#5questions

Color in art for me is what sets the mood of the art itself like a painting or sculpture. For example, if I wanted the crowd to feel sad about a painting I did then I would colors dark muted colors. If my painting was something exciting/happy I would use bright colors.

      2.What is its importance in visual communication?

I believe the importance of visual communication is a way to connect with the audience. Visual communication can help with clarification.

      3.what is harmony in art?

Balance, sense of unity, and coherence. That consists of color, textures, shapes, lines, etc.

      4. How does harmony contribute to a cohesive design?

It ensures that all the elements within a design work together to form a unified whole.

      5. What is composition in art?

Cynthia Kaufman is the director of the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action, where she also teaches community organizing and philosophy. The author of Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope (Lexington Books, 2012), she is a lifelong social change activist, having worked on issues such as tenants' rights, police abuse, union organizing, international politics, and most recently climate change.

Cynthia Kaufman is in conversation with Francesca Caparas discussing her new book The Sea Is Rising and So Are We: A Climate Justice Handbook (PM Press) in our City Lights LIVE! discussion series on Tuesday, May 25, 2021.

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Where are you writing to us from?

I am writing from Pacifica, California; a 30-minute drive South of City Light Books.

What’s kept you sane during the pandemic?

I've been doing a lot of hiking and writing.

What are 3 books you always recommend to people?

Paolo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed; Tony Morrison's Beloved; James Baldwin's Collected Essays.

Which writers, artists, and others influence your work in general, and this book, specifically?

This book has been influenced by the climate justice movement, especially the youth wing of the movement. This book draws on Robert Bullard, J.K. Gibson-Graham, adrienne maree brown, Kate Raworth, and Bill McKibben. I have been very influenced in general by Freire, Baldwin, Gramsci, Marx, and Nietzsche.  

If you opened a bookstore, where would it be located, what would it be called, and what would your bestseller be?

Sesshu Foster taught composition and literature in East L.A. for over 20 years, and at the University of Iowa, the California Institute for the Arts, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. His work is published in The Oxford Anthology of Modern American Poetry, Language for a New Century: Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond, and State of the Union: 50 Political Poems. His most book recent is ELADATL: A History of the East Los Angeles Dirigible Air Transport Lines, co-authored with Arturo Ernesto Romo and published by City Lights. His other books include City of the Future, World Ball Notebook, and Atomik Aztex.

Sesshu and Arturo are in conversation with Carribean Fragoza celebrating the book launch of ELADATL in our City Lights LIVE! discussion series on Tuesday, April 27

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Where are you writing to us from?

I’m writing you from Tongva land, facing east over the San Gabriel Valley, east of the L.A. River.

What’s kept you sane during the pandemic?

Same things as always—my family, friends, and people. Poetry and books. I’m grateful for all you folks doing what you do best. I only do good if other people are doing well. And we’re always walking and hiking. Yesterday we hiked to Owen Brown’s gravesite on a hilltop in the San Gabriel Mountains. Owen Brown, son of John Brown, was one of the only survivors of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry. He and his brother Jason kept a low profile after the Civil War as sheepherders, living in a mountain cabin. When he died in Pasadena in 1889, two thousand people attended his funeral. His tombstone was stolen once, recovered and is temporarily replaced by peeling plywood signs. But his bones are there.

What are 3 books you always recommend to people?

One size doesn’t fit all. For four year olds and their parents, I might recommend Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales. For hungry intellectuals and young writers, I could recommend Compression & Purity by Will Alexander. For people who don’t know them, what about America Is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan, or the Collected Poems of Bob Kaufman?

Which writers, artists, and others influence your work in general, and this book, specifically?

I like the University of California edition of Moby Dick by Herman Melville. The nautical illustrations by Barry Moser (page 74 includes a diagram of sections of a whaling ship, page 106 presents a “windlass turned by handspikes” for the reader who lacks a mental image of a windlass, page 147 depicts porpoises referred to in the text, etc.) which are helpful to the 21st century landlocked reader. Some features of ELADATL are analogous to these. Of course, airships are analogous to sailing ships, which are themselves also metaphorical.

