Within a Sky Full of Earth

Welcoming the New Year, St. Paul's Corner is joining forces with you for the best expectations of 2009. A unique and great flavour to start the year to come. Forget the troubles and embrace the next year with a big smile full of good hopes. Are not the others who make it happen, who make it good or bad, it's you, you are the one in control! So... what are you waiting for? Make it shine! Make it big! Restart if needed! And Dance all night long!
Located on the heart of the most Famous Historical Landmark of Macau, the Corners Club, in collaboration with Bloom * Creative Network, invite you for a delightful evening of fun and joy. With live music, DJ's, Stand-up mike performances and a dance floor to twinkle the best beat on you. Don't miss it!

VENUE: St. Paul's Corner - The Corner's Club Rooftop Bar
ADDRESS: Travessa de S. Paulo 3,5 & 7
ORGANIZED BY: The Corners Club and Bloom * Creative Network
WITH: Beto Ritchie, DJ Kunming and Buds
DATE: 31st of December, 2008 - 10 pm
FEE: 80 MOP (60 MOP on advanced booking*) - Entrance + Countdown Champagne
* You can book your entrance by email: cornersclub@ymail.com or root@bloomland.cn / by phone SMS: (+853) 66821066 or (+853) 66800024 - stating your name and contact.

[MORE INFO AT: www.stpaulscorner.com and www.bloomland.cn]

A morte saiu à rua num dia assim
Naquele lugar sem nome para qualquer fim
Uma gota rubra sobre a calçada cai
E um rio de sangue de um peito aberto sai
O vento que dá nas canas do canavial
E a foice duma ceifeira de Portugal
O som da bigorna é como um clarim do céu
Vão dizendo em toda a parte o Pintor morreu

Teu sangue, Pintor, reclama outra morte igual
Só olho por olho e dente por dente vale
À lei assassina à morte que te matou
Teu corpo pertence à terra que te abraçou
Aqui te afirmamos dente por dente assim
Que um dia rirá melhor quem rirá por fim
Na curva da estrada há covas feitas no chão
E em todas florirão rosas de uma nação
[JOSÉ AFONSO • 1972 - TEMA DEDICADO AO POETA JOSÉ DIAS COELHO, ASSASSINADO PELA PIDE EM 19 DEZ 1961]

Fundação Oriente inaugura exposição fotográfica sobre Timor - verbas revertem a favor de projecto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Baucau, Timor-Leste

Uma exposição fotográfica sobre as gentes e paisagens de Timor-Leste vai estar patente na Galeria da Casa Garden da Fundação Oriente durante um mês, com inauguração marcada já para esta sexta-feira, dia 19, pelas 18:30. As fotografias de “Timor-Leste – Olhares Emergentes de uma Terra” são da autoria de Fernando Madeira, um conhecido fotógrafo de Macau e membro da associação “naTerra – Associação de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável”.
Com esta mostra pretende-se angariar verbas para a próxima iniciativa da associação “naTerra”: “Raio de Sol – um projecto de sustentabilidade em Timor Leste”, em que o grupo se propõe a construir um Centro Comunitário de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Baucau, contribuindo para que a população se torne mais auto-suficiente através do desenvolvimento de infra-estruturas, educação e partilha de competências. Conseguindo reunir as verbas necessárias, cinco dos elementos da associação partem para Timor em finais de Fevereiro do próximo ano.
“naTerra” é uma associação sem fins lucrativos que desenvolve projectos na área da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Fundada em Macau, surge da união de várias pessoas com o objectivo comum de criar soluções ecologicamente saudáveis, economicamente viáveis e socialmente justas, particularmente a nível comunitário.
A “naTerra” participou recentemente no Festival da Lusofonia apresentando, no Auditório do Carmo, o projecto “Raio de Sol” e uma colecção de fotografias de Timor. São estas fotografias que ficam agora à venda na Casa Garden até dia 19 de Janeiro de 2009. A exposição está aberta todos os dias entre as 10h00 e as 19h00. As receitas revertem inteiramente a favor do projecto “Raio de Sol”.
• Para mais informações consulte a página www.naterra.org ou contacte a associação através de info@naterra.org.
• Artigo no Hoje Macau, por José Manuel Simões, sobre este projecto.
[A presente exposição conta ainda com o patrocínio do Café Ou Mu]

A Japanese male actor is needed for an event on Jan 13 in Hong Kong, acting as a Chef. Performance duration around 15 minutes, costumes provided.
Please send photos, resume and expected salary to Chans Productirons here.

EVENTUAIS RECEITAS DA VENDA DA ACTUAL LOJA VÃO REVERTER PARA O IPOR
Novo modelo de Livraria Portuguesa
vai continuar a cumprir o seu papel

Parece cada vez mais certo que a actual Livraria Portuguesa tem os dias contados. Porém, o presidente da Fundação Oriente acredita que o novo modelo a criar poderá até trazer mais benefícios.

O que vai acontecer à Livraria Portuguesa?
Pode ser vendida, mas ainda não está vendida. E quando for vendida, vai para outro sítio, chama-se Livraria Portuguesa e é obrigada a comprar os livros que a outra livraria comprava ou até mais. Não há razão para se estar a fazer esta tempestade num copo de água.
António Falcão será o candidato natural?
Pode ser. É um dos candidatos certamente – é o candidato com quem nós conversámos sobre o assunto.
Qual seria o modelo a adoptar?
Seria a Livraria Portuguesa manter-se e depois juntar a vertente “Bloom”, que também faz sentido.
E manter-se no antigo albergue da Santa Casa da Misericórdia?
Não, num outro sítio. Fui ver dois edifícios agora. O local seria alugado e o IPOR ajudaria no arranque.
O IPOR contribuiria com os seus livros?
O IPOR tem um “stock” próprio grande. Poderia entrar com esse “stock” na livraria. Haveria uma concessão que se mantinha, em moldes um pouco diferentes, porque iríamos exigir da parte do futuro concessionário que também participasse no investimento. Iríamos fazer uma livraria de raiz, o que tem custos. No primeiro ano, o IPOR daria um contributo.
E o dinheiro da venda das actuais instalações?
Seria destinado ao fundo do IPOR.
Como responde a quem diz que a cultura não é como os hambúrgueres e que uma entidade como a Livraria Portuguesa tem que ter a suportá-la uma instituição sem fins lucrativos?
Há [essa instituição] e continuará a haver. Qual é a diferença entre estar ali naquele cantinho ou a cinco minutos a pé do Leal Senado, onde é um dos locais que fomos ver? É um prédio inteiro, com quatro ou cinco andares, que tem espaço que poderia servir para exposições. De resto, esse é outro ponto a que também já respondi: a Casa Garden já foi colocada à disposição para esse tipo de eventos, bem como o auditório do IPOR.
A nova livraria continuaria a cumprir o seu papel nestes moldes?
Sim, porque podemos ter a componente portuguesa – que será sempre a maior –, e depois somar-lhe a vertente inglesa e a chinesa. A Livraria Portuguesa antes era uma fonte de despesa muito grande para o IPOR e deixou de sê-lo com a actual concessão. Mas o que mais me interessava não era o capítulo financeiro: é que existisse uma livraria em Macau que tivesse os manuais escolares e as últimas obras editadas em Portugal. Julgo que isso foi conseguido, embora há quem diga que não. Isso vai continuar a ser conseguido com o novo modelo e eventualmente de forma melhor – por isso é que se muda.
[POR EMANUEL GRAÇA • JORNAL TRIBUNA DE MACAU • 11 DEZ 2008]

