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October-November News
- From: ccook
-
Description:
November 2008
Novel, Event Grapples with Armenia, Azerbaijan Clash
posted November 1, 2008 - 12:57pm by Editor
Subtitle:
Bombardirovka looks at the region of Nagorno-KarabakhBy Crystal Allene Cook
From the Levantine Cultural Center website at the LevantineCenter.org
Arriving in Yerevan, Armenia on a Fulbright in 2004 to research a novel, I had some specific things in mind. Once on the ground, making friends, talking to people, traveling, many of my preconceived notions of those things, and of myself, soon began to change.
Scratching the surface, it very quickly became apparent that along with the remnants and implications of events in the early and mid-twentieth century (Genocide, Russian Revolution, WW I, Turko-Armenian War, WW II, gulags), the country and its people were still very much coming to terms with the active years of their war in the 1990s with neighboring Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ugly and brutal (which war, really, is nice?), and also a conflict between Christians and Muslims, this war was largely overshadowed in the West by similar events in the Balkans. But, many of the same factors were in play: crumbling Soviet infrastructure, disintegration of enforced camaraderie, power grabs, old cultural wounds, massive displacement and re-settling of ethnic groups, access to powerful weapons, neighbors against neighbors.
Although active fighting ended over a decade ago, now and again soldiers still exchange fire across the Azeri and Armenian borders. In fact, peace has yet to be brokered, and, this continues to paralyze the region: (although Turkey’s president recently attended a soccer match in Yerevan) Armenia’s borders with Turkey and its borders with Azerbaijan remain closed (blocking the most direct land route between Europe and Central Asia, and, by the way, the most direct land access to Azeri oil. That’s one reason it’s being pumped to Georgia) and hundreds of thousands of refugees remain displaced and abroad (many of whom landed here in LA in the early 90s). Due to embargoes and import bans, local mafias maintain a tight grip on commerce.
So, learning this, I was still stuck trying to get past analysis; I had, after all, set before myself the task of writing fiction. I needed to talk to folks about their experiences. I needed to try, vicariously, and no matter how naively, to feel what war may have been like for them. To attempt this, I was very lucky to have many people make introductions for me. One of them was with a prominent documentary filmmaker with his own production company.
A beautiful early fall day, the weather finally cooling after the brutality of heat and hot wind of summer, I sat in Vartan’s office. Books, DVDs, and videos lined the walls from top to bottom. Just outside the open door, Armenians, and, foreigners enthusiastic about his politics and profile, worked at computer editing systems and computers.
I’d come to ask him about his main project, a documentary following up with war survivors, with the soldiers he’d followed in the field. His eyes widened. He stroked his short beard. Its own energy field, anxiety crackled around him. He sat, stood, took down books to show me. Like that of many people he re-encountered, Vartan described his own struggle with depression after so much destruction and deprivation.
Turning from these to stories about the early days of the war, Vartan recounted an experience that left me cold. Hmph! I thought. How embarrassing. How stupid this woman was. How inconsiderate and ignorant and thoughtless.
Out filming the fedayin (yes, Armenians used a “Muslim” word to describe themselves as guerilla soldiers), sometime in the early part of the war, a blonde American journalist showed up. She wanted someone to take her to the front. None of the men would, so she waited and poked around.
One evening, the men, tired of the flat dried bread they usually ate, caught a rabbit. The American journalist was horrified. “Please don’t kill it,” she pleaded.
The irony was not lost on the soldiers. They slaughtered the animal and enjoyed their meal.
The American journalist found and finally persuaded a general to take her to the front.
Ah, ha! I thought. This is the stuff of fiction! Maybe this will be the basis for my novel. I’ll write about this journalist, a typical “Ugly American.”
Back in the apartment I rented on Mashtots Boulevard in Yerevan, as promised, I emailed some of my work to Vartan. I was excited. I’d just finished a draft of a collection of short stories and short forms. In my enthusiasm, I emailed him the whole manuscript.
Even after trying several times, I never heard from Vartan again.
Bombardirovka looks at the region of Nagorno-Karabakh
What happened? I’d only sent him my collection...the first story of which was about a heavy metal female singer in a night club in the American South. Disgusted by the young women mud-wrestling during her performance, she curses and gets into a fight and kicks one of them in the face. What was Vartan’s problem? Was he that much of a prude? Hadn’t he read anything experimental or risqué before?
So, what did I learn?
It’s easy to talk about other people’s cultural insensitivity—their insensitivity to someone else’s circumstances.