Of course, the main influence on ELADATL is the work of my collaborator, artist Arturo Ernesto Romo, whose ideas of folding (prismatic or origami-like), resistance or interruption, and the active participation of the viewer (or, in this case the reader) format the structure of this narrative. Also present, folded into and prismatically reflecting the narrative are images and art work by Arturo Romo. Arturo told me that his illustrations that grace each chapter were influenced by Hugo Gellert, and I know the collaborative practice of public performances Arturo and I did—-and our community-based aesthetics, which is refracted in ELADATL—-have been influenced by the Chicano collective Asco (Harry Gamboa, Gronk Nicandro, Patssi Valdez, Willie Herrón and others). As well as by the muralists of East L.A. and other artists of the Chicano movement.

If you opened a bookstore, where would it be located, what would it be called, and what would your bestseller be?

1. If you could change only one thing in your life, what would that be and why?

If I could change only one thing in my life, it’d be how long it took me to realize what I wanted my career to be. Why? Because had I realized it sooner, I’d have my dream job!

2. In a regular day, what do you find yourself thinking about the most?

Recently, My beloved grandmother. 👼🏼❤️

3. If you could write a song about your life, what type of music would you use?

Hmm.. idk that’s a tough one

4. What’s a secret you’ve never told anyone?

If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret now would it? 😉

5. What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment in your life? Did other people help to make that happen?

Getting into Columbia’s Nursing Program.

Pola Oloixarac was born in Buenos Aires in 1977. Her debut novel Savage Theories was a breakout bestseller in Argentina and Spain, and was nominated for a Best Translated Book Award; in 2010 Granta recognized her as one of the best young contemporary novelists in Spanish. Oloixarac is a regular contributor to The New York Times, and her fiction has appeared in Granta, n+1, The White Review, and in an issue of Freeman's Journal dedicated to "The Future of New Writing." Previously a resident of San Francisco, CA, Oloixarac currently resides in Barcelona.

Pola Oloixarac is in conversation with John Freeman reading from and discussing her new novel MONA, published by FSG, in our City Lights LIVE! discussion series on Saturday, March 20

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Where are you writing to us from?

I’m writing from Barcelona, in Spain. We moved here right before the pandemic started. Two years ago I was living in San Francisco, in Precita Park, and there are so many things I miss from San Francisco (strawberries, The Big 4, Tartine, City Lights, my cannabis bar on Mission St.), but I guess it was also very San Francisco to leave: everybody always seems to be moving away or coming back from a trip faraway.

What’s kept you sane during the pandemic?

The books by Yotam Ottolenghi, the Israeli-British cook. I’ve never been much of a cook myself (my humble repertoire of edibles never got anyone salivating), but what was there to do? So I became the chef. I started with Yotam’s Simple, and moved on to Flavor, Plenty, and Sweet. Following the recipes brought a complete renewal of the reading experience, because I could turn the words of Ottolenghi and his collaborators into immediate things, and kind of feel the precision exerted by the recipe words. The books are easy to follow and even if they can be sometimes ingredient-intensive, those forays into rose harissa, chermoula and za’atar make up for all the traveling you ain’t doing. And then you bite and you’re suddenly in Istanbul, or Northern Africa. Planning to get his Jerusalem next.

What are 3 books you always recommend to people?

Patricia Engel is the author of The Veins of the Ocean, winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize; It's Not Love, It's Just Paris, winner of the International Latino Book Award; and Vida, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway and Young Lions Fiction Awards, New York Times Notable Book, and winner of Colombia's national book award, the Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana. She is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her stories appear in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mystery Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and elsewhere. Born to Colombian parents, Patricia teaches creative writing at the University of Miami. 

Patricia Engel is joined by Roberto Lovato, Jean Guerrero, and Juliana Delgado Lopera to celebrate the launch of her new novel Infinite Country, published by Simon & Schuster, in our City Lights LIVE! discussion series on Thursday, March 18th

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Where are you writing to us from?

I'm at my apartment in Miami, which has been my home base for the past seventeen years.

What’s kept you sane during the pandemic?