A Bloom esteve presente na Feira do Livro da Escola Portuguesa de Macau, que decorreu nos dias de ontem e hoje, no átrio da escola. Com alguma afluência e alguns livros vendidos, o gosto de participar é sempre maior do que as intenções comerciais. Neste caso teria sido mais proveitoso estender a data da Feira e juntá-la ao dia da festa de Natal, em que os familiares dos estudantes estarão presentes com mais tempo e sem pressas, o que acontecerá amanhã. Voltaremos para o ano, no Dia Mundial da Criança. Obrigado.

[...] In regards to the Portuguese Bookshop, which the Orient Foundation announced last month it was planning on selling, Monjardino said the decision had not be made solely by the Foundation.
“The same as with the decision of [relocating] the Portuguese School [to the former Estoril Hotel, opposite Tap Seac Square], it is not the Foundation who makes them,” Monjardino said, adding that such decisions were made by general assemblies of the institutions involved. And even though the Foundation has some take in it, it a “minority,” whereas the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Portugal deals with decisions regarding IPOR, a Portuguese Institute from the Orient, while the Ministry of Education in Portugal deals with issues relating to the Portuguese School.
However, what is being sold is not the bookshop itself, but the premises where the current bookshop is together with the first floor of the building.
“The bookshop will continue existing, and will continue being called the 'Portuguese Bookshop of Macau' slash the name of the other person who will manage the bookshop and is more specialised – if it ends up being him managing the store – in English-language books,” Monjardino said, adding that he thinks both English and Portuguese-language books should be sold in the same space.
“If this is done [having this person manage the bookshop], it will still be located within the city centre,” the president of the Foundation added.
Although no names were mentioned, the Macau Daily Times understands that the person in question is António Falcão, who managed the English-language bookstore Bloom, which was completed flooded when typhoon Hagupit hit the SAR in late September.
Falcão met yesterday morning with Monjardino, who was also scheduled to visit three premises yesterday afternoon with the unnamed person, in order to see which would be a more viable location for the Portuguese Bookshop.
“We will finance the space. We will help support the installation of the new bookshop and during a certain period of time, we will help with the rent and redecorate the building to have a 'proper' look,” the president of the Foundation said.
The new bookshop is also set to house the same sort of features, including an art gallery. [...]
SARA FARR • MACAU DAILY TIMES • 11 DEC 2008

For now we just want to add that Bloom is not only an "English-language" bookshop. From the beginning we are a multi-language project, mostly focused on Portuguese and English books.

This was the result of my creative writing exercise on Shirley Lim's workshop. After a process of relaxation, the idea was to bring back a distant smell from the depths of your memory. Writing freely without stopping for a few minutes.

It was the house. The view. As if you could smell the view. The floor, not the scent of the floor, but the touch as a smelly little torture. The doors. The walking in. The ring bell. The summer. The smile of the face that would walk you in. The face that is just a memory, ageless in time, as now and forever. The room inside. The weight of your jacket that was about to be put asside. Thorned. And then someone was there. Rich, perfect, beautiful. And that person was all hands. Hands lighting up a cigarette. Matches probably. Or a cigarette that would be lighten up by itself, just like that, with those magic hands. Hands that would flow to the pages of a book or so many books placed on the shelfs of the wall. And then he would hold his head in an endless thought. Endless in time. Through the steps of the memory.
But the smell was the smoke. The smoke all over the place, unnoticeable. Like the smoke of a gun that is about to blow your head. Smoking coming in and out, invisible, just targeting your eyes sleepless into your rememberings.
The hands that hold the cigarette, yes. And the smoke that from the truth was not really there.

Doet Boersma is a dutch artist who steps into Asia for the first time showind and presenting the project "Hong Kong Impressions". Having an inspiring time as an artist-in-residence at aco_air in Hong Kong, she converted all her impressions, meetings and feelings about HK into drawings on packaging papers dumped by offices around her studio at Fotanian, and also on rice papers and canvases. They show the atmosphere, intimacy and loneliness of being a passer-by in HK. In the talk, she will explain how she transformed her impressions into the artworks. and she will explain the differences between her former experiences as an artist-in-residence in Ireland and here in Hong Kong.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Doet Boersma finished Art Academy in 1985 and worked years as a drawing and painting teacher in secundary school and vocational school. Since 1991 she founded her own painting school It Frysk Skildershûs, where now are teaching 12-15 artists. Since the late eighties she used more and more time for her own artistic career. Different themes passed, but landscapes were always the most important. In the landscapes, she could show her passions of light, directions, atmosphere and colour.
She painted in Italy, Portugal and France, worked in the European Academy in Trier, Germany (2006), had an artistic residency in Ireland (2006). And in Hong Kong, she had a residency for 6 weeks, painting Hong Kong impressions of streetmarkets and people in the street. The materials changed from canvas to rice-paper.

Hong Kong is a total different residency than I had before, because of the totally different culture and small spaces", she commented.

Doet is exhibiting in different countries in Europe.

