the Boat People. But that’s completely beside the point. Vietnamerica is a worthy read, and a worthy addition to any library.

 

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Vietnamerica the Beautiful:

An Interview with G.B. Tran

 

G.B. Tran's parents fled their native Vietnam before he was born and raised him here in America. All his life, Tran's parents tried to build a connection between Tran and his heritage, but it was one he resisted. It wasn't until fairly recently that he made a trip to his parents' homeland, and that trip inspired the heartwrenching and poignant memoir Vietnamerica. We talked to Tran about the powerful experience of creating this book.

In the afterword to Vietnamerica, you say that making this book broke your heart. How so?
 
There was so much about my family's past that I had no clue about, and uncovering and telling their stories took me from joy to sadness and everywhere in between over and over again. This constant emotional rollercoaster ride, spread over several years, was very exhausting.
 
Do you wish now that you had gone to Vietnam earlier in your life? How do you think it would have affected you if you had?
 
I think things happen when they need to happen, so I don't regret not going to Vietnam earlier. Considering the different mindset I had in my younger years, what's to say that an earlier trip would have even resulted in this book? Whether it was because I was less interested then, didn't have enough confidence to tackle on such an immense project, etc.
 
How did making this book change your relationship with your parents and the rest of your family?
 
For my parents, I hope it's made us more empathetic to each other. For the rest of the family, it's secured my role as the deadbeat artist. Every family should have one those.
 
Can you now imagine doing what your parents did—leaving the country of their birth at that age and beginning anew in a strange new foreign land?
 
That was a constant question running through my mind while working onVietnamerica, and the main reason for the emotional rollercoaster previously mentioned. Considering my dad's painting career was just taking off when he had to flee, it was impossible not to imagine myself in his shoes.
 
Obviously the Vietnam War represents one of the most fractious eras in American history. For you personally, it resonates in a similar way with your family dynamic. Growing up, what understanding did you have of the political situation of Vietnam and what your parents had to escape from?
 
My parents didn't raise me on stories of their past. That, combined with my own lack of interest, meant I had no understanding of Vietnam's political turmoil. This would later become one of the driving forces behind creating Vietnamerica—that desire to better understand what my parents were trying to escape from.

One of the most striking things about the book is the way it jumps from one time period to another and from personal story to another. Did you work on it in this way, piece by piece, rather than chronologically?
 
Yes, in the sense that as I researched and gathered family memories, I had to piece the stories together like a puzzle. Early on, I organized them chronologically to determine which event would be the book's climax. Once that was figured out, I kinda reverse-engineered the narrative, which led to splitting it into two main timelines that naturally converged at the end for the climax. In a way, I also think it was my subconscious wanting to simulate how disorienting it was for me to unravel my family's history in the first place.
 
What parts of your parents’ stories did you never know or properly understand before beginning this project?
 
With the exception of the scenes involving me at some point in my life, I was totally clueless on about 99 percent of it.
 
What reaction to the book have you had from family members?
 
Pride to curiosity, I think. The former with my parents, and the latter with the extended family. Thankfully, the most critical comment has only been my mom complaining I didn't draw her beautiful enough.
 
What are you working on next? 
 
I'm spearheading a book with a group of amazing cartoonists, illustrators, and animators that continues to explore one of the major themes of Vietnamerica in what I hope is a very unique and poignant format. Mum's the word till we find a publisher.

As for the next project that I'm writing and drawing myself, I'm taking some of the unused Vietnamerica research and telling a smaller story hopefully to be serialized online. There's just so much material left on the cutting room floor that I wanted to further explore, but just not through the same emotional lens asVietnamerica. I feel the former is 90 percent seriousness and 10 percent humor, so this next project is 10 percent seriousness and 90 percent humor. And it has a robot in it.

-- John Hogan

ACTION: Video Shows Bahraini Mother’s Strife and Her Daughter Reading Poem That Lead to Her Arrest and Torture > Artists Speak Out

Video Shows Bahraini Mother’s Strife and Her Daughter Reading Poem That Lead to Her Arrest and Torture

Ayat al-Gormezi

Twenty year-old Ayat al-Gormezi was arrested on 30 March 2011 after reading poems at a pro-democracy rally in Pearl Square in which she criticised the ruling family in Bahrain and asked for transparency in her country’s governance. Subsequently she was forced to turn herself in when masked police threatened to kill her brothers unless she surrendered. She has not been seen since her arrest, although her mother spoke to her once by telephone and Ayat said that she had been forced to sign a false confession. Her mother has since been told that her daughter has been in a military hospital after being tortured with electric shocks.

Ayat al-Gormezi appeared on 2 June 2011 before a military tribunal in Manama on charges of “insulting the king, taking part in banned gatherings, and spreading false information.” The trial has been adjourned until Sunday 12 June 2011, when a verdict is expected to be delivered. She is the first woman to go on trial following the unrest and it is feared she will face a heavy prison term if convicted.

Please send appeals:

  • Expressing serious concern about the arrest of Ayat al-Gormezi;
  • Calling for her immediate and unconditional release;
  • Urging the Bahraini government to drop any charges against Ayat al-Gormezi that may infringe her right to freedom of expression;
  • Seeking immediate guarantees that she has not been tortured or ill-treated in detention;
  • Urging the Bahraini authorities to abide by their obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and to end the violent crackdown on those who are peacefully expressing their opinions.

Send appeals to:

His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa
King of Bahrain
Office of His Majesty the King
P.O.Box 555
Rifa’a Palace
Kingdom of Bahrain.
Fax: 973 176 64 587

Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa
Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs
Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs
P.O.Box 450
Al-Manama
Kingdom of Bahrain.
Fax: 973 175 31 284

Please also send copies of your appeal letters to the diplomatic representative for Bahrain in the UK:

His Excellency Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Rashid Al Khalifa
Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain
30 Belgrave Square,
London
SW1X 8QB
Fax: 020 7201 9183
Email: ambassadorsoffice@bahrainembassy.co.uk

 

VIDEO + INTERVIEW: The First Grader

Video: The First Grader (Trailer)

 

 

In a small, remote mountain top primary school in the Kenyan bush, hundreds of children are jostling for a chance for the free education newly promised by the Kenyan government. One new applicant causes astonishment when he knocks on the door of the school. He is Maruge (Litondo), an old Mau Mau veteran in his eighties who is desperate to learn to read at this late stage of his life. He fought for the liberation of his country and now feels he must have the chance of an education so long denied--even if it means sitting in a classroom alongside six year-olds.

The First Grader is a heart warming and inspiring tale of one man's fight for what he believes is his right in order to overcome the burdens of his past. It is a triumphant testimony to the transforming force of education. As Maruge himself said, "the power is in the pen".

 

 

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Watch Now: Naomie Harris Discusses

Her New Film, “The First Grader”

In a recent interview with Digital SpyNaomie Harris opened up about working with directorDanny Boyle007 rumors, and her most recent feature The First Grader, which was released in the states last month, and will be in UK theaters tomorrow, Friday, the 24th.

Referencing Boyle, who originally cast her in 28 Days Later, Harris credited him with jumpstarting her career:

“He’s the reason, really, that I have the career that I’ve had because he took a risk on me and gave me Selena in 28 Days Later. [He] really started my career for me, I’m very grateful to Danny Boyle.”

In The First Grader, which tells the story of 84-year-old Kimani Maruge - a widowed former Mau Mau rebel and the oldest person ever to start primary school - Harris plays the compassionate teacher who helps him learn to read and write.

>via: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/archives/watch_now_naomie_harris_disc...