Mariano Zaro

Mariano Zaro was born in Borja (Spain) in 1963 and since 1994 he has lived in Santa Monica. He attended the University at Zaragoza and earned his master´s degree in Spanish Literature in 1986. His work has been published in Spain’s literary magazines El signo del gorrión and Luces y sombras. His poetry has been included in the anthologies Al aire nuevo (San Luis Potosí, Mexico), and New Baroque (Los Angeles). His short fiction has appeared in The Louisville Review and The Baltimore Review. His first poetry book Where From/Desde Donde, was published by Bay Books (Santa Monica) in 1996. In September 2003, Carayan Press (San Francisco) published his Poems of erosion/Poemas de la erosión. Mariano is currently working on a collection of portraits (short stories) entitled Imago Animi.

Los poemas de Mariano Zaro me dejan un delicioso anhelo. Siento que me arropan con la seda de sus palabras mientras flota inesperado el atisbo de un color o un perfume. Quizá sea la aceituna, el espliego o el humo; quizá el aroma desvanecido del sudor de un amante. De este modo, dulce-mente, Zaro lleva al lector por el territorio del deseo. Dice así: "No puedo predecir mi deseo/ni siquiera es mío". Y el lector no puede predecir la sorpresa de estos poemas que seducen y, cuando menos lo esperas, te parten el corazón. Ten cuidado cuando leas este libro. Tómate tu tiempo, lee despacio, saborea. Deja que tu lengua marque los ritmos en español y en inglés. "Se abrieron simultáneos/mi cuerpo y tu palabra./ No pude distinguirlos". Ábrete a estos bellos poemas, lector, son únicos. -- Alicia Vogl Sáenz

Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Alan Lawrence Sitomer was named California’s 2007 Teacher of the Year. He is also the critically acclaimed author of numerous books which engage young adult readers. In 2004, Mr. Sitomer received the prestigious award for Classroom Excellence from the Southern California Teachers of English and in 2003 he was honored as Teacher of the Year by California Literacy. As an educator, Mr. Alan (as his students like to call him) works as an inner-city high school English teacher in Los Angeles as well as a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University. His young adult novels include The Hoopster, Hip-Hop High School and Homeboyz, an urban trilogy published by Disney. Mr. Sitomer is also the author of Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics, a text used in classrooms across the United States to engage disengaged students. Alan is also a nationally renowned speaker specializing in engaging reluctant readers and writers who appears frequently across the country. Currently, Mr. Sitomer lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Tracey, his daughter, Sienna, and his dog, Paris.
visit Alan's Web site 

 Film: The Great Debaters

 Film screening: The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker.

 Visit the The Great Debaters Web page.          Roger Ebert's review 
                                                                                 New York Observer review

7:30 p.m.  Wray Theater  

Discussion with screenwriter Robert Eisele. 
  
Robert Eisele’s original screenplay, The Great Debaters (from a story by Eisele & Jeffrey Porro), opened Christmas Day, 2007, directed by Denzel Washington, and starring Academy Award winners Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker.  The movie was a Golden Globe Award Best Picture nominee, and won 4 NAACP Image Awards, including Best Picture.  Eisele’s script received an Image Award nomination for Best Screenplay and The Christopher Award. The movie captured the Producers Guild of America’s Stanley Kramer Award, the National Board of Review’s Freedom of Expression Award, the Women Film Critics Circle’s Josephine Baker Award, and the African American Film Critics Association’s Best Picture Award. Recently, Mr. Eisele won the Writers Guild of America’s Paul Selvin Award for The Great Debaters.

Eisele’s original screenplay, Patriots, begins principal photography on April 1, 2008.  Tim Story is directing, Forest Whitaker is starring, and The Weinstein Company and I Am Entertainment are producing.  Eisele wrote “3: The Dale Earnhardt Story” for ESPN, 2004, second highest rated basic cable movie of that year. He executive produced the Showtime series, “Resurrection Blvd.,” in 2000 and 2001.  The show won the ALMA for Outstanding Television Series in 2001. Eisele received a Writers Guild Award nomination for his “Nino Del Polvo” episode of “Resurrection Blvd.” in 2002. He garnered another Writers Guild Award nomination in 1995, and a PEN Literary Award nomination (1996), for his USA Event Movie, “Lily In Winter.” He co-executive produced the movie as well. Eisele’s first Writers Guild Award nomination was for the Showtime Movie, “Last Light,” in 1993. He executive-produced the movie and acted in scenes with stars Kiefer Sutherland and Forest Whitaker. He was Supervising Producer of “The Equalizer,” 1987-1988. Eisele served as Story Editor for Michael Mann in the premiere season of “Crime Story,” 1986. He won the Humanitas Prize in 1986 for his episode of “Cagney & Lacey,” which also won the Imagen Award that year.

Photo credit: Eric Charbonneau