Earlier this year I had the great honour to read at a Jerusalem café-bookstore called Tmol Shilshom. (I mentioned this in a previous post.) I’d been wanting to read at the café for years, and it was a fabulous night. Tmol Shilshom has a fascinating history. The café’s opening night event in 1994 featured the […]
Reading about the Saharawi
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Last week I ‘headlined’ the monthly Flywheel Reading series event at Pages Bookstore in Calgary. It was a chance for me to read from the book-in-progress and I am grateful to the Flywheel crew for inviting me to read. The reading was recorded by a local spoken-word blogger – thank you, Dale – and I’ve […]
Mightily, the Overflood
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I was going through some of my old travel journals and came across this little gem. These are tasting notes for Vinium Karalahna, a wine my wife and I drank plenty of during our honeymoon on the Turkish Island of Bozcaada: “Profound ruby red with violet tints allures to stare at it into depth and […]
Making Light of The Wall
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
This Israeli commercial for a cell phone company is a shameful example of how some Israelis view the Occupation. I don’t know what I find most offensive: the light-hearted portrayal of a symbol of apartheid, or the fact that the Palestinians in the commercial remain invisible.
Walls Book Update
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I am still working on my walls book. Those who have been following my blog already know I’ve spent much of the last two years abroad conducting research for the book. So far I’ve visited Algeria, Morocco, the Western Sahara, Ceuta and Melilla, northeast India, Kashmir, Israel, Palestine and Cyprus. Starting in mid-August I will […]
After a long silence
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I arrived home from Cyprus in May and have spent so much time hustling for freelance writing jobs that I have neglected this blog. It has been a strange few months. By the time I returned home my grant funding had dried out, I didn’t have a bartending job anymore, and my writer’s residecy would […]
Tavern Joys
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Friday night was one of those epic nights that make me happy I do what I do. I went in search of a Turkish Cypriot meyhane, a sort of tavern restaurant, that I’d read about. As always, I got lost, but this time I stumbled on the place accidentally as if on purpose. It was […]
March
23
Walking through the Dead Zone
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
After spending five weeks amid Palestine’s daily despair, the divisions here in Nicosia seem almost quaint by comparison. The forty year-old conflict between the Turkish North and Greek South has lost all of its heat and momentum, but entrenched feelings of betrayal and distrust keep it going. There is some talk in the newspapers about […]
A Settler Home for Purim
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
(I waited until I left Israel to post this story, and I am not sure why. I guess I didn’t want to have to confront whatever anger it might inspire in those I write about. I tried to convince myself that I was being polite. Now I wonder if I am just cowardly.) I met […]
In Nicosia
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I arrived here in Nicosia, the divided capital of Cyprus, a couple of days ago. I will soon write a post about my first impressions of the city, and have to catch up with another story from Israel. So stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the work of Cypriot photographer Thodoris Tzalavras. I had […]
Elsewhere 