Gratitude for my good health and stability amid so much chaos and uncertainty. On the daily, it's long walks, sunlight, checking in with my husband, family and friends, sharing laughter and finding small reasons to celebrate life.

What are 3 books you always recommend to people?

Here are three by incredible Colombian writers: Oblivion (El olvido que seremos) by Hector Abad Faciolince, The Bitch (La perra) by Pilar Quintana, and Rosario Tijeras by Jorge Franco.

Which writers, artists, and others influence your work in general, and this book, specifically?

My general influences are those that arrived earliest in my life: Albert Camus, Anais Nin, Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Laura Restrepo, Maryse Condé, and Pablo Neruda, to name a few. With Infinite Country, I wanted to write a slim, compressed novel that spanned years, decades, and generations, but still felt urgent, like a single held breath. Books that I admire that accomplish that are Sula by Toni Morrison, In the Beginning was the Sea by Tómas González, Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, The Lover by Marguerite Duras, and Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector.

If you opened a bookstore, where would it be located, what would it be called, and what would your bestseller be?

Kim Addonizio is the author of eight poetry collections, two novels, two story collections, and two books on writing poetry: The Poet's Companion (with Dorianne Laux) and Ordinary Genius. Her poetry collection Tell Me was a finalist for the National Book Award, and her 2016 collection, Mortal Trash, won the Paterson Poetry Prize. Addonizio's awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, among other honors. She lives in Oakland, California.

Kim Addonizio is joined by Brittany Perham, Peter Kline, and Tracey Knapp to discuss the launch of her new collection Now We’re Getting Somewhere: Poems (published by Norton) in our City Lights LIVE! discussion series on Tuesday, March 16th

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Where are you writing to us from?

I’m hunkered down here in the Oakland hills with a couple of lovely cats. I haven’t been to San Francisco for nearly a year—is it still even there? I’m glad City Lights is making it through in some way and will hopefully be stronger than ever on the other side of this. You guys are a beacon and an icon.

What’s kept you sane during the pandemic?

Joshua Mohr is the author of the memoir (2017), as well as five novels including Damascus, which the New York Times called "Beat-poet cool." He's also written Fight Song and Some Things That Meant the World to Me, one of O Magazine's Top 10 reads of 2009 and a San Francisco Chronicle best-seller, as well as Termite Parade, an Editors' Choice in the New York Times. His novel All This Life won the Northern California Book Award. He is the founder of Decant Editorial.

Joshua Mohr is in conversation with Lidia Yuknavitch celebrating the launch of his brand new book Model Citizen: A Memoir (published by MCD/FSG) in our City Lights LIVE! discussion series on Tuesday, March 9th

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Where are you writing to us from? 

I'm in Seattle, which is farther away from City Lights than I'm used to being. I miss the days when I could walk to the store from my apartment in the Mission District. I love you guys but walking from Seattle is just too much. No offense.

What’s kept you sane during the pandemic? 

I've found the pandemic a fertile time creatively. I've been making art like my ass is on fire! I know artists feeling paralyzed with all the existential unease, but in my sick brain, all this chaos gets my imagination and work ethic firing on all cylinders. The old axiom is "Write what you know," and I'd add this: write what you know, but not what you understand. Write into your confusion. Write into the moral mud of being alive. That was my mantra while scribbling Model Citizen.

What are 3 books you always recommend to people? 

Well, I'm doing this City Lights event with Aunty Lidia, and I put The Chronology of Water: A Memoir into people's hands all the time. I've probably bought fifty copies of that book to pass around! Others I recommend frequently: We the Animals by Justin Torres and Another Country by James Baldwin.

Which writers, artists, and others influence your work in general, and this book, specifically? 

For this one, I did my best to channel Sam Shepard. He's a huge influence on me and, in this context, I'm specifically thinking of his elegiac last little book, Spy of the First Person. Sam was dying and there's this thrilling and awful and beautiful alchemy of him knowing about his imminent death and imbuing the book with, for lack of a better phrase, a parade of pre-ghosts. It's haunting, in the best way. It feels like he's whispering the work right in your ear, and the best memoirs read that intimately.

If you opened a bookstore, where would it be located, what would it be called, and what would your bestseller be?