Marjorie Agosin

Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl forced into hiding with her family by the Nazi regime that occupied the Netherlands in the Second World War. No one would have known of her, her family or their fate had it not been for the survival of the diary that she kept during this time, a book that has long been an inspiration to the poet and writer Marjorie Agos n. In her quest to introduce more young people to this tragic tale of the irrepressible Anne, the author provides a lyrical and engaging imagining of Anne's world. Through Anne's eyes, the reader is taken on the family's journey: their flight from Hitler's Germany, the excitement of a new start in Amsterdam and their eventual confinement in a small set of hidden rooms where they lived in fear of discovery, transportation and likely death.

Marjorie Agosin is an award-winning poet, essayist, fiction writer, and activist, as well as Professor of Spanish language and Latin American literature at Wellesley College. The United Nations has honored her work on human rights, notably for women's rights in Chile. Professor Agosin has won many important literary awards and in this book she, once again, uses her evocative poetry and distinctive voice to illuminate a hidden history of Venice that so richly deserves to be recorded and remembered. "The Guardian of Memory" chronicles the meetings between the author and Aldo Izzo, the eponymous "Guardian of Memory," a man who has tended the Venetian Jewish cemeteries for over 30 years. However, this work goes far beyond a mere homage to Aldo Izzo's tireless work and becomes a sensory journey through the ancient city of Venice that is interleaved with memories and stories of those who have gone before. Venice, perhaps the most liminal of cities, serves a backdrop to this meditation on the profound aspects of human existence. The elemental contrasts of light and dark, water and land, past and present, life and death, are enhanced by the atmospheric black and white photographs of Samuel Shats to provide an unforgettable and unique insight into the mysteries of the city. As the book progresses, so the strange and, at times, ominous aspects of this history of Venice unfold, thus making this book so much more than a mere walk through the ancient streets of La Serenissima.

In this "captivating and exquisite" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) sequel to the Pura Belpr Award-winning I Lived on Butterfly Hill, thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi returns home to Chile and after the dictator is removed, and makes it her mission to rebuild her community and find those who are still missing. During Celeste Marconi's time in Maine, thoughts of the brightly colored cafes and salty air of Valpara so, Chile, carried her through difficult, homesick days. Now, she's finally returned home to find the horrible years of the dictatorship has left its mark on her once beautiful and vibrant community. Determined to help her beloved Butterfly Hill, she encourages and joins her neighbors in fighting to regain what they've lost. But more than anything, Celeste wishes she could find her best friend, Lucilla, who was one of thousands of people who "disappeared" during the dictatorship, who hasn't been heard from in over a year. She joins protests for information, but the trail seems cold--until she receives a letter that changes everything. This sets Celeste off on her biggest adventure yet, where she'll uncover more heartbreaking truths of what her country has endured. But every small victory makes a difference, and even if Butterfly Hill can never be what it was, moving forward and healing can make it something even better.

Poet, novelist, and human rights activist Marjorie Agosin pays homage to her great-grandmother, Helena Broder. As a young woman, Helena escaped Vienna to seek refuge in Chile, leaving shortly after the Night of Broken Glass in 1938 when the Nazi regime unleashed a campaign of violence, terror and destruction against the Jewish population.

I only wanted to write about them, / Narrate their fierce audacity, / Their voyages through the channels of the Mediterranean. So begins a poetic journey through the islands of the Mediterranean that served as homes and refuge for the Sephardic Jews after the Alhambra Decree, which ordered their expulsion from Spain. Inspired by her own journey to Salonika and the Greek Islands, Rhodes, Crete, as well as the Balkans, Marjorie Agosin searches for the remnants of the Sepharad. Presented in a beautiful bilingual Spanish-English edition, Agosin's poems speak to a wandering life of exile on distant shores. We hear the rhythm of the waves and the Ladino-inflected voices of Sephardi women past and present: Paloma, Estrella, and Luna in the fullness of their lives, loves, dreams, and faith. An evocative and sensual voyage to communities mostly lost after the Holocaust, The White Islands offers a lighthouse of remembrance, a lyrical world recovered with language and song, lament and joy, longing and hope.

