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Orlando Ferrand is a Cuban-born award-winning poet and multidisciplinary artist. He is a graduate of Columbia University and City College. His first collection of poetry, Citywalker, PublishAmerica, 2010, won the Gold Medal at the Readers Favorite Book Review and Award Contest in 2011. He also won the Linden Lane Press Poetry Prize in 2011 for his book La Otra Isla, The Other Island (Spanish Edition), Linden Lane Press, 2012. Orlando Ferrand’s memoir about growing up in Cuba, Apologia: Cuban Childhood in My Backpack, PublishAmerica, 2011, received a 5-stars rating by Readers Favorite this year, and was selected by the City University of New York as the Book-of-the-Semester Project in the spring of 2012. He’s also a painter and sculptor whose fine art work has been exhibited at the Leslie/Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art and Cheim & Read in New York City, and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. He’s worked extensively as a playwright, theater director and actor around the world. Orlando Ferrand has contributed as a PA, Script Supervisor and Assistant Art Director to several independent film productions in the U.S. He’s currently working on paintings, digital art, photography, and collections of short stories, essays, and poetry. Orlando Ferrand lives and teaches Creative Writing and Sculpture at various colleges and universities in New York City.
As a mixed race and immigrant poet, writer and multidisciplinary artist, I am interested in exploring the realm of hyphenated identities as well as the definitions of refugee and immigrant through the creative process, in order to move beyond their traditionally prejudistic confinement toward a multiethnic and cross-cultural approach to the text as a visual and/or written narrative, as a permanent record of our ancestry, and as a catalyst for transformation of both the individual and the community. In global neighborhoods such as New York City, the notion of identity is often challenged by its own denizens and the body of politics. Hence, if we are, indeed, a melting pot, our notion of identity, based on ethnic and cultural idiosyncrasies, becomes the vessel capable of containing the universality of those very ethnic and cultural backgrounds rooted in individual expression. Therefore, New York, the city that that fuels my creative and teaching practice, becomes a catalyst for empowerment and transformation of the individual—both the artist and the community. No matter where we come from, or the circumstances that brought us to the physical and psychic spaces we inhabit, we become "the other" when we make the decision to relate to one another, only if we were to look at our similarities instead of looking at our differences. In a world swamped by the spree of globalization and digital communication, the human notion of identity acquires a multiplicity of nuances through storytelling and visual representations such as clay sculptures, photography, drawing and mixed media. The creative process becomes a vehicle for self-awareness, allowing our hyphenated identities to acquire a sense of universality through the fabric of our singularity.
| ORLANDO FERRAND | ||
| 2420 Bronx Park East Apt. 6C, Bronx, New York, 10467 | ||
| (347) 640 - 7737 | ||
| orlandoferrand@gmail.com www.orlandoferrand.net | ||
Career Focus | Writer/Visual Artist/Teaching Artist/Writing Coach/Translator & Interpreter/Editor/Lecturer | |
Writing/Artistic ExperienceSummary | Experienced in writing feature articles, poetry, short stories, essays, editorial pieces, press releases, research reports, book reviews, radio scripts, screenplays and plays. Well versed in copyediting, transcription/editing of interviews, proofreading, subtitles, script supervising, and literary translations. Strong technical command of both, the English and the Spanish languages; familiarity with virtually all writing styles; serious commitment to excellence in the printed and published word. Competent researcher, interviewer, and reporter with strong concentration in human rights, and the arts. Award-winning poet and published writer Experienced Visual Artist, Painter, Sculptor, Photographer, Theater Director. | |
Education | M.Phil. – Columbia University, New York Advanced Certificate, Decorative & Fine Arts - Parsons, New York, NYM.A., English & Comparative Literature - City College, CUNY, New York, NY | 2012 2008 1997 |
| B.F.A., Playwriting & Translation, University of Havana, Cuba | 1991 | |
Professional | Creative Writing Instructor – SUNY at GMHC, New York, NY Design and execute Creative Writing curriculum in Poetry, Fiction & Creative Non-Fiction for Wellness Department. Writer Coach/Script Supervisor – Odd Girl in Entertainment, New York, NY Edit and supervise scripts for web series during pre-production and production. Coach a team of writers and directors during script development in pre-production for the web series Happy Cancer Chick, Second Season. | 9/2012 - Present |
| Writer in Residence – Hostos Community College, New York, NY Lecturer & Creative Writing Instructor: Facilitated a series of lectures, seminars and workshops on my memoir Apologia: Cuban Childhood in My Backpack, selected for the Book-of-the-Semester Project by the City University of New York. Organized panel discussion on Latino Literature & Current Trends in Publishing. | Spring Semester