Papoilas. Lírios. Rosas. Brincos-de-princesa.
Lembro-me de cheiros diferentes que se misturavam, tornando-se impossível distinguir. Cheiros que me invadiam enquanto circulava por diferentes jardins e parques em busca do conjunto de flores perfeitas.
O meu pai perguntava: "Estas servem?" Aproximava-me lentamente, absorvia o aroma, observava a cor, o formato e a textura. "Sim, servem", respondia, dependendo da sensação que me causassem.
No fim do dia, tinha conseguido reunir cheiros doces, frescos, acres, todos no meu caderno. Orgulhosa, entreguei-o à professora, com a sensação de dever cumprido.
Claro que, com o passar do tempo, os cheiros daquele caderno alteraram-se, mas, na minha memória, permanece o aroma daqueles campos abertos cheios de flores. Como se fosse o espelho da minha infância.
Luciana Leitão • Jornalista

Before time, everytime my sista like be the boss of the food.
We stay shopping in Mizuno Superette
and my madda pull the Oreos off the shelf
and my sista already saying, Mommy,
can be the boss of the Oreos?

The worse was when she was the boss
of the sunflower seeds.
She give me and my other sistas
one seed at a time.
We no could eat the meat.
Us had to put um in one pile on one Kleenex.
Then, when we wen' take all the meat
out of the shells and our lips stay all cho cho,
she give us the seeds one at a time
cause my sista, she the boss
of the sunflower seeds.

One time she was the boss
of the Raisinettes.
Us was riding in the back
of my granpa's Bronco down Kaunakakai Wharf.
There she was, passing us one Raisinette at a time.
My mouth was all watery
'cause I like eat um all one time, eh?
So I wen' tell her, Gimme that bag.
And I wen' grab um.
She said, I'ng tell Mommy.
And I said, Go you fuckin' bird killa;
tell Mommy.

She wen' let go the bag.
And I wen' start eating the Raisinetes all one time.
But when I wen' look at her,
I felt kinda bad cause I wen' call her bird killa.
She was boss of the parakeet too, eh,
and she suppose to cover the cage every night.
But one time, she wen' forget.
When us wen' wake up, the bugga was on its back,
legs in the air all stiff.
The bugga was cold.
And I guess the thing that made me feel bad
was I neva think calling her bird killa
would make her feel so bad
that she let go the bag Raisinettes.

But I neva give her back the bag.
I figga what the fuck.
I ain't going suffer eating one Raisinette at a time.
Then beg her for one mo
and I mean one mo
fuckin' candy.
BY LOIS-ANN YAMANAKA

"Boss of the Food" was the introdoctury text that Shirley Lim brougth to us. She read it aloud with all the tones of the little young girl who was supposed to be the voice of this story on the form of a beautiful poem. Lois-Ann Yamanaka is a Japanese American writer from Hawai. She often uses this Hawaiian Pidgin. Somehow shows how your inner voice can be reached on your own special language. And that's what was all about: bringing up your voice as a creative writer.

LIVRARIA “BLOOM” ORGANIZA “WORKSHOP”
Vencedora de dois “American Book Awards”, a escritora asiática Shirley Lim esteve ontem em Macau para falar e ensinar algumas técnicas de escrita criativa.

O antigo albergue da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Macau foi ontem palco de um “workshop” de escrita criativa liderado pela escritora Shirley Lim, da Malásia e actualmente residente nos Estados Unidos. Durante duas horas, macaenses, portugueses, japoneses e americanos residentes na RAEM trocaram ideias e aprenderam algumas das principais técnicas de escrita criativa.
Depois de uma sessão de relaxamento, os alunos foram desafiados a ir buscar ao “baú das memórias” um cheiro que lhes lembrasse uma situação, sentimento ou vivência marcante. Depois, durante dez minutos, realizou-se um exercício de escrita livre, que Shirley Lim descreve como “um dos mais difíceis, pois requer a abstracção total do ambiente envolvente e da rotina”. O resultado foram alguns textos que poderão um dia dar origem a uma história curta ou até a um romance, “se o autor for persistente neste tipo de trabalho”, explica a escritora. Shirley Lim defende que “ser-se criativo é ter a capacidade de acreditar em si próprio e de aceitar riscos”.
No final da aula, os participantes leram os seus textos e trocaram ideias e Shirley Lim leu alguns poemas da sua autoria e outros resultantes do projecto “Moving Poetry”, que envolveu crianças de Hong Kong. Esta foi uma proposta diferente para uma tarde de sábado que partiu da Livraria “Bloom”.

Nascida em Malaca, Shirley Lim começou a escrever aos nove anos de idade e aos onze sabia que “queria ser poeta”. Depois de alguns poemas e histórias curtas publicadas na Malásia, partiu para os Estados Unidos. Hoje é professora na Universidade da Califórnia e realiza “workshops” de escrita criativa por todo o mundo, desde Hong Kong à Austrália, Singapura, Malásia. Esta foi a segunda vez que a autora veio à RAEM, depois de, em 2001, ter dado aulas a cerca de 400 crianças na Universidade de Macau.
Entre as obras publicadas de Shirley Lim, encontram-se “Monsoon History”, “Two Dreams”, “Among the White Moon Faces”, “Tilting the Continent” e “Life’s Mysteries”.
[POR PATRÍCIA NEVES • JORNAL TRIBUNA DE MACAU • FOTOS: BLOOMLAND.CN]

A Bloom agradece a: Shirley Lim, Andrew Moody e a todos os participantes; Bambu Sociedade de Artes Ltd., Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Macau, Casa de Portugal em Macau, Jornal Hoje Macau, Jornal Tribuna de Macau e Teledifusão de Macau. A todos o nosso obrigado!

Art for All is celebrating its 1st anniversary at St. Paul’s Fine Art gallery tomorrow, 8th of December, with a cocktail party at 6:30pm. Concurrently more than ten local prominent artists, including Konstantin Bessmertny, James Chu, Bianca Lei, James Wong, José Drummond, Cindy Ng, Ung Vai Meng, Ng Fong Chao, Tong Chong, Kent Ieong and João O, will display their works for rummage sale to raise funds for the art group’s 2009 operation.

Art for All is a non-profit association founded on 8th December 2007 by a group of Macao artists with the aim to promote the contemporary art development of Macao. Supported by the private organization St Paul’s Corner , in December 2007 Art for All moved to Travessa de S. Paulo to open and manage the gallery “St. Paul’s Fine Art” and six artist studios. In 2008 the gallery has already held seven solo and two collective exhibitions of Macao artists showcasing 100-odd art pieces, presenting local artists’ creative outcome in the past year. Furthermore, Art for All has organized artists to participate in large scale international art events such as the “Beijing Art Fair 2008” in September and the “2008 ACAF NY – Asia Contemporary Art Fair New York” in November, striving to promote Macao’s contemporary art overseas.

