Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Crossing Nations, Cultures, and Languages with Marick Press Founder Mariela Griffor

Since 2008, P&W has supported readings and workshops presented by literary publisher Marick Press. Its founder, Mariela Griffor, answered our questions about her experience publishing writers from around the world out of Grosse Pointe, MI, a small city neighboring Detroit. Griffor was born in the city of Concepción in southern Chile. She is the author of Exiliana (Luna Publications, 2007) and House (Mayapple Press, 2007). Her work has also appeared in Passages North, Cerise Press, and Washington Square Review. Her forthcoming translations include Canto General by Pablo Neruda (Tupelo Press, 2013), At Half Mast by Carmen Berenguer, Militant Poems by Raúl Zurita, Desolation by Gabriela Mistral and Bye, have a good time! by Kristina Lugn. She is Honorary Consul of Chile in Michigan.

Mariela GrifforWhat makes Marick Press unique?
Marick Press strives, across boundaries of nations, cultures, and languages, to create fine literature and make it a personal experience. We seek out and publish the best new work from an eclectic range of aesthetics—work that is technically accomplished, distinctive in style, and thematically fresh.

What project have you been especially proud of?
I’m proud of every single book I've published, but the translation series is something very, very special. This series includes some of the most accomplished and original writers in the world, translated into English.

I have always been able to find a special or unique book of poetry that has been overlooked in its original language or is essential to understanding the complete work of a poet. Particular cases of this are INRI by the Chilean poet Raúl Zurita, and From Threshold to Threshold by Paul Celan.

What’s the most memorable event you’ve hosted?
P&W sponsored a festival of poetry held in Marick’s home town of Grosse Pointe, MI. The writers, publishers, and public shared some of the most remarkable readings I’ve experienced. It was the first time a poetry festival had been held in our community. For many in attendance, it was their first personal experience of fine literature—and it was new, fresh, and exciting!

What do you consider to be the value of literary programs for your community?
A community with a literary program is an intellectually vibrant and relevant community not only for itself, but for its surrounding communities. I admire the work of Ann Arbor District Libraries here and in Ann Arbor. Individuals and community groups in my area use a lot of its resources.

I could not live in a place that is not interested in literature. Once a community experiences literature personally, it will go to any lengths—establishing writing programs, festivals, and public readings—to perpetuate and expand the personal experience of writing to everyone. If you counted how many writers of note have been attracted to, or were raised or born in Michigan, you would be stunned!

How has publishing and presenting informed your own writing and life?
If you are a publisher, you learn to be humble. You struggle, you struggle more, and then you get some satisfaction when the book is out. The creation of a book is not an easy task. It is a work of art, but also a responsibility. Very few can handle the weight of this work. You listen, take notes, produce, and through it all get to know people as they are.
The writing community in the United States is very assured, very eclectic, and much more resistant to foreign influence than those in other countries. Being a publisher and the host of a reading series has taught me the blessings of comparative literature among living writers.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Marick Press is pleased to announce that Kjell Espmark author of Lend Me Your Voice and forthcoming Outside the Calendar has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 Capri Prize for Poetry.

Marick Press is pleased to announce that Kjell Espmark author of Lend Me Your Voice and forthcoming Outside the Calendar has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 Capri Prize for Poetry. (http://premiocapri.com/en/history.php ) The Capri Prize has been given to writers such Raphael Alberti, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Attilio Bertolucci, Hector Bianciotti, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Joseph Brodsky, Ralf Dahrendorf, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Francis Fukuyama, Bohumil Hrabal, Czeslaw Milosz, Alberto Moravia, Roger Peyrefitte, Thomas Venclova. “Established in 1987 on the Mediterranean island of Capri, the Capri Awards, or Premio Capri, is one of Italy’s most prestigious cultural institutions. 'Il Premio', as nicknamed by the literati, began as an informal redezvous of writers, poets and film directors and as a launch pad for emerging creative talent. Known for its literary heritage, the island of Capri was beloved by many renowned figures throughout history, including the Roman Emperor and poet Tiberius, the writer Count Fersen and the artist Alberto Savinio. More than just a cultural destination, Capri represents a state of mind. Each year the foundation hosts an award ceremony to honor the best-known and most promising poets in the world. This televised ceremony traditionally takes place at Grand Hotel Quisisana in Capri.”

Kjell Espmark author of Lend Me Your Voice and forthcoming Outside the Calendar has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 Capri Prize for Poetry.

Marick Press is pleased to announce that Kjell Espmark author of Lend Me Your Voice and forthcoming Outside the Calendar has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 Capri Prize for Poetry. (http://premiocapri.com/en/history.php ) The Capri Prize has been given to writers such Raphael Alberti, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Attilio Bertolucci, Hector Bianciotti, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Joseph Brodsky, Ralf Dahrendorf, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Francis Fukuyama, Bohumil Hrabal, Czeslaw Milosz, Alberto Moravia, Roger Peyrefitte, Thomas Venclova. “Established in 1987 on the Mediterranean island of Capri, the Capri Awards, or Premio Capri, is one of Italy’s most prestigious cultural institutions. 'Il Premio', as nicknamed by the literati, began as an informal redezvous of writers, poets and film directors and as a launch pad for emerging creative talent. Known for its literary heritage, the island of Capri was beloved by many renowned figures throughout history, including the Roman Emperor and poet Tiberius, the writer Count Fersen and the artist Alberto Savinio. More than just a cultural destination, Capri represents a state of mind. Each year the foundation hosts an award ceremony to honor the best-known and most promising poets in the world. This televised ceremony traditionally takes place at Grand Hotel Quisisana in Capri.”