After my time in Armenia, many people asked me whose side I believed was right (Armenian or Azeri). I learned it’s easy to throw stones. It’s easy to point out someone else’s Heart of Darkness (thanks, Conrad!).
I think I also learned there is no simple war. That’s what I finally tried to get at in my novel. I tried to get there without preaching or analysis, but with story.
So, did I manage to make a story?
I didn’t end up writing exactly about the blonde American journalist, but in Bombardirovka (Russian for “the Bombing”), a young American freelance journalist falls in love with a Karabakhi Armenian and returns with him to the Caucasus. Her path crosses with a male Armenian guerilla fighter (I say “male” because many women also fought) in love with an Azeri woman.
After sending my novel out to agents and gaining praise along with the comments “difficult to market,” earlier this year, I began deliberating about giving Bombardirovka away. My original dream had been to earn 40k, to give half of that to Doctors Without Borders, and then to use the other half to do whatever has to be done when one publishes a novel. Then, this summer, I came up with an idea—I could give Bombardirovka away and still raise 20k for Doctors Without Borders. So, that’s what I’ve spent the last four months organizing.
On 11/18/08 at the Regent Theatre (448 S. Main Street in Downtown LA), Art Knows No Borders brings together artists, musicians, live art, dancers, writers, speakers, etc. for a silent auction and performances. The door and all the auction proceeds benefit Doctors Without Borders (to raise that 20k!). Levantine Cultural Center and Creative Commons will also be there at a table talking about what they do. Citizen LA is the media sponsor. (More info online at ArtKnowsNoBorders.com.)
At the same event, I am also giving away the only print copies of Bombardirovka (more than 200 copies will have original art on the cover) and launching a free download of the novel that same day at Bombardirovka.com. The free download page also encourages a donation directly to Doctors Without Borders.
In Karabakh, I interviewed a guy leaving his job doing landmine retrieval to pursue his dream of playing in his town's new orchestra. He had this to say:
“After this war, we live in our heads... but what has also meant a lot is when the French [Doctors Without Borders], have come and helped us deal psychologically. The psychological issues have been the most hard for us to grapple with.”
That sold me on my responsibility with my novel. His words remind me that many people shared their stories and of themselves toward its making. That’s why I am giving Bombardirovka away. Although I wrote it, it was, in its way, a community effort.
Hear/see me read this short section from the novel by clicking here.
Excerpt from Bombardirovka:
Zadik’s mother straightened. “I should prepare for when the men return.” She stood, bowed. “Excuse me.” Commenting over her shoulder, she walked toward the corner, “Even with bombs and fires you still have to eat.” Again the house shook. A piece of plaster fell. Back stiff, her face immobile, Kneg Anush took a broom and pan from the corner and swept. The men would return. She was going to go about her business like any minute the men would return. Another piece fell and she repeated the previous action. Then she walked to the metal table. “Even during a bombardirovka,” she said to me, cutting into an onion. “A person has to eat.”
“Why aren’t people leaving?” I cried out, my voice high, not me.
Kneg Anush’s—Zadik’s—large eyes narrowed. “And just where and how would we go?"
Crystal Allene Cook was born and raised in West “by God” Virginia, and educated at Barnard College, the New School, and at Antioch Los Angeles. Currently a Los Angeles resident, Cook has lived in the USSR, Russia, Germany, Armenia, and Spain. Her creative work has appeared in the US in Shenandoah, the Flint Hills Review, the Southeast Review, Ararat and online in CARVE, southernhum, and the Hamilton Stone Review. She is a regular speaker on females and media.
Thanks to the Levantine Cultural Center for an opportunity to discuss the novel. See the article online at: http://www.levantinecenter.org/levantine-review/articles/novel-event-grapples-armenia-azerbaijan-clash
October 2008
From: http://www.thespiritedwoman.com/october2008newsletter/
SPIRITED WOMAN Q & A
CRYSTAL ALLENE COOKOkay she plays the tuba. Wrote a book with the indomitable title of Bombardirovka. Is a Fulbright Scholar. Lived in the USSR (when it still existed), West Germany (when it still existed), the former East Germany, Spain, and Armenia. Is a strong woman's advocate. Passion is her middle name of spirit - and most of us who know her call her Crystal Allene Cook.
And if I do say so myself, Crystal rocks.
