Masters of the Gabo Fellowship
Héctor Feliciano
Héctor Feliciano currently writes for the Spanish newspaper El País. He has been a cultural correspondent for the American papers the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. In Paris, he was the editor in chief of World Media Network, a press syndicate gathering European newspapers, and the artistic director of the Paris City Hall’s Cultural Affairs Office. His book The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy to Steal the World’s Greatest Works of Art shows the breadth and depth of his investigative journalism, reason for which he was awarded the prestigious National Arts Journalism Fellowship Program (NAJP) by the University of Columbia, in New York. Feliciano has also been part of a working group at the Columbia University School of Journalism to develop the journalism curriculum. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and art history from the Brandeis University, a masters from the Columbia University School of Journalism, and a doctorate in literature from the University of Paris.
Jonathan Levi
Following graduation at Yale University, Jonathan Levi received a Mellon Fellowship to study at Cambridge University, where in 1985 he cofounded the literary magazine Granta and served as U.S. editor for the journal called “quite simply, the most impressive magazine of its time” by the Daily Telegraph.
After leaving Granta, Levi divided his time between writing and producing. His 1992 novel, A Guide for the Perplexed, has been reviewed by the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, and Newsday, among other international publications.
Levi’s short stories and articles have appeared in many magazines, including Granta, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Terra Nova, the Nation, and the New York Times. Since 1997, Levi has served as a contributing writer for the Los Angeles Times Book Review.
Levi currently divides his time between New York and Rome, where he writes on arts and travel for the International Herald Tribune and Condé Nast Traveler. He serves as advisor for the Cartagena Music Festival and the Zaubersee Festival in Luzern, Switzerland.
Guests Masters
Anne Midgette
Anne Midgette is an American journalist and classical music critic. After graduating from Yale University she lived in Munich, Germany reviewing opera, music, and art throughout Europe for the Wall Street Journal, Opera News, and other publications. When she returned to the United States she became the first woman to review classical music for the New York Times. Midgette has co-authored two biographies: The King and I (2004), about Breslin’s experience managing the tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and My Nine Lives (2010), on the life of the pianist Leon Fleisher.
Diego Fischerman
Diego Fischerman is a journalist and music critic for the newspaper Página/12, editor for the magazine Revista Clásica, and collaborator for the magazines Goldberg (Great Britain/Spain), Cuadernos de Jazz (Spain), Ricordi Oggi (Italy), Teatro Colón (Argentina), and La Tempestad (Mexico), among others. Fischerman was the editor for Música argentina: La mirada de los críticos, a book published by the University of Buenos Aires. He coordinated the music department at the Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas (PK) and taught at the Collegium Musicum (PK) and the Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Música Contemporánea. Sony-BMG published Ástor Piazzolla’s (PK) complete work with commentary by Fisherman, recorded in RCA and CBS. Fisherman currently runs several radio shows and has authored La música del siglo XX, Efecto Beethoven: complejidad y valor en la música de tradición popular, Escrito sobre música, Piazzolla: El mal entendido (in collaboration with Abel Gilbert), and El jazz: Una breve historia estética y del libro de relatos El principio del terror.
Alberto Salcedo Ramos
Alberto Salcedo is considered one of the best Latin American narrative journalists and is currently a member of the group Nuevos Cronistas de Indias. His reportages have appeared in a variety of magazines, including SoHo, El Malpensante, and Arcadia, from Colombia; Gatopardo and Hoja por hoja, from Mexico; Etiqueta Negra, from Peru; Ecos, from Germany; Diners, from Ecuador; Marcapasos, from Venezuela; and Courrier International, from France, and have been translated into English, French, and German. He has authored El Oro y la Oscuridad: La vida gloriosa y trágica de Kid Pambelé (Random House Mondadori, 2005), De un hombre obligado a levantarse con el pie derecho (Ediciones Aurora, 1999 and 2005), and Diez juglares en su patio (Ecoe Ediciones, 1994), as well as co-authored Manual de Géneros Periodísticos (Ecoe Ediciones, 2005). His work has been published in the anthologies Lo mejor del periodismo de América Latina (FNPI and Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2006), Crónicas latinoamericanas: periodismo al límite (Fundación Educativa San Judas, Costa Rica, 2008), Crónicas SoHo (Aguilar and SoHo, 2008), Años de fuego: grandes reportajes de la última década (Planeta, 2001), Citizens of fear (Universidad de Rütgers, 2001), and Antología de grandes crónicas colombianas (Aguilar, 2004).
His most recent reportage book, La Eterna Parranda, was published by Aguilar and the film production company Paraíso Picture will make a film from his book El Oro y la Oscuridad. Salcedo Ramos has received numerous awards, including the Premio Internacional de Periodismo Rey de España, the Premio Nacional de Periodismo Simón Bolívar (four times), the Premio de la Cámara Colombiana del Libro for the best journalistic book of the year, the Premio al Mejor Documental at the II Jornada Iberoamericana de Televisión in Cuba, and the Excellence in Journalism Award from the Inter American Press Association for his reportage Un país de mutilados. In 2004 he was one of the five shortlisted authors for the Premio Nuevo Periodismo CEMEX+FNPI with his profile El testamento del viejo Mile, published in El Malpensante.
Francine Prose
Francine Prose is an American writer and the former president of PEN American Centre, where she also sat on the board of judges for the PEN/Newman’s Own Award. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Prose is the author of sixteen books of fiction. Her novel Blue Angel was a National Book Award finalist and A Changed Man won the Dayton Literary Book Award. Her most recent works of nonfiction include the highly acclaimed Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife and the New York Times bestseller Reading like a writer.
Mario Jursich
Mario Jursich was born in Valledupar, Cesar on June 4, 1964 and studied philosophy and arts at the Universidad Javeriana. His broad experience as a staff editor includes his work at the Fondo Cultural Cafetero, Zona Ltda., and Tercer Mundo Editores. He has also done commissioned work for Editorial Norma, Editorial Planeta, Alfaguara, Círculo de Lectores, Intermedio, Banco de la República, and Carlos Valencia Editores. Jursich has translated Gesualdo Bufalino and Alessandro Baricco books for the publishing house Norma as well as numerous articles and short stories for the magazine El Malpensante. He has published essays in magazines such as Número, Semana, SoHo, and the Banco de la República’s Cultural and Bibliographical Bulletin. Recently one of his works was included in the Antología latinoamericana de la crónica actual (Alfaguara, 2012). Jursich was the anchorman for the Señal Colombia TV program Culturama. He has published three books: a poetry book, Glimpses; a bibliographic collection, Casimiro Eiger: Chronicles of art; and an essay, The Virgin Mary: Faith and adventure in Colombia. In November 2012 Idartes will publish Una historia de la salsa en Bogotá, which Jursich edited. In recent years he has been an associate professor of literary journalism at the Universidad Javeriana and for the masters in journalism at the Universidad de los Andes. Jursich is a founding member and current director of the magazine El Malpensante.