Maria Espinosa's Blog
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Oct.28.2008
Two concepts described by the famous and controversial Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trunpa, have deeply impressed me. One is the concept of emotion as energy which is essentially clear like water. Our thoughts-emotions color the water with different pigments. The second concept is that of...
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Sep.27.2008
THE OTHER SIDE – Friday, September 26th.
My husband, Walt Selig, and I are eating lunch at the Sizzler out in Concord, California. An announcement of the debate tonight between Obama and McCain flashes across the overhead tv screen. While my husband is at the salad buffet, an elderly white-haired...
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Jul.16.2008
ABOUT EVE: PART 3
Once she had been young and hopeful. Once she had lived in an apartment, and she had shopped for groceries. Now she panhandled for money to buy food. “Jack in the Box on Seventh Street and Wendy’s on Market have 99-cent specials. I won’t go to the shelters for food...
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Jul.11.2008
ABOUT EVE: PART 2 I invited Eve out to dinner to find out more about her, as she mirrored some of my own deepest fears. If circumstances in my life were to change, I too, might be without a home.
She suggested Wendy’s on Market Street. “Have whatever you like,” I said. But she would only...
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Jul.03.2008
In the fall of 1997 I began working in an office in downtown San Francisco south of Market. The large number of homeless people on the streets deeply disturbed me. For the most part, commuters ignored them. Certain images stand out: The first is of a couple sleeping in a doorway at dawn, one's...
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Jun.25.2008
At night I've been indulging myself with chapters from NEW GRUB STREET, turn of the century novel by George Gissing. The London literary scene he depicts with merciless clarity has such parallels to the contemporary world. On cleanliness: "It is often said by people who are exquisitely...
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May.13.2008
THE STILLNESS OF LOVE AND EXILE, the latest novel by the talented writer Rosa Martha Villarreal, is a tale of adventure and romance with visionary and philosophical undertones. Lilia, a beautiful young Mexican girl, is raped by a drug lord. Unable to face her family afterwards, she flees with him...
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May.11.2008
Review of Lettera alla (Lettera alla madre) by Edith Bruck, translated by Brenda Webster with Gabrielle Romani. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2006
Edith Bruck, well-known in Italy where she has lived most of her life, has born witness to the Holocaust through a prolific...
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Feb.19.2008
"Invisible structures of steel-like strength constrict us or let us flow. These structures guide our movements and our thoughts, form our beliefs, and form our sense of what is possible. These structures can be built on subtle as well as overt happenings--a glance, a smile, a tone of voice,...
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About Maria
MARIA ESPINOSA is a novelist, poet, and translator as well as a teacher. Her publications include four novels : Incognito: Journey of a Secret Jew, Dark Plums, Longing, which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, and Dying Unfinished...
Connections
Causes Maria Espinosa Supports
Amnesty International, KPFA, anything to ameliorate homelessness and to make shelters more livable
Maria’s Favorite Books
The Stranger - Camus, A Season in the Life of Emmanuel - Marie Claire Blaise, Under a Glass Bell (stories) - Anais Nin,