Apart from the Macao artistic base “St. Paul’s Fine Art”, Art for All sought development beyond the region. In October, it set up the Beijing Art for All Contemporary Art Exchange Center located at the 318 Art Garden in Beijing. Its debut exhibition - the “Macao Contemporary Art Exhibition” featuring 15 Macao artists and 24 representative works - has received wide acclaim from the mainland artistic community. It provides not only a window for introducing Macao artworks to the dynamic art market in Beijing, but also a platform for artistic exchanges, creating opportunities for local artists to develop in the capital.

On the same occasion, Art for All will unveil a commissioned installation work “High Ladder” by João O who is a Master of Art course student at the Barcelona University of Spain. The artist hopes to share his latest creative work with the audience.
[CHECK HERE • ADD THEM TO YOUR FACEBOOK]

That is the name of our Newsletter. The first test issue is out. Check it HERE.

The Michelin Guide is extending its reach into China with a new edition ranking dining destinations in Hong Kong and Macau for the first time.

The French bible of gastronomy featuring 251 restaurants and hotels in the two Chinese cities is Michelin's second guide outside Europe and the U.S. The debut Tokyo edition was published in November 2007, with eight restaurants receiving Michelin's highest three-star rating. Being a best-seller right in the first week.
Michelin awarded 40 stars to 28 restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau, and two venues got the top ranking. Lung King Heen in Hong Kong's Four Seasons Hotel received three stars, while the hotel's French eatery Caprice won two stars. Inspectors also decided Robuchon A Galera at Macau's Lisboa Hotel, owned by casino mogul Stanley Ho, was worthy of Michelin's highest award.
The team of 12 undercover inspectors, including two Chinese, have been in Hong Kong and Macau testing about 1,200 establishments since late 2007, said Michelin Guides Director Jean-Luc Naret. Michelin plans to expand the guide into other parts of China, Mr. Naret told a news conference in Hong Kong.

The guide, which will go on sale tomorrow, Friday the 5th of December, is published in both Chinese and English. Bloom will have it available at Bloom Yellow in St. Lazarus' Albergue and more close to you at Ou Mun Café, just on the heart of town, on the corner of Senado Square.

• NEWS ABOUT MICHELIN GUIDE HONG KONG AND MACAU
• OU MUN CAFÉ AT LONELY PLANET

This is the event that will mark the return of Bloom to activity. We've been closed in both Red and Yellow during these past weeks. Flood came and we were gone. We can announce now that Bloom Red will be closed for good. We will not be part of the same square anymore, we will say goodbye to the Chinese Temple just in front. But the good news is that we're opening a new place soon near the center of Macau. But that will come in the near future and we will tell when time comes. This is now.
Shirley Lim is an awarded Asian American writer and will be in Macau for an afternoon at Bloom Yellow in St. Lazarus Albergue. The event will bring together a Creative Writing Class followed by a Lecture on Shirley's career of multi-ethnic discipline across the immeasurable world of Literature. A freedom where there's no language and no identity but an entirety mix of tones and voices. Shirley Lim is just an illustration of the diversity and quest for that exceptional accent.
Born in Malacca, Malaysia, into a life of poverty, deprivation, and abandonment in a culture that, at that time, rarely recognised girls as individuals, Lim had a pretty unhappy childhood. Reading was a huge solace, retreat, and escape. Scorned by teachers for her love of English over her "native" tongue. Her first poem was published in the Malacca Times when she was ten. By the age of eleven, she knew that she wanted to be a a poet.
These are just the first lines of a story. You should come for every bit of it. Will be on this coming Saturday, 6th of December, at 4 pm. Don't miss it.
As we have limited seats available you should send us an email to reserve your place.
[DOWNLOAD THE FLYER HERE OR CLICK ON THE IMAGE]

Levei-me a constatar que determinados meus gostos,
por mim sempre escolhidos a dedo e a preceito,
foram por ele vividos através de uma maneira que se limitou a ser.

Os meus gostos por tantas coisas
que ele gosta
e não encontro, porque não consigo, em mais nem menos ninguém.

Com as suas mãos,
soube trabalhar na perfeição
de quem conhece a sua arte,
o barro desse momento revelador
dessa rara recriação de um acontecimento.

Lá longe,
apesar de titular de um bilhete interrupto dessa distância,
dei por mim,
a moldar a sua hipotética felicidade,
que poderia um dia vir a sentir nossa,
de um modo infeliz.
sempre de um modo infeliz.

Shirley Geok-lin Lim was born in Malacca, Malaysia, came over to the United States as a Fulbright and Wien International Scholar in 1969, and completed her Ph.D. in British and American Literature at Brandeis University in 1973. She has published two critical studies, Nationalism and Literature: Writing in English from the Philippines and Singapore (1993) and Writing South East/Asia in English: Against the Grain (1994), and has edited/co-edited many critical volumes, including Reading the Literatures of Asian America; Approaches to Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior; Transnational Asia Pacific; and Power, Race and Gender in Academe; and three special issues of journals, Ariel (2001) on microstates, Tulsa Studies, on transnational feminism, and Studies in the Literary Imagination, on contemporary Asian American literature. Her work has appeared in journals such as New Literary History, Feminist Studies, Signs, MELUS, ARIEL, New Literatures Review, World Englishes, and American Studies International. She edited/co-edited Asian American Literature; Tilting the Continent: An Anthology of South-east Asian American Writing; and The Forbidden Stitch: An Asian American Women's Anthology which received the 1990 American Book Award. Among her honors, Lim has received the UCSB Faculty Research Lecture Award (2002) and the Chair Professorship of English at the University of Hong Kong (1999 to 2001), as well as the University of Western Australia Distinguished Lecturer award, Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer award, and t J.T. Stewart Hedgebrook award. She has served as chair of Women’s Studies and is currently professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Lim is also recognized as a creative writer. Her first collection of poems, Crossing the Peninsula (1980), received the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. She has also published four volumes of poetry: No Man's Grove (1985); Modern Secrets (1989); Monsoon History (1994), which is a retrospective selection of her work; and What the Fortune Teller Didn't Say (1998). Bill Moyers featured Lim for a PBS special on American poetry, "Fooling with Words" in 1999, and again on the program “Now” in February 2002. She is also the author of three books of short stories and a memoir, Among the White Moon Faces (1996), which received the 1997 American Book Award for non-fiction. Her first novel, Joss and Gold (Feminist Press, 2001), has been welcomed by Rey Chow as an “elegantly crafted tale that places Lim among the most imaginative and dexterous storytellers writing in the English language today.” Her second novel, Sister Swing, appeared in March 2006, and her children’s novel. Princess Shawl, was published in March 2008.
• SHIRLEY LIM ON WIKIPEDIA

Deixar de amar alguém leva, como ninguém nos precisa de "aconselhar", o seu tempo,

capaz de fundar, em forma de cidades,
questões sem resposta concreta,
motoras da procura do intricado acesso
com sabor a uma nova liberdade.

