GALO Magazine

Mighty PEN: The World Voices Festival

Ross Ufberg — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:43:33 +0000

The PEN World Voices Festival, held in New York City every year, brings together writers from all over the world to converse about their own and others’ work. The acronym stands for Poets, Essayists and Novelists, though today journalists, graphic novelists, and bloggers are included in the organization. PEN America has just celebrated its 90th year in existence, and members, past and present, include such pillars of the literary establishment as Arthur Miller, Susan Sontag, James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, and [...]

Fading Away: A Glimpse into Koreatown, NYC

Marianna Jamadi — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:45:03 +0000

Where is Koreatown and what kind of treasures can be found in this cultural oasis?

Nestled on the edges of Herald Square in New York City, Koreatown’s presence is most notably found on 32nd Street between 5th and 6th Ave. And it appears it is one of the only blocks left in the city that is still enveloped with Korean signs, Korean food, and Karaoke posters. To the silent onlookers eye, it seems as though Koreatown is sadly shrinking away as [...]

The Blending of Words and Geographies

Deborah E. Gimelson — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:35:17 +0000

For those of you who feel the written word is in disrepair, it was alive and well at PEN’s 8th Annual World Voices Festival held the first week of May in New York City.

The PEN American Center, founded in 1922, is the largest of the 144 chapters that compose this literary organization around the world. Known for its advocacy of writers internationally and for its strong political position in the world of letters, it has been a spiritual [...]

‘The Raven’ Is Nothing to Crow About

Jay Brissenden — Sun, 13 May 2012 03:06:43 +0000

Shrouds of mystery fill the screen. Murder after murder, this macabre scene feels like a poet’s dream. A girl’s life and writer’s legend at stake, the unwinding minutes of despair are almost too much to take. But viewers beware, those seeking quality fare will find little haven in this dark Raven.

In vein of last year’s Anonymous, a film which questions the original source of William Shakespeare’s work, comes The Raven, a fictionalized theory on how famous poet Edgar Allan Poe [...]

Suffering For Suffrage in ‘Take What Is Yours’

Laura Hankin — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:55:09 +0000

Often, it’s near-impossible to believe that American women won the right to vote less than 100 years ago. When reminded, many think of the fight for enfranchisement as a relatively benign process: men were puffed up on their own importance and, although it took some time, women taught them a lesson without too much strife. But Take What Is Yours, a new play at 59E59 Theaters, handily dispels that myth, revealing the remarkable brutality shown to the suffragettes who lead [...]

Playing With Gravity: One Artist’s Newfound Trademark

Morgan Tanabe — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:50:34 +0000

The importance of gravity is redefined in a Toronto-based artist’s beautifully illustrated and sustainable world, explored through rich colors, patterns and incredible detail, all applied in a unique manner simplistically created though the manipulation of paint. Luminous yellows, forestry greens, and wintry, arid blues amalgamate into a fantastical perception of the biosphere, bringing a newfound life and wonderment to nature’s spectacles. It is as if stepping into a fragment of a Claude Monet painting from the late 1880s to early [...]

Hulk Smash, ‘Avengers’ Rock

Jay Brissenden — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:50:54 +0000

It’s no understatement to say that Marvel’s The Avengers is one of the most intricate and biggest projects any Hollywood studio has ever undertaken. Since the surprising success of Iron Man in 2008, this cinematic monster has been in development, brewing away with little tastes along the way till the flavor was rendered “just right.” Four films later and over $1 billion spent, the ultimate superhero blockbuster has finally been assembled. So is it any good? Does the Hulk not [...]

Glancing Back To Yesteryear

Paolo Ferraris — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:00:58 +0000

“Texas is still a last frontier. It is the part of the United States where the traditional virtues are still operating; in short, a piece of living history.”– Author John C. B. Richmond

In a two-part photo story, photographer Paolo Ferraris explores the differences between modern day Texas and New Mexico and the forgotten desert abundant in times past. Walking the footsteps of today and yesteryear, Ferraris throws away the half-truths and misconceptions that surround the two diverse areas, making room for [...]

There Goes the Neighborhood: The New Class of Williamsburg Residents

Janet Alexander — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:30:58 +0000

No more than four days after moving into Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York this past February I started noticing it, and within my first week, I realized it was undeniable. It seemed that inevitably everywhere I went, there it’d be: French.

Already with a domestic reputation that precedes itself — indeed, it being the reason I chose my current apartment — Williamsburg has been attracting an increasing number of Parisians over the past three years. Decidedly en vogue, this new French [...]

Through the Turnstile: Subway Performing in NYC

Laura Hankin — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:30:37 +0000

One cold morning in 2007, a man stood inside the entrance of a Washington, D.C. subway station and played the violin. Occasionally, the people walking by tossed money into his violin case or, in extremely rare instances, stopped for a minute to listen. Mostly, they kept going, eyes fixed anywhere but on him. Playing for a mobile audience of 1,000 people over the course of 45 minutes, the violinist made $37. That violinist was Joshua Bell, widely regarded as one [...]