Friday, May 27, 2011

Kjell Espmark visiting Grosse Pointe, Michigan

All the way from Sweden, distinguished poet and professor of the History of Literature, Kjell Espmark, will be speaking in Grosse Pointe. Professor Espmark will discuss his experiences as a member of the Nobel Prize Selection Committee, and he will introduce his first book translated into English, Lend Me Your Voice, a poetry collection.

The library has joined forces with Marick Press to present this special program, and it promises to be a unique and wonderful evening.

The program will be held at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10.00. Please reserve a spot on the online

Monday, September 27, 2010

The Fifth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival

The Fifth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: "TRANSLATING 2010"

AT THE RECONSTRUCTION ROOM



CONTACT: Dan Godston

info@borderbend.org

312.380.9223



DATE: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 (8 p.m.)



LOCATION: The Reconstruction Room at the Black Rock Bar

3614 N. Damen Ave.

Chicago, IL 60618



ADMISSION: Free and open to the public, donations accepted.





The Reconstruction Room presents Translating 2010, which is part of the Fifth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival and Chicago Artists Month. Translating 2010 explores the theme of "translations" in its wide range of permutations and possibilities: translating matter into energy, poetry into prose, time into memories, the present into the past and the future into the present, sound into words and the page into the air, promises into reality / ideals into facts, pencils into sketches into sculptures, DOS into HTML, 1999 into 2012 into The Long Now, frames into motion, and clouds into rain and water into ice.



Participants to include:

· A Guest Giving Way like Ice Melting: Thirteen Ways of Looking at Laozi -- Sou Vai Keng (Macao) and Steven Schroeder (Chicago)

· Erin Teegarden (Chicago), Della Watson (San Francisco), and Eric Cressley (Pittsburgh)

· Brett Foster reads a selection of his English translations of Cecco Angiolieri's poetry

· RaKel Delgado (Barcelona), Saul Aguirre (Chicago), and Luis Humberto Valadez (Chicago)

· Catie Olson (Chicago), Meg Duguid (Chicago), and the purveyors of Lovitt Restaurant (Colville, WA)

· Eric Elshtain (Chicago) and Gregory Fraser (Carrollton, Georgia)

· Francesco Levato (Chicago) reads English translations of poems by Tiziano Fratus and Fabiano Alborghetti, and he and and Mariela Griffor (Gross Pointe Farms, MI) give a bilingual reading of her poetry

· Happy 150th Birthday, Jules LaForgue, Piccolo Mountains Repertoire -- David Harrison Horton (Beijing), Sheila Murphy (Phoenix), Harry Ross (London), and Dan Godston (Chicago)





Chicago Calling is organized by the Borderbend Arts Collective, a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to promote the arts, to create opportunities for artists to explore new directions in and between art forms, and to engage the community. Annual Borderbend projects include Chicago Calling and the Mingus Awareness Project. Other organizations partner with Borderbend to enrich and extend the reach of its project, such as the Experimental Piano Series, which is co-produced by the Chicago Composers Forum and Borderbend, in partnership with the PianoForte Foundation.





Fifth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival

During the Fifth Annual Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival, Chicago-based artists collaborate with artists in other locations -- both here in the U.S. and abroad. These collaborations involve a range of art forms -- including music, dance, film, literature, and intermedia -- and they are prepared or improvised. Some Chicago Calling events involve live feeds between Chicago and other locations. 2010 Chicago Calling events include "Bicycles and the Arts" at Happy Dog Gallery, "Translations 2010" at the Reconstruction Room, "Seda Röder / Burton Greene - Harrison Bankhead Duo Concert" at Curtiss Hall, "Temperatures and Shapes / Arctic Live" at Elastic Sound & Vision Gallery, "I Remember Fred" at the Velvet Lounge, "Chicago Calling, Waiting for the Bus" at Café Ballou, "Two Way Tarot Mirrors" at Myopic Books, "My Favorite Banned Books Abecedarian Read-Out" at the Logan Square Library, "Aural Architecture" at WNUR, and other events.





Chicago Artists Month

Throughout October, you are invited to meet hundreds of Chicago visual artists at exhibitions, workshops, open studios, tours, neighborhood art walks and more in venues across the city. Presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs in collaboration with more than 200 program partners, Chicago Artists Month aims to showcase the extraordinary talent and vibrancy of Chicago's art community.



This year's theme, "The City as Studio," explores the impact of the urban environment on Chicago artists and their work, and the contributions that artists make to the vitality of our city. The place where art is imagined and made, whether in a physical or virtual space, affects the idea, the process and the final product. And the art, once created, leaves a mark on the place it occupies. Chicago Artists Month 2010 looks at how the city influences art and artists, and how artists transform the city by contributing to civic dialogue and quality of life.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Marick Press Spring -Summer 2010 titles

From Threshold to Threshold by Paul Celan translated by David Young
7Prose by Franz Wright
The Paris Stories by Laird Hunt
Bunker Anatomy by Cristopher Claro translated by Brian Evenson

Spring-Summer 2010 Titles

From Threshold to Threshold by Paul Celan translated by David Young
The Paris Stories by Laird Hunt
Bunker Anatomy by Brian Evenson
From Milltown to Malltown by Jim Daniels, Charlee Brodsky and Jane MaCafferty
7Prose by Franz Wright