Nesse compasso,
dianteiro da relatividade do tempo,
fui automaticamente inscrita num dos árduos cursos que a vida, a dado momento, se encarregou de me dar a conhecer.

De nome Reavaliação,
composto pelo número de frases,
conscientes,
rápidas,
letais e
renovadas da inconsciência que é o estado de graça de seM-ti-(r).

vago.
doloroso.
triste.
ambíguo.
perturbador.

um dia destes

pode ser um dia

destes dias que passam depressa.

Manuel Alvarez Bravo was one of the foremost practitioners of visual arts in the twentieth century. Manuel Alvarez Bravo, the first major retrospective of his eighty-year career, showcases hundreds of iconic photographs and unveils more than twenty previously unpublished images. Featuring landscapes, still lifes, rural and urban scenes, religious and vernacular subjects, as well as portraits of luminaries such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Carlos Fuentes, and Octavio Paz, the work is chronologically arranged and richly varied. Three illuminating essays reveal the poetry of Bravo's photographs—from his use of light and form to his fascination with dreams and his preoccupation with death. This definitive monograph is a powerful tribute to Mexico's most distinguished photographer.
Manuel Alvarez Bravo (1902-2002) received his first camera in 1923 and would go on to become Mexico's most celebrated photographer.

Photopoetry, Manuel Alvarez Bravo
CHRONICLE BOOKS • 320 PAGES • 350 DUOTONE PHOTOGRAPHS • HARDCOVER • OCT 2008
{soon at Bloom}

Perguntaram-me pelo Escritor. Eu, ao que parecia difícil, porque me encontrava distraído, respondi:
- Sentei-o!
Sim, é essa a verdade, sentei-o, ao Escritor; uma mesa quadrada, com dois lugares de restaurante de cada lado. Uma ligeira brisa quente que com os seus odores espreitava da zona da cozinha. Perguntaram-lhe se vinha sozinho, onde estava a namorada; riram-se, as duas mulheres do restaurante, e quando elas já estavam quase a coçar as barrigas, com o que parecia ser uma grande anedota, ele disse:
- Sim, estou sozinho!
Disse-o noutra língua que não conhece como devia conhecer. Disse-o nas palavras que sabia dizer, que não eram muitas. Talvez cinquenta, talvez mais. Os óculos escuros abandonados na mesa, o bule de chá a chegar de imediato. Sentou-se com as costas direitas virado para o vidro que o separava da rua e, sem perder mais tempo, começou a prever o futuro imediato olhando para a ementa.
Mas o interrogatório prosseguiu. Não chegava o começo da história, não chegava uma alusão do ambiente, as luzes frias, o cheiro da comida, era preciso mais.
- E depois? - continuaram eles.
Não eram polícias, nem agentes da autoridade. Na realidade não se ouvia ninguém. A meu ver, eram apenas leitores. Ávidos leitores da obra prima que se estava a escrever. E não pediam menos do que isso. Para quê perder tempo se na verdade não é uma obra prima, se é uma porcaria qualquer?
O Escritor, acima de todos os outros problemas que tinha, que sobrariam das páginas da enciclopédia da sua vida, se ela existisse, tinha um grave dilema com o qual se debatia no seu dia-a-dia. O problema grave do Escritor, que encobria todas as outras acções que prefaziam a sua existência, era que ele não escrevia.

durante alguns meses trabalhei na Bloom.
das experiências mais gratificantes que tive até então em Macau.

Li livros, vendi livros, conversei sobre livros.
durante várias tardes.

Parei, pensei e reflecti as minhas melhores decisões.
sempre no meio de muitos livros lidos, vendidos e conversados.

E todos esses momentos guardarei no fundo do coração.

a loucura de, fizesse o que fizesse, cumprir a minha obrigação de ler, vender e conversar sobre livros.
de saber que os meus domingos não podiam ser de outra maneira.
de conhecer pessoas que nunca teria tido oportunidade de conhecer, de outra cultura diferente da minha,
e que me visitavam regularmente para lerem, venderem e conversarem sobre livros.

E com algum pesar concluí que as pessoas que (mais) precisavam de ler são as que leêm (menos).
Porque temem, a meu ver, conflitos interiores.
motivados pela força que um livro pode ter.

e espero que um dia com as minhas mãos volte a mexer, cheirar, invadir e habitar dentro das palavras de Lobo Antunes.
que para além de meu psicólogo,
porque sabe que eu com comprimidos não vou lá,
me devolve pelo silêncio, sempre o silêncio que ecoa dentro do meu prazer.

Temos estado afastados deste espaço. Atravessámos uma espécie de deserto. Um deserto de tempo onde nada mais existe. Preparamos o nosso regresso. Aqui dentro e lá fora. E as novidades vão ser boas e muitas, e vão cair como uma bomba! A bomba Bloom!

Nós na nossa vida, levamos a vida a procurar janelas em paredes que não as há, temos medo de as abrir e portas em paredes que sabemos que não as há. E acabamos por viver como as viúvas pobres com 2 assoalhadas com serventia de cozinha. E temos imensos quartos que nunca entramos.
ANTÓNIO LOBO ANTUNES

...para fazer algo assim!

It's obvious that something is going to change and life will be for the better. When you have a smarter person driving, the wheel turns with greater directions and the tiny road ahead becomes a horizon full of opportunities, with endless fields to grow. Here or there the clock and the heart are beating in the same way. We're on the same machine, an engine to make a better world!
[BLOOGGING WITHIN THE AIR OF THE CITY - USING: BLOGWRITER LITE and iPHONE]

Obama is close to a big win in USA. According to CNN's latest projections, Obama has 207 electoral votes and McCain has 135. There were projections that Obama will win Ohio, a key battleground state with 20 electoral votes. No Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio. Going into the election, polls showed Obama with a 3-point lead there. All the country is on the move and close to a state jubilation. It's all for the coutry but is also all for the world. What the admisnistration Bush did along these years will be hard to account. The damage is beyond repair and the action will start from scratch. Nothing better to start and do it neat. It's not just the President, from the Senate to the states the republicans will have a huge loss. We know that most of the time ideas drown on politics, but we're hopeful of a change. It's a revolution!
Bloom is happy for the world!