An eleven-year-old's world is upended by political turmoil in this "lyrically ambitious tale of exile and reunification" (Kirkus Reviews) from an award-winning poet, based on true events in Chile. Celeste Marconi is a dreamer. She lives peacefully among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of Valparaiso, Chile--until one day when warships are spotted in the harbor and schoolmates start disappearing from class without a word. Celeste doesn't quite know what is happening, but one thing is clear: no one is safe, not anymore. The country has been taken over by a government that declares artists, protestors, and anyone who helps the needy to be considered "subversive" and dangerous to Chile's future. So Celeste's parents--her educated, generous, kind parents--must go into hiding before they, too, "disappear." Before they do, however, they send Celeste to America to protect her. As Celeste adapts to her new life in Maine, she never stops dreaming of Chile. But even after democracy is restored to her home country, questions remain: Will her parents reemerge from hiding? Will she ever be truly safe again? Accented with interior artwork, steeped in the history of Pinochet's catastrophic takeover of Chile, and based on many true events, this multicultural ode to the power of revolution, words, and love is both indelibly brave and heartwrenchingly graceful.

In this posthumously published collection of narrative poems, Marjorie Agosín’s intention was to share the culmination of a lifetime of gifts—to be given, received, shared, appreciated, and contemplated—that bring beauty, delight, and wonder to our lives. Marjorie’s many beautiful poems explore words: their organic nature, how they can be strung together, and how they can be used to create a plethora of meanings for different contexts. When you read Gifts, you will see the magic of words in action as her poems evoke different feelings and lead to different interpretations with each subsequent reading. _____ En esta colección de poemas narrativos publicada póstumamente, Marjorie Agosín pretendía compartir la culminación de toda una vida de regalos para dar, recibir, compartir, apreciar y contemplar; regalos que Marjorie esperaba que aportaran belleza, alegría y asombro a nuestras vidas. Los numerosos y bellos poemas de Marjorie exploran las palabras: su naturaleza orgánica, cómo se pueden enhebrar y cómo se pueden utilizar para crear una gran variedad de significados en diferentes contextos. Al leer Ofrendas, se ve la magia de las palabras en plena acción puesto que los poemas de Marjorie evocan diferentes sentimientos y dan lugar a diferentes interpretaciones con cada lectura.

A deep meditation on the power and resonance of the sea.In a stunning collection of prose poems, Agosin reflect on the sea as a force of transformation, a creative force of energy, spirituality, and redemption. She writes about the patterns of the ocean, its moods day and night, and the sea as a constant companion.

Errant Destinations is a collection of nine literary chronicles in which contemporary Chilean- Jewish author Andrea Jeftanovic reflects on travel in its multiple variations, with reference to diverse fields of study, including references to cinema, literature, and the visual arts. This The interdisciplinary approach enhances the contemplation of historical, social, political, and cultural issues in contemporary society. Jeftanovic transforms travel into an art form, inviting the reader to participate in literary and geographical encounters in foreign places such as the tunnel that unites Sarajevo bombarded during the Balkan War; the diffuse maritime delineation between Chile and Peru; an organization for relatives of victims of the Palestinian-Israeli War; the hidden corners of Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector’s characters; the hotel room in Cienfuegos where Castro stayed in two distinct historical moments; and California of the 70’s, where the author endeavors to find Janis Joplin. Combining chronicle with fiction and testimony, the author employs written text is interspersed with photographic images, and narrated with a perceptive and personal gaze that reveals an extraordinary capacity to explore and reveal the many facets and recesses of the human psyche.

