(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC), together with the Farragut Fund for Catalan Culture in the U.S., announces a series of events during the Sant Jordi USA Festival of Books, Roses & the Arts, to be presented at JCTC Studios, 165 Newark Avenue, Jersey City (enter on Barrow Street). This free, hybrid festival – in-person and online – is a branch of the beautiful and emblematic Sant Jordi Book Festival, born in Barcelona and devoted to Saint George the dragonslayer. This year’s festival is presented for the first time in its new home in Jersey City, New Jersey.
JCTC will first host two World Literature Events on Monday, April 18, 2022, and Tuesday, April 19, 2022, both at 7:30pm. JCTC will then open its studios to the public for three art exhibitions, with the guidance of the artists, on Tuesday, April 21, 2022, at 6:00pm.
Monday, April 18’s World Literature Event program centers on the compelling and innovative works of the next generation and women writers from Catalonia. Featured discussions are Book of Barcelona: A New Anthology of Short Stories from Comma Press’ City Series and New Trends in Women’s Writing in Catalan.
The Tuesday, April 19 program takes an in-depth look at the world of publishing, followed by perspectives on the history of U.S. invasions and interventions on foreign soil. The evening’s slated discussions are Publishers’ SuperPowers: Opposition, Resistance, Translation and The American Way: When the Good Guys Are the Bad Guys.
On Tuesday, April 21, JCTC presents three interlocking exhibitions which reflect upon the spaces of war and peace: Close-Up (Primer Pla) by Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger, Under the Light of the Sea by Espe Pons, and There Is Still Someone in the Woods from Associació Cultura i Conflicte. The evening includes a special focus on Close-Up (Primer Pla) with a 23-minute viewing of the immersive cinematic art installation with musical composition and soundscapes.
“In 2022, as we emerge from the pandemic, the Sant Jordi Book Festival is thrilled to partner with Jersey City Theater Center, our esteemed host for a series of beautiful and timely exhibitions and performances. This year’s festival naturally includes considerations of war and its never-ending traumas. Yet, we also celebrate the power of world art and literature today, including special sections on cutting-edge Catalan women writers, and the hidden powers of publishers. ,” shares Mary Ann Newman, Director of the Farragut Fund for Catalan Culture in the U.S.
“Jersey City Theater Center is delighted to welcome the Sant Jordi Book Festival to Jersey City, providing unprecedented access in English to writers and artists who represent the broadest range of countries and languages. We are honored to partner with Mary Ann and the Farragut Fund for Catalan Culture in the U.S. to introduce a week of beautiful programs to new audiences,” adds Olga Levina, Executive Producer at JCTC.
In addition to the events at JCTC, New Jersey City University (NJCU) will host and co-curate in-person and online book events and NJCU Official Bookstore (2039 Kennedy Blvd, Jersey City) will serve as the festival’s bookselling partner.
Additional details on the JCTC-hosted programs can be found below, and audiences can reserve free tickets for those events at www.jctcenter.org and www.seetickets.us/jctcenter. Information about the festival’s other events is available at www.santjordiusa.org.
Accessibility accommodations for these events are available upon request.
World Literature Event - Monday, April 18, 2022 at 7:30pm; JCTC Studios, 165 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ. Explore the compelling and innovative works of the next generation and women writers from Catalonia.
Book of Barcelona: A New Anthology of Short Stories from Comma Press’ City Series - Stories from the next generation of Catalan writers about the city of Barcelona as the cracks in the Olympic façade begin to show. A hybrid event, Ra Page, publisher, and Mara Faye Lethem, translator, will appear in person; Carlota Gurt and Borja Bagunyà, authors, will appear online.
New Trends in Women’s Writing in Catalan - Women’s writing in Catalan is traversing a period of splendor. Alícia Kopf, Anna Ballbona, Empar Moliner, Llúcia Ramis, Marta Rojals, Marta Orriols, Marta Carnicer, and many, many others are both breaking literary molds and transforming the threads of earlier traditions.
We will present two notable authors who are breaking molds: Mara Faye Lethem will read from her translation of Irene Solà’s When I Sing, Mountains Dance. Bel Olid will read from Laura McLoughlin’s new translation of her book, Wilder Winds. A moderated discussion of the current panorama follows.
Free with $20 suggested donation. Tickets are available here.
World Literature Event - Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 7:30pm; JCTC Studios, 165 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ. Join for an in-depth look at the world of publishing, followed by perspectives on the history of U.S. invasions and interventions on foreign soil.
Publishers’ SuperPowers: Opposition, Resistance - Publishers Nia Thomas (Comma Press) and Margot Atwood (Feminist Press), will be at JCTC to discuss the politics of publishing and the publishing of politics. They explore how small presses push back against conventional mainstream narratives and still make a living and segue into
…Translation - What is the role of translation in the establishment of an international vision? Is there a politics of translation? Translators Allison Markin Powell and Frank Wynne will beam in to discuss how to maintain best practices internally, including treatment of authors and translators.
The American Way: When the Good Guys Are the Bad Guys - A discussion of Comma Press’ collection of short stories and essays about the long history of U.S. invasions and interventions on foreign soil. Publisher and editor Ra Page will give an overview of the book and talk with Chilean author Lina Meruane and translator Megan McDowell and Kim Thuy and translator Bret Maney about U.S. incursions into Chile and Vietnam. Following the round table, Marguerite Feitlowitz, professor at Bennington College, will read from her translations of Chilean poet Ennio Moltedo.
Free with $20 suggested donation. Reserve tickets here.
Opening Art Exhibitions / Focus on Close-Up (Primer Pla) - Tuesday, April 21, 2022 at 6:00pm; JCTC Studios, 165 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ. Jersey City Theater Center opens for the public to view three interlocking exhibitions which reflect upon the spaces of war and peace: Close-Up (Primer Pla) by Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger, Under the Light of the Sea by Espe Pons, and There Is Still Someone in the Woods from Cultura i Conflicte.
Under the Light of the Sea and There Is Still Someone in the Woods reflect upon wars—the Spanish Civil War and the Balkan War, respectively—and their never-ending consequences. Close-Up (Primer Pla) explores the panoramas of belonging through an immersive, emotional, and memoristic view of Catalan landscapes and architecture—the same landscapes where common graves still await exhumation.
The evening includes a special focus on Close-Up (Primer Pla) with a 23-minute viewing of the immersive cinematic art installation with musical composition and soundscapes. Artists Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger follow with a discussion of the techniques employed, the use of Catalan landscape and architecture, and their creative philosophy.
Free with $20 suggested donation. Reserve tickets here.
The Farragut Fund for Catalan Culture in the U.S. is devoted to highlighting Catalan culture as a piece of the beautiful mosaic of American cultures. We have been organizing the Sant Jordi Festival of Books, Roses & Arts, dedicated to world literatures in translation, in New York City since 2014, and are thrilled to have a new host in the Jersey City Theater Center as of 2022.
Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts organization committed to inspiring conversations about important issues of our times through the arts. Co-founded by Executive Producer Olga Levina, an immigrant from Belarus, Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) produces and presents universal yet locally relevant works, emphasizing social justice and human rights.
Since 2006, JCTC has provided a platform for all artistic voices to be heard. When we share stories through the arts, we spark meaningful dialogue that leads to greater understanding and respect. And, as a result, we build better communities together.
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