I met Crystal at a Book Expo cocktail party at this funky cafe in downtown LA. There she was dressed in all these colors, smiling, and laughing - and I just walked up to her and asked if I could take a video of her for Spirited Woman. Without ANY hesitation, this 37-year-old Bluefield, West Virgina-born woman, who is now an LA resident said, "Sure, why not." And starting talking into the camera. Now, that's gutsy.
And since then we've become friends. And also since then, I realized that Crystal, who refers to herself as a raconteur, social entrepreneur, author, advocate, tuba player, spirited woman and more is a bundle of an "I-can-do-this attitude." In fact, I'd say she's unstoppable.
Her next feat is Art Knows No Borders, an all-volunteer benefit (where 100's are expected to attend) that she's coordinating on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 at Safari Sam's in Hollywood, CA to benefit Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Her goal is to raise over $20,000.
As Crystal enthusiastically says, "I got the idea for raising money for MSF while doing research in the Caucasus in 2004. After interviewing someone who spoke about the importance of MSF’s work in his town. I knew then that, I wanted to support MSF. So far, more than 100 artists have donated their work for the event. There will be live music, dancers, live art, readings, rock bands, etc., and I’ll give away 500 art house copies of my novel Bombardirovka, signed by me and artists that have done work on the cover. The suggested donation is $20, but no one will be turned away at the door."
You go, Crystal! I urge anyone wanting a dose of unstoppability to read her interview and for those of you in LA, to support Crystal at her event.
Q. Crystal, you refer to yourself as a raconteur. Okay, I give - what is a raconteur? And how long have you been one?
A. A raconteur is someone skilled at storytelling. I pretty much recognized I had some talent for this since I won a story-writing contest in second grade. I distinctly remember thinking to my seven year-old self, “Hey, you know, I think I am on to something here!”Q. You're also a social entrepreneur. Why do you describe yourself that way and what is your mission as a social entrepreneur?
A. To quote Pablo Neruda talking to the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector:Lispector: What is the most important thing in the world?
Neruda: To try and make the world a worthy place for everyone, not just for the privileged few.I see that as my mission as a social entrepreneur. I have a very creative, can-do spirit-–and I grew up surrounded by a small business. My dad was always inventing things: board games, card games, machines, music-–you name it. So along with writing, I see myself as adept at coming up with creative solutions to social problems. I really thrive in the start-up phase of things, when creative input is needed most and ideas need an adrenalin shot of feasible actions. I have been on the ground floor of non-profit start-ups, community start-ups, etc.
Q. Passion seems to be the essence of your life. Have you always been this way? What does passion mean to you?
A. Well, as I commented to someone last week. “I am me all the time!” I guess I don’t find my energy exceptional, but maybe it is. A friend once said of me “You have a certain exuberance that is precluded by close observation.” That was me in my 20's-–unbridled enthusiasm for social issues and writing as well as whatever else I got enthused about. Now, in my 30's, I am more strategic, more diplomatic, and more focused. But, yes, I have always been super energetic. And, what I do must have meaning to me.Q. Do you come from a line of spirited women?
A. My mother is the youngest of ten from a sharecropping family in the mountains of Virginia. She milked cows as a child, helped take care of her elderly mother starting at the age of 18, and was a factory worker for years. My sisters are a lot older than me-–so we weren’t that close, but my mother and I have become much closer in the last ten years. My mom is social and very concerned with helping her friends. She also went out and did charity work when I was a kid and that left a big impression on me.We’ve had our ups and downs-–but she has really achieved this grace in her elderly years that I just find rare and compelling; she is at peace with being old and old to her is not a dirty word-–and when does that happen for women these days? I’d love to have that kind of perspective when I am 73!
Q. Not many women are U.S. Fulbright recipients - what did you receive it for - and how has it changed your life?
A. I was an “At-large” recipient in creative writing. That means I didn’t apply through a university-–which is an even less common way to get one.The Fulbright gave me a big boost of confidence in terms of my creative and work lives. I received this year funded to do nothing but research this book, reach out to people, read. It was great. I was in Armenia for ten months on the Fulbright-–and even though I had lived in Germany, in Russia, and in Spain, I really dug Armenia; it resonated with me. I also got to travel to Syria, to Turkey, and to Georgia while I was in the region--and I got a whole new perspective and appreciation for cultures east of the Bosporus.
Q. What's important for you to achieve in your life - right now?
A. In my “public” life-–connection and meaning are important to me. I want to use my skills for good, and to give from a place of abundance in my life. I am also working on how to achieve abundance. I tend to give out, rather than take in, so I am seeking more balance there.Q. Tell us about your book, Bombardirovka, and why you decided to give it away at your upcoming Art Knows No Borders event?
A. Several reasons. I feel I have already been paid for it with the Fulbright and a grant I was on in the 90's. The people I interviewed for this book were very generous with me—it is their story as much as it is my writing. The novel started as an examination of war, American naiveté, and of the “Other” (in the fem. lit. crit. sense). I wanted it to serve as a springboard for discussion, so my intent never had been to make $ off it. I had this dream of earning 40k so I could give ½ to MSF (Doctors Without Borders)... but the comments I got back from agents kept talking about how hard this book would be to market.So, earlier this year I decided, you know what, I am going to just give this away and figure out how to raise 20k for MSF anyway! I now see it as a piece of public art—thus I am giving away the only print copies at the event and then posting it in various PDF'S online for free download. I am hoping that reading the book will also prompt folks to donate more to MSF.
Q. You are involved in GEM (Gender Equity in Media) - why is that such an important issue for ALL WOMEN?
A. I am also involved in the start up of a “Chick House” at Sundance. Both GEM and Chick House are just now getting off the ground. The issues for both are such: getting more females in principal positions on and behind the camera in entertainment media. Very simply in this cultural arena there is a terrible dearth of females, from being only one in three on screen in film to only 6% of directors of top features. Take one look around and it is obvious our society needs more women working as culture makers, not just culture consumers.Q. If you had one nugget of wisdom to impart to women everywhere what would it be?
A. Do whatever inner work we have to do, no matter how painful, to stop obsessing (looks, men, whatever!) and to start being able to sit with ourselves. And, when in doubt, go ahead and wear red!Q. Crystal, why do you feel that you are a Spirited Woman?
A. As much as I can, with where I am each day, I work to face my fears, be true to my sense of ethics and purpose, be direct in my dealings but also kind, and take each bull charging me by the horns. And most importantly, if the bull I am riding decides to bust up the china shop, I try to laugh at where and how I ended up there. Then I hop off and start picking up the glass!THANK YOU CRYSTAL FOR CHANGING THE WORLD
Crystal welcomes hearing from you and to seeing you at her Art Knows No Borders event. Visit her website: www.artknowsnoborders.com. E-mail her at info@artknowsnoborders.com or call 310 739 1159.
September 24, 2008
I was on Feminist Magazine on KPFK Wednesday 9/24/08 with Annette Sage and Dina Gonatr talking about Art Knows No Borders (www.ArtKnowsNoBorders.com), and reading a short excerpt from my novel Bombardirovka (released for free to the world on 11/18; www.bombardirovka.com). Thanks very, very much to Lynn Ballen for hooking this up!
Here is where to hear it:
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/
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or Listen LivePress Release
ARTISTS TO DONATE WORK TO RAISE FUNDS FOR DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
Los Angeles- July 15, 2008. The organizers of Art Knows No Borders, an art, literary and cultural event, today announced their intention to host a benefit to raise funds for the international medical humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders. The charity event will take place at Safari Sam’s this fall.
The event will pull together the work of Los Angeles and international artists to raise awareness of the effects of war, ethnic conflicts, and genocide on present and subsequent generations. All proceeds from the art, door, and auctions for the evening will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. In addition, copies of the novel Bombardirovka, which incorporates the conflict between Armenians and Azeris over Nagorno-Karabakh, will be given away to the first 500 attendees.
In 2003 and 2004, a stalemate in the ethnic conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan deterred many groups from working in the area. Doctors Without Borders, with its focus on independent humanitarian aid rather than politics, was at the time one of the few organizations able to deliver mental health care to people there. Currently, Doctors Without Borders runs Armenia’s only drug-resistant tuberculosis program.
“The arts often transcend when politics and personalities do not,” notes Art Knows No Borders organizer Crystal Allene Cook, who came up with the idea for the event after researching her novel Bombardirovka on a Fulbright to Armenia and the Caucasus. “The focus on the evening is art making a difference, and for it literally to raise local awareness and money for people in conflict and crisis. My dream is for folks whose home countries, or even home neighborhoods, that are in conflict come together for one evening for a higher cause, buy and see great art and creative items, hear great music, and have fun, whether they be, Armenians and Azeris, Americans and Iraqis, or, Azatlans and African-Americans.”
To donate art, a creative service or item, or another product or service for the evening, contact Cook at info@artknowsnoborders.com. Get involved at www.artknowsnoborders.com.
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