Marjorie Agos n una poetessa pluri-premiata, saggista, narratrice e attivista, oltre che docente di Lingua Spagnola e di Letteratura Latino Americana al Wellesley College. Il suo lavoro sui diritti umani, in particolare sui diritti delle donne in Cile, ha ricevuto il riconoscimento da parte delle Nazioni Unite. La Professoressa Agos n ha vinto molti importanti premi letterari in Cile e in questo libro usa ancora una volta la sua poesia evocativa e la sua voce ben distinta per puntare le luci sulla storia nascosta di Venezia la cui ricchezza ben merita di essere registrata e ricordata.Il custode della memoria racconta gli incontri tra l'autrice e Aldo Izzo, il "Custode della Memoria," del titolo, l'uomo che si preso cura del Cimitero Ebraico veneziano per pi di 30 anni. Quest'opera tuttavia va molto oltre il semplice omaggio all'infaticabile lavoro di Izzo, per divenire un viaggio sensoriale attraverso la antica citt di Venezia, nel quale si intrecciano le memorie e le storie di coloro che ci hanno preceduto.Venezia, forse la pi liminale tra le citt , fa da sfondo a questa meditazione sugli aspetti profondi dell'esistenza umana. I primordiali contrasti tra luce e tenebre, acqua e terra, passato e presente, vita e morte, vengono esaltati dalle atmosfere delle fotografie in bianco e nero di Samuel Shats, che regalano uno sguardo indimenticabile e unico sui misteri della citt .Con il progredire del racconto, gli aspetti insoliti e talvolta inquietanti di questa storia di Venezia si svelano, rendendo il libro molto di pi che una semplice passeggiata attraverso le antiche calli della Serenissima.

Marjorie Agosín è una poetessa pluri-premiata, saggista, narratrice e attivista, oltre che docente di Lingua Spagnola e di Letteratura Latino Americana al Wellesley College. Il suo lavoro sui diritti umani, in particolare sui diritti delle donne in Cile, ha ricevuto il riconoscimento da parte delle Nazioni Unite. La Professoressa Agosín ha vinto molti importanti premi letterari in Cile e in questo libro usa ancora una volta la sua poesia evocativa e la sua voce ben distinta per puntare le luci sulla storia nascosta di Venezia la cui ricchezza ben merita di essere registrata e ricordata. Il custode della memoria racconta gli incontri tra l’autrice e Aldo Izzo, il “Custode della Memoria,” del titolo, l’uomo che si è preso cura del Cimitero Ebraico veneziano per più di 30 anni. Quest’opera tuttavia va molto oltre il semplice omaggio all’infaticabile lavoro di Izzo, per divenire un viaggio sensoriale attraverso la antica città di Venezia, nel quale si intrecciano le memorie e le storie di coloro che ci hanno preceduto. Venezia, forse la più liminale tra le città, fa da sfondo a questa meditazione sugli aspetti profondi dell’esistenza umana. I primordiali contrasti tra luce e tenebre, acqua e terra, passato e presente, vita e morte, vengono esaltati dalle atmosfere delle fotografie in bianco e nero di Samuel Shats, che regalano uno sguardo indimenticabile e unico sui misteri della città. Con il progredire del racconto, gli aspetti insoliti e talvolta inquietanti di questa storia di Venezia si svelano, rendendo il libro molto di più che una semplice passeggiata attraverso le antiche calli della Serenissima.

Marjorie Agos n is an award-winning poet, essayist, fiction writer, and activist, as well as Professor of Spanish language and Latin American literature at Wellesley College. The United Nations has honored her work on human rights, notably for women's rights in Chile. Professor Agos n has won many important literary awards and in this book she, once again, uses her evocative poetry and distinctive voice to illuminate a hidden history of Venice that so richly deserves to be recorded and remembered.The Guardian of Memory chronicles the meetings between the author and Aldo Izzo, the eponymous "Guardian of Memory," a man who has tended the Venetian Jewish cemeteries for over 30 years. However, this work goes far beyond a mere homage to Aldo Izzo's tireless work and becomes a sensory journey through the ancient city of Venice that is interleaved with memories and stories of those who have gone before.Venice, perhaps the most liminal of cities, serves a backdrop to this meditation on the profound aspects of human existence. The elemental contrasts of light and dark, water and land, past and present, life and death, are enhanced by the atmospheric black and white photographs of Samuel Shats to provide an unforgettable and unique insight into the mysteries of the city.As the book progresses, so the strange and, at times, ominous aspects of this history of Venice unfold, thus making this book so much more than a mere walk through the ancient streets of La Serenissima.