Macau Society for the Protection of Animals (ANIMA) invites you to November's Adoption Day. It will happen this coming Saturday at their shelter in Coloane. Bloomland wants to join this effort in the name of animals. Best friends of man.
Do show up to support dogs and cats of Macau! Thank you!
CHECK THE INFO HERE or CLICK ON THE IMAGE.

MOLESKINE DIARIES 2009
Moleskine keeps exploring more layouts to support your creativity and time management. This year new layouts for the exquisite diaries of the Italian brand. Moleskine has introduced two completely new layouts: Weekly Diary Vertical and Monthly Notebook
A complete diary collection now. 19 different styles, including the previous three most popular layouts: Daily Diary, Weekly Diary Horizontal and Weekly Notebook
Moleskine diaries are available in 3 cover styles: Hard Black cover, Hard Red cover and Soft Black cover; and 3 sizes: Pocket, Large and Extra Large.
Sleek design with unmatched attention to details, the diary that evolved from a legendary notebook, with the same quality features as the Moleskine notebooks.
Moleskine Asia designed a microsite to help you choose your Moleskine diary, click the image on the left or ENTER HERE.
Afterward come back here and order from us all your choices throwing us an email. Thank you!
BLOOM IS THE DISTRIBUTOR OF MOLESKINE DIARIES AND NOTEBOOKS IN MACAU

Slightly near Rua do Campo, there's a low flow of a web signal you can catch if you're lucky enough and if the gadget you're using has a wide open mouth. It comes like the wind, no passwords, no special adjustments to enter. It's right on the corner of Cafe E.S.KIMO, a franchisable local brand of places spread around the city and its overshadowed islands. Sometimes WIFI is just around the block and you don't need to squeeze yourself to get in. Stand there and breath it.
We're on the street blogging. People passing and the wheels of the traffic clashing on the tarmac. It's Saturday morning in Macau. Bloom is waiting for spots to grow and build the most Beauty Fool place in town. Stay tuned!
TOOLS USED: BLOGWRITER LITE [software] and iPHONE [hardware]

If you go up to the Se Cathedral and turn left, going down through Travessa do Bispo, towards S. Domingos Street, just on the middle, there's a hairdresser called 'Base Hair Culture'. Just hang there on the door, you can seat at the window outside, and you'll find another free hotspot. By the way, go inside and use their services. They do it very well and Man, the owner, who had learned his metier in Paris, the land of coiffures, is a great guy to be with, you can chat with him all along and discuss the meaningful wonders of Macau and the world. And believe me, you are in good hands.
Cheers!

On the road it's very easy to blog. You just need to get to a wireless hot spot and start working your ditches. I'm just finishing my espresso on a Cafe near Senado Square. It's Ou Mun, a Portuguese coffee shop, on the small alley upwards to the Se Cathedral. Once inside ask them for the password access. It's free!
CTM, the local internet provider, offers different WIFIs around the city, but you have to pay for it and slash into a more complex process to get online. We'll track down here, places where you can tune up the web to your mobile device for free. We use iPhone, there's nothing better for it. Have a nice day!
USING: BLOGWRITER LITE and iPHONE [photos and text]

A BLOOM NO TELEJORNAL
São ainda as cheias na Bloomland. Foi assim que aconteceu, dois dias após o dia fatídico das inundações na baixa da cidade, a TDM esteve no Largo do Pagode do Bazar para registar os pormenores da situação. Da noite para o dia a água deixou um rasto de irrealidade levando quase todos os alicerces da nossa livraria, ou seja, os livros, para além de avultados estragos nas instalações e no equipamento. Desde então até agora pouco mudou, a ajuda prometida pelo governo local, uma linha de crétido sem juros, ainda não chegou. Já está uma semana fora do tempo e sem isso não vamos poder voltar a respirar. Fazemos projectos de eventuais mudanças e sonhamos acordados com visões fantásticas. Sim, a sorrir pela possibilidade do que pode vir. De todo, é uma mudança radical que põe tudo em questão, não importa se é um milagre ou não.
A REPORTAGEM DE LINA FERREIRA / APRESENTAÇÃO DE VITOR REBELO © TDM / CANAL PORTUGUÊS

• QUALIDADE NORMAL (mais rápido)
• MELHOR DEFINIÇÃO (mais lento)

The Centre for Creative Industries is opening a photographic exhibition by Nuno Soares, a Portuguese architect and urban planner based in Macau. At Bloom we're congratulating Nuno for this event and inviting you to attend the opening AWAITING - Reflection on Urban Voids, tomorrow, Friday the 24th, at 6:00 pm. Don't miss it!
The Centre for Creative Industries is located at the Macao Cultural Center.

AFA presents "Monumentum Pro", a new exhibition of works by Konstantin Bessmertny, curated by Amelia Johnson.

"Monumentum Pro" further develops themes from Konstantin Bessmertny's series "Si Monumentum Requiris, Circumspice" which was created for the 52nd Venice Biennale. The paintings and sculptures comprising Konstantin Bessmentny's "Monumentum Pro" meaning " monument for…" intriguingly allude to the Latin verb monere – to warn, to advise, to remind from which monumentum is derived. Employing Konstantin Bessmertny's idiosyncratic characters and distinctive technique, the works appear to be part monument and part morality tale, their tantalizing warnings, whimsical commemorations and cautionary narratives appearing to form visual declensions of monere.

Konstantin Bessmertny is one of the most distinguished artists working in Asia today. His technical mastery, achieved after seven years of studying Fine Art in the grand academies of the former soviet union, combined with his detailed knowledge on a wide-range of subjects including literature, music, history and politics lend to his work an intelligence and a credibility that is rarely witnessed in contemporary art. Konstantin Bessmertny's work is utterly unique, employing humour and candour in depictions so subtle and gentle that they require revisiting time and time again to uncover all that they have to offer. Never formulaic or predictable, Bessmertny uses his work as a means of exploring and experimenting with new ideas, finding inspiration in the bizarrest of places and creating work that continues to challenge and excite preconceived notion.

The artist will be present at the opening reception, this Friday, 24th of October.

