April 24, 2012 -
PRLog -- Bronx, New York, April 24, 2012: "Apologia:
Cuban Childhood in My Backpack" (PublishAmerica 2011) by award-winning Cuban writer and multidisciplinary artist Orlando Ferrand―resident of New York since 1992―was selected as the Book-of-the-
Semester at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York. With over 30 years of sustained professional practice in the Arts and Letters, Orlando Ferrand has received numerous scholarships and awards in the U.S. and abroad, including the 2011 Artist Summer Institute by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Creative Capital's Professional Development Program. He is a member of the National Association of Latino Arts & Culture (NALAC). Orlando Ferrand was mentored by such luminaries as Heiner Müller, Patrice Pavis, Eugenio Barba and Liuba Cid. He's been a Visiting Professor of Dramaturgy at University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain, and an Artist-in-Residence at Princeton University, while writing, designing, and directing his opera "Still Life with Daniel, the Lonely Mutant", produced by the New York Theater Workshop in 1996. He is a Gold medal winner in the Poetry/Music category for "Citywalker"
(PublishAmerica, 2010) in the Readers Favorite International Book Review and Award Contest 2011, and the winner of the Linden Lane Poetry Prize 2011 for "The Other Island" ("La otra isla", Spanish Edition, Linden Lane Press 2011). He received the honorary distinction "Member of Honor of the Gran Teatro de La Habana" by legendary Cuban ballerina Alicia Alonso in 1991. He has published three books, and has been featured in three anthologies of poetry and essays. His work has been also featured in several literary publications in the U.S. and Europe. Orlando Ferrand studied English, Creative Writing, Comparative Literature and Translation at Columbia University and City College, NY. He is currently working on two books of creative non-fiction, and poetry. He lives and works in New York City.
An Academic Affairs Initiative of the Center for Undergraduate Education (C.U.E) of the City University of New York, the Book-of-the-
Semester Project has been in existence at Hostos Community College since the Fall Semester 2005. However, it is unprecedented in the history of this academic project to have had an Author-in-Residence as part of the Book-of-the-
Semester series.
The Book-of-the-
Semester Project, dedicated to "Apologia: Cuban Childhood in My Backpack" by Orlando Ferrand, started its cycle for the Spring Semester on April 5, 2012 with a series of lectures and workshops by the author on "Reconstructing Memory and Deconstructing the Memoir: the Creative Process Unplugged" and "A Fictional Approach to Creative Non-Fiction"
. Over four hundred students and faculty have attended Orlando Ferrand's lectures and workshops as well as a reading from "Apologia", followed by a book signing. Two panel discussion sessions moderated by Professor Robert F. Cohen, Director and Founder of the Book-of-the-
Semester Project, will be held on April 26, 2012 in Room C-391 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., and in the Savoy Multipurpose Room from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Students, faculty, staff, and guests will have the opportunity to discuss their reactions to "Apologia: Cuban Childhood in My Backpack" with the author himself.
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE BOOK-OF-THE-
SEMESTER PROJECT:
Robert F. Cohen, Ph.D.
Director, Book-of-the-
Semester Project
Chair, Department of Language & Cognition
Hostos Community College
City University of New York 500 Gran Concourse Bronx, New York 10451 Phone (718) 518 - 6602
email: rcohen@hostos.cuny.edu
For the Book-of-the-
Semester Project featuring "Apologia: Cuban Childhood in My Backpack" by Orlando Ferrand, visit
http://oit.hostos.cuny.edu/bookofthesemester/Download the Student Guide to "Apologia: Cuban Childhood in My Backpack"
Attend the Panel Discussion Sessions with Author Orlando Ferrand
Participate in the online discussion forum from anywhere in the world
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THIS MOMENTOUS EVENT!