Now available in Spanish An eleven-year-old's world is upended by political turmoil in this "lyrically ambitious tale of exile and reunification" (Kirkus Reviews) from an award-winning poet, based on true events in Chile. Celeste Marconi is a dreamer. She lives peacefully among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of Valparaiso, Chile--until one day when warships are spotted in the harbor and schoolmates start disappearing from class without a word. Celeste doesn't quite know what is happening, but one thing is clear: no one is safe, not anymore. The country has been taken over by a government that declares artists, protestors, and anyone who helps the needy to be considered "subversive" and dangerous to Chile's future. So Celeste's parents--her educated, generous, kind parents--must go into hiding before they, too, "disappear." Before they do, however, they send Celeste to America to protect her. As Celeste adapts to her new life in Maine, she never stops dreaming of Chile. But even after democracy is restored to her home country, questions remain: Will her parents reemerge from hiding? Will she ever be truly safe again? Accented with interior artwork, steeped in the history of Pinochet's catastrophic takeover of Chile, and based on many true events, this multicultural ode to the power of revolution, words, and love is both indelibly brave and heart-wrenchingly graceful.

Now available in Spanish An eleven-year-old's world is upended by political turmoil in this "lyrically ambitious tale of exile and reunification" (Kirkus Reviews) from an award-winning poet, based on true events in Chile. Celeste Marconi is a dreamer. She lives peacefully among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of Valparaiso, Chile--until one day when warships are spotted in the harbor and schoolmates start disappearing from class without a word. Celeste doesn't quite know what is happening, but one thing is clear: no one is safe, not anymore. The country has been taken over by a government that declares artists, protestors, and anyone who helps the needy to be considered "subversive" and dangerous to Chile's future. So Celeste's parents--her educated, generous, kind parents--must go into hiding before they, too, "disappear." Before they do, however, they send Celeste to America to protect her. As Celeste adapts to her new life in Maine, she never stops dreaming of Chile. But even after democracy is restored to her home country, questions remain: Will her parents reemerge from hiding? Will she ever be truly safe again? Accented with interior artwork, steeped in the history of Pinochet's catastrophic takeover of Chile, and based on many true events, this multicultural ode to the power of revolution, words, and love is both indelibly brave and heart-wrenchingly graceful.

In this "captivating and exquisite" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) sequel to the Pura Belpr Award-winning I Lived on Butterfly Hill, thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi returns home to Chile and after the dictator is removed, and makes it her mission to rebuild her community and find those who are still missing. During Celeste Marconi's time in Maine, thoughts of the brightly colored cafes and salty air of Valpara so, Chile, carried her through difficult, homesick days. Now, she's finally returned home to find the horrible years of the dictatorship has left its mark on her once beautiful and vibrant community. Determined to help her beloved Butterfly Hill, she encourages and joins her neighbors in fighting to regain what they've lost. But more than anything, Celeste wishes she could find her best friend, Lucilla, who was one of thousands of people who "disappeared" during the dictatorship, who hasn't been heard from in over a year. She joins protests for information, but the trail seems cold--until she receives a letter that changes everything. This sets Celeste off on her biggest adventure yet, where she'll uncover more heartbreaking truths of what her country has endured. But every small victory makes a difference, and even if Butterfly Hill can never be what it was, moving forward and healing can make it something even better.

