In addition to my obligations to the Palestine Writing Workshop, I am spending part of my time here in Palestine researching my own stories. I’ve become very interested in the role of writing and reading in contemporary Palestinian society. To that end, I’ve been visiting libraries and bookstores and meeting with writers to talk about […]
The Palestine Writing Workshop
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I’m a little more than halfway through my residency here at the Palestine Writing Workshop in Birzeit. Here is a belated post of what I’ve been up to: I arrived in Birzeit, a village not far from Ramallah, at the beginning of June. My main role here is to lead a three-week creative nonfiction workshop […]
“Palestinian inhibition in the Walled City of Bethlehem”
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I’ve been the Writer-in-Residence in Birzeit for a couple weeks now, and have yet to post about my experiences here. I have plenty to write about – excellent sessions with the workshop participants, interviews with Palestinian circus artists, a tour of a library housing ancient texts in Jerusalem’s Old City, a visit to the grave […]
May
29
Jaffa Gate
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Here is the view from the balcony off my room at The New Imperial Hotel. No wonder Amedeo thought we were sleeping “in a castle.”
May
28
From Dubai to Jerusalem
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I am sitting in my hotel room just inside Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. I arrived here a couple of weeks ago with my wife, Moonira, and son, Amedeo. We flew in from Dubai where I was on a magazine assignment and where we spent a week enjoying the gleaming excesses of the city. […]
May
05
Considerably better digs…
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Over the course of my travel for the Walls book, I slept in a snore-rattled dorm room in Tucson, a dank Belfast hostel, a tent in a desert refugee camp, a Moroccan hotel surrounded by solvent-huffing teens, and a police station in northeast India. Having paid my accommodation penance, the magazine assignment gods – or […]
May
05
“A Hymn in Aramaic”
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
The May issue of Alberta Views magazine contains my profile of Calgarian Chaldean priest Abbé Noël Farman. Farman was born and educated in Iraq, was part of Saddam’s army in the 1970s, and fled the Iraq for Canada in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion. He speaks a handful of languages – including ancient Aramaic […]
Coming soon to a doctor’s waiting room near you….
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
My profile of Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi appears in the May issue of Reader’s Digest Canada (and online here.) Kudos to the folks at RD for a great cover.
April
15
Anne Paq’s photos of the Wall
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Active Stills is hosting a great series of images of the West Bank Wall by photographer Anne Paq. Many of the photos are of the Wall at Jayyous and Qalqilya, two Palestinian towns that feature prominently in my chapter about the Wall. I especially like the images of IDF soldiers posing for photographs in front […]
April
08
“A Story of Bread and Love”
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I’m a couple of days late on this, but my story about Calgary Italian Bakery – and the charming Bontorin family who operate it – appeared in Friday’s Swerve Magazine. Luigi Bontorin came to Calgary in the 1950s, married his landlady’s daughter, and the two of them founded the business in 1962. Now, a half […]
Elsewhere 