Start Time: Friday, October 24, 2008 at 6:30pm
End Time: Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 8:00pm
Location: St. Paul's Fine Art
Address: Travessa de S.Paulo Nos 3, 5 e 7
City/Town: Macau, Macau

I was looking for a quiet place to die. Someone recommended Brooklyn, and so the next morning I traveled down there from Westchester to scope out the terrain. I hadn't been back in fifty-six years, and I remembered nothing. My parents had moved out of the city when I was three, but I instinctively found myself returning to the neighborhood where we had lived, crawling home like some wounded dog to the place of my birth. A local real estate agent ushered me around to six or seven brownstone flats, and by the end of the afternoon I had rented a two-bedroom garden apartment on First Street, just half a block away from Prospect Park. I had no idea who my neighbors were, and I didn't care. They all worked at nine-to-five jobs, none of them had any children, and therefore the building would be relatively silent. More than anything else, that was what I craved. A silent end to my sad and ridiculous life.The house in Bronxville was already under contract, and once the closing took place at the end of the month, money wasn't going to be a problem.
THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES BY PAUL AUSTER

“When Matisse dies,” Pablo Picasso remarked in the 1950s, “Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is.” As a pioneer of modernism and one of the greatest figurative artists of the twentieth century, Marc Chagall achieved fame and fortune, and over the course of a long career created some of the best-known and most-loved paintings of our time. Yet behind this triumph lay struggle, heartbreak, bitterness, frustration, lost love, exile—and above all the miracle of survival.
Born into near poverty in Russia in 1887, the son of a Jewish herring merchant, Chagall fled the repressive tsarist empire in 1911 for Paris. There he worked alongside Modigliani and Léger in the tumbledown tenement called La Ruche, where “one either died or came out famous.” But turmoil lay ahead—war and revolution; a period as an improbable artistic commissar in the young Soviet Union; a difficult existence in Weimar Germany, occupied France, and eventually the United States. Throughout, as Jackie Wullschlager makes plain in this groundbreaking biography, he never ceased giving form on canvas to his dreams, longings, and memories.
Wullschlager explores in detail Chagall’s complex relationship with Russia and makes clear the Russian dimension he brought to Western modernism. She shows how, as André Breton put it, “under his sole impulse, metaphor made its triumphal entry into modern painting,” and helped shape the new surrealist movement. As art critic of the Financial Times, she provides a breadth of knowledge on Chagall’s work, and at the same time as an experienced biographer she brings Chagall the man fully to life—ambitious, charming, suspicious, funny, contradictory, dependent, but above all obsessively determined to produce art of singular beauty and emotional depth.
Drawing upon hitherto unseen archival material, including numerous letters from the family collection in Paris, and illustrated with nearly two hundred paintings, drawings, and photographs, Chagall is a landmark biography to rank with Hilary Spurling’s Matisse and John Richardson’s Picasso.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jackie Wullschlager is chief art critic for the Financial Times. Her books include a prizewinning life of Hans Christian Andersen and an acclaimed group biography of children’s book writers, Inventing Wonderland.

Chagall, by Jackie Wullschlager
KNOPF • BIOGRAPHY • HISTORY • OCT 2008

The New Coulour Notebooks

Bloom is proud to present the new Moleskine collection : Volant Notebooks. This collection will be launched in Asia in first week of November 2008. The new Volant notebooks are colourful, light, and fit in every pocket.
MOLESKINE Dressed in New Colours!

They are available in:
• 2 rulings: plain, ruled
• 4 colours: pink, blue, green, black
• 3 sizes: Pocket (9x14cm), Large (13x21cm), and the NEW size Xsmall (6.5x10.5cm)
Each Volants is shrinkwrapped in a pack of 2 notebooks (e.g. a pack of blue Volants = 1 dark blue notebook + 1 light blue notebook).

A Huge hit in Europe, US and Japan
The Volant collection was launched in Europe and US in February 2008 and has become a great hit already. Volants was also launched in Japan in July 2008 and replenishment orders are very strong (even higher than classic collection). For sure, Volants has given a new excitement for current Moleskine users, and also bringing in new customers. Especially, the xsmall size is a huge hit everywhere. First, this is a brand new size amongst all Moleskine collections and it is only available in the Volants family. Second, the little notebook size has made Moleskine even more portable than before. The new colour and the cute size have also attracted a lot of new clients (especially female clients/ fashion lovers) for the Moleskine brand.

PRICING
Retail price of Volant notebooks: Xsmall: MOP$ 58 / Pocket: MOP$ 98 / Large: MOP$ 138

Um dia grande para nós. Aconteceu em Junho do ano passado. Um processo complicado, de preparos longos e escolha minuciosa, que trouxe a nossa maior colecção de livros portugueses até à data. Queremos, com toda a vontade, repeti-lo, muito mais vezes.
É uma semana crucial para a Bloom e para o seu futuro. Período de decisões, em que vivemos no momento preciso e fugídio do traço de novos caminhos. Queremos sobretudo uma aberta no cenário, algo que nos possa levar mais longe, com mais força e abrigados das chuvas e dos ventos. Como se tudo o que aconteceu para trás fosse apenas a preparação do que vai existir para a frente. Uma incógnita e, no entanto, uma certeza. Uma alusão de um mundo diverso onde o futuro seja claro e possível. Concreto como um cataclismo. A certeza de que há ainda muito para fazer neste lado do Mundo. Porque levámos este tempo todo a aprendê-lo e não faz nenhum sentido que o chão tenha fugido de repente, logo agora que estamos munidos de todas as ferramentas.
A única direcção é continuar. Essa é a razão que caminha connosco. Do resto não sabemos. O tempo decidiu e é ele que vai decidir de novo.

Desta guerra entre Bruno e o resto do mundo não é difícil adivinhar quem foi o único morto. Mas nem depois de morto o seu fantasma ficou quieto. Se no século XIX parecia finalmente descansar como mártir da todo‑poderosa ciência, arrumado no panteão [...] já no meio das chamas do cadafalso, com um olhar turvo e arrogante, desviou a vista do crucifixo que lhe apresentavam, e acabou “queimado vivo”, consciente de morrer “mártir, e de boa mente, pois que sua alma subiria junto àquele fumo” para ir reconjugar-se com a alma do universo.
in TRATADO DE MAGIA • EDIÇÕES TINTA DA CHINA

Poderemos compreender tudo isto, mas se não apoiarmos com humanidade, fugirá por entre os nossos dedos.
Poderemos compreender e apoiar com humanidade, mas se não governarmos com verdade, não esperemos a gratidão do povo.
Poderemos compreender, apoiar com humanidade, governar com verdade, mas se não pusermos tudo em prática com todo o nosso empenho, de nada valerá o esforço.
CONFÚCIO [551 BC - 479 BC]

• LIGAÇÕES EXTERIORES: WIKIPEDIA em Português e em Inglês.