In this classic memoir that explores the Nazi presence in the south of Chile after the war, Marjorie Agosín writes in the voice of her mother, Frida, who grew up as the daughter of European Jewish immigrants in Chile in the World War II era. Woven into the narrative are the stories of Frida's father, who had to leave Vienna in 1920 because he fell in love with a Christian cabaret dancer; of her paternal grandmother, who arrived in Chile later with a number tattooed on her arm; and of her great-grandmother from Odessa, who loved the Spanish language so much that she repeated its harmonious sounds even in her sleep. Agosín's A Cross and a Star is a moving testament to endurance and to the power of memory and words.This edition includes a collection of important new photographs, a new afterword by the author, and a foreword by Ruth Behar.

In this inspiring sequel to the Pura Belpr Award-winning, "dazzling and insightful" (BCCB) I Lived on Butterfly Hill, thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi returns home to a very different Chile and makes it her mission to rebuild her community, and find those who are still missing. During Celeste Marconi's time in Maine, thoughts of the brightly colored cafes and salty air of Valpara so, Chile, carried her through difficult, homesick days. Now, she's finally returned home to find the dictatorship has left its mark on her once beautiful and vibrant community. Celeste is determined to help her beloved Butterfly Hill get back to the way it was and to encourage her neighbors to fight to regain what they've lost. More than anything, Celeste wishes she could bring back her best friend, Lucilla, who was one of many to disappear during the dictatorship. Celeste tries to piece together what happened, but it all seems too big to fix--until she receives a letter that changes everything. When Celeste sets off on her biggest adventure yet, she'll uncover more heartbreaking truths of what her country has endured. But every small victory makes a difference, and even if Butterfly Hill can never be what it was, moving forward and healing can make it something even better.

In this evocative and emotional work, the poet, novelist, and human rights activist Marjorie Agosin pays homage to her great-grandmother, Helena Broder. As a young woman, Helena escaped Vienna to seek refuge in Chile, leaving shortly after the Night of Broken Glass in 1938 when the Nazi regime unleashed a campaign of violence, terror and destruction against the Jewish population. This book takes readers on Marjorie's journey through time and space, and across thresholds between life, death and dreams, to discover Helena's lost voice. This is not a linear journey, but one that braids together the past, the present, and the future, allowing Marjorie to give Helena, an exiled woman, a third home in the liminal space of memory and literature; a safe haven where she can be complete rather than fragmented, a place where her "exhausted suitcase" can finally rest. This touching collection of poems, in Marjorie Agosin's native Spanish together with Alison Ridley's delicate English translation, is accompanied by images from the Chilean photographer Samuel Shats, as well as poignant memorabilia of Helena herself.

"These musical poems sing the mystical connections between all lighthouses and those who love them. From Ulysses and Penelope to the angel of dreams to the girl who fell in love with the lighthouse keeper, this book is full of hopeful, desperate lives seen through the bittersweet mist of dreams."--Linda Rodriguez "Agosin's poetic knowledge engages the reader in a mesmerizing journey of inward reflections."--Isabel Allende "Marjorie Agosin proves the power of the word to transport us to the center of her humane vision."--Julia Alvarez Marjorie Agosin is an award-winning poet and human rights activist.

An eleven-year-old's world is upended by political turmoil in this searing novel from an award-winning poet, based on true events in Chile. Celeste Marconi is a dreamer. She lives peacefully among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of Valparaiso, Chile--until the time comes when even Celeste, with her head in the clouds, can't deny the political unrest that is sweeping through the country. Warships are spotted in the harbor and schoolmates disappear from class without a word. Celeste doesn't quite know what is happening, but one thing is clear: no one is safe, not anymore. The country has been taken over by a government that declares artists, protestors, and anyone who helps the needy to be considered "subversive" and dangerous to Chile's future. So Celeste's parents--her educated, generous, kind parents--must go into hiding before they, too, "disappear." To protect their daughter, they send her to America. As Celeste adapts to her new life in Maine, she never stops dreaming of Chile. But even after democracy is restored to her home country, questions remain: Will her parents reemerge from hiding? Will she ever be truly safe again? Accented with interior artwork, steeped in the history of Pinochet's catastrophic takeover of Chile, and based on many true events, this multicultural ode to the power of revolution, words, and love is both indelibly brave and heartwrenchingly graceful.