Today is the last day of the Literary Journalism Program and my last afternoon in ‘The Hemingway’. It has been a wonderfully fruitful month. With the help of a careful editor and the the suggestions of my writing mates, I have managed to put together a polished first chapter of my ‘walls’ project. I also […]
In the Hemingway
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Greetings all. I am currently, and blissfully, ensconced in my forest studio at the Banff Centre. I am one of eight writers enjoying a residency as part of the Literary Journalism Program. We will be here for a month working on new projects with the aim of having a long magazine piece ready at the […]
Writer-in-Residence
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I have some happy news to report. I’ve been chosen as the University of Calgary’s 2009-2010 Writer-in-Residence. My residency begins in August 2009 – which is perfect, as I should be done the bulk of my traveling for this ‘walls’ project by then – and will last for ten months. I will be responsible for […]
Home
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Hello all. I am home now where I will stay until the beginning of July when I begin a month-long residency at the Banff Centre of the Arts. I will use my time in the ‘Literary Journalism’ program to turn my scrawled notes from the Western Sahara into a legible first chapter of the Walls […]
More Melilla
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I am back in Tangier now and rounding out my last few days on this trip. I will back in Canada on Wednesday, if all goes well. I am looking forward to getting home, more so than on any of my other travels. I miss my wife, my friends, my family and the easy conversations. […]
Thinking about walls
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
My walls project is in its early stages, to be sure, but I´ve been musing a little lately about what all of it means. What do these various walls have in common? What do they tell us? At first I was thinking that these walls are simply expressions of fear, but I think that might […]
Border stories: Melilla
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I wandered around Melilla during siesta the other day. I drank espresso and brandy in a cafe near the art deco synagogue, then found a tapas bar behind the old bull-ring. The bartender poured me a short draft beer and cut me a few slices of salty serrano ham. In the old city, at the […]
Border Stories: Ceuta
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I’ve spent the last week or so in and around Ceuta, one of Spain’s two autonomous enclaves in North Africa. Ceuta’s border is also Europe’s most southern frontier. As such, it is a major destination for migrants from Africa and Asia. If they can get into Ceuta, they are in Europe without risking a deadly […]
May
05
Reconsidering Tangier
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Tangier’s reputation intimidated me. The seedy and licentious city the Beats tumbled through in the ’50s had long since become a place travelers were urged to avoid. I read about the muggers and the pickpockets and the dangers of the medina. I was ready to find the worst of Morocco. I came to write a […]
The South, under Surveillance
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I am being followed. At least I was. I found out when I was sitting in a small cafe in Tarfaya eating grilled sardines. Sadat, the man who I came to Tarfaya to meet, came up to my table. “I got three phone calls today about you,” he said. “You are the centre of attention. […]