More aspects of Rimbaud are known than can be assimilated: his vastly various, influential and innovative poetry itself; his expressive letters; his scornful and unhesitating permanent abandonment of poetry at the age of 20; the anecdotes of his contemporaries showing him as a drunken, filthy, amoral homosexualteenager who becomes a reserved, hard-working, responsible and respectable (if misanthropic and disgust-ridden) adult merchant and explorer. One would have to be a genius oneself to grasp the full significance of Arthur Rimbaud, or at least have the ability to hold many opposed ideas in one’s mind at the same time and still function fully. Numerous writers have sought to demonstrate their qualifications along these lines by publishing studies of him.
This biography by Edmund White is the digest version. If you’re casually curious about the fuss made over Rimbaud and want the lowdown from someone literate, it will satisfy you, without badly misleading. This approach seems to be the plan behind the series of short lives, each written by a distinguished author (often a novelist or scholar, not usually a professional biographer) and edited by James Atlas, first for Penguin, now for Atlas & Company, of which “Rimbaud” is the latest entry. Seems like a worthy idea; there are a lot of famous artists and thinkers one wouldn’t mind getting a convenient little handle on.[...]
[RICHARD HELL for THE NEW YORK TIMES • FOLLOW READING HERE]

Rimbaud, The Double Life of a Rebel, by Edmund White
ATLAS & COMPANY • 192 PAGES • HARDCOVER • OCT 2008
[Read a sample chapter here]

«You have a girlfriend named Alma, who has a long tender horse neck and a big Dominican ass that seems to exist in a fourth dimension beyond jeans. An ass that could drag the moon out of orbit. An ass she never liked until she met you. Ain’t a day that passes that you don’t want to press your face against that ass or bite the delicate sliding tendons of her neck. You love how she shivers when you bite, how she fights you with those arms that are so skinny they belong on an after-school special.
Alma is a Mason Gross student, one of those Sonic Youth, comic-book-reading alternatinas without whom you might never have lost your virginity. Grew up in Hoboken, part of the Latino community that got its heart burned out in the eighties, tenements turning to flame. Spent nearly every teen-age day on the Lower East Side, thought it would always be home, but then N.Y.U. and Columbia both said nyet, and she ended up even farther from the city than before. She is in a painting phase, and the people she paints are all the color of mold, look like they’ve just been dredged from the bottom of a lake. Her last painting was of you, slouching against the front door: only your frowning I-had-a-lousy-Third-World-childhood-and-all-I-got-was-this-attitude eyes recognizable. She did give you one huge forearm. I told you I’d get the muscles in. The past couple of weeks, now that the warm is here, Alma has abandoned black, started wearing these nothing dresses made out of what feels like tissue paper; it wouldn’t take more than a strong wind to undress her. She says she does it for you: I’m reclaiming my Dominican heritage (which ain’t a complete lie—she’s even taking Spanish to better minister to your mom), and when you see her on the street, flaunting, flaunting, you know exactly what every nigger that walks by is thinking. You met at the weekly Latin parties at the DownUnder in New Brunswick. She never went to those parties, was dragged there by her high-school best friend, Patricia, who still listened to TKA, and this was how you got the chance to strike while, as your boys put it, the pussy was hot.
Alma is slender as a reed, you a steroid-addicted block; Alma loves driving, you books; Alma owns a Saturn (bought for her by her carpenter father, who speaks only English in the house), you have no points on your license; Alma’s nails are too dirty for cooking, your spaghetti con pollo is the best in the land. You are so very different—she rolls her eyes every time you turn on the news and says she can’t “stand” politics. She won’t even call herself Hispanic. She brags to her girls that you’re a “radical” and a real Dominican (even though on the Plátano Index you wouldn’t rank, Alma being only the third Latina you’ve ever really dated). You brag to your boys that she has more albums than any of them do, that she says terrible white-girl things while you fuck. She’s more adventurous in bed than any girl you’ve had; on your first date she asked you if you wanted to come on her tits or her face, and maybe during boy training you didn’t get one of the memos but you were, like, umm, neither. And at least once a week she will kneel on the mattress before you and, with one hand pulling at her dark nipples, will play with herself, not letting you touch at all, fingers whisking the soft of her and her face looking desperately, furiously happy. She loves to talk while she’s being dirty, too, will whisper, You like watching me don’t you, you like listening to me come, and when she finishes lets out this long demolished groan and only then will she allow you to pull her into an embrace as she wipes her gummy fingers on your chest. This is me, she says.
Yes—it’s an opposites-attract sort of thing, it’s a great-sex sort of thing, it’s a no-thinking sort of thing. It’s wonderful! Wonderful! Until one June day Alma discovers that you are also fucking this beautiful freshman girl named Laxmi, discovers the fucking of Laxmi because she, Alma, the girlfriend, opens your journal and reads. (Oh, she had her suspicions.) She waits for you on the stoop, and when you pull up in her Saturn and notice the journal in her hand your heart plunges through you like a fat bandit through a hangman’s trap. You take your time turning off the car. You are overwhelmed by a pelagic sadness. Sadness at being caught, at the incontrovertible knowledge that she will never forgive you. You stare at her incredible legs and between them, to that even more incredible pópola you’ve loved so inconstantly these past eight months. Only when she starts walking over in anger do you finally step out. You dance across the lawn, powered by the last fumes of your outrageous sinvergüenzería. Hey, muñeca, you say, prevaricating to the end. When she starts shrieking, you ask her, Darling, what ever is the matter? She calls you:
a cocksucker
a punk motherfucker
a fake-ass Dominican.
She claims:
you have a little penis
no penis
and worst of all that you like curried pussy.
(Which really is unfair, you try to say, since Laxmi is technically from Guyana, but Alma isn’t listening.)
Instead of lowering your head and copping to it like a man, you pick up the journal as one might hold a baby’s beshatted diaper, as one might pinch a recently be-nutted condom. You glance at the offending passages. Then you look at her and smile a smile your dissembling face will remember until the day you die. Baby, you say, baby, this is part of my novel.
This is how you lose her»
[ALMA BY JUNOT DIAZ • ILLUSTRATION BY JAIME HERNANDEZ • PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORKER • DEC 2007]

• Junot Diaz won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), this will be the book chosen by Bloom to initiate our Book Club in English. We'll announce it very soon. Join Bloom activities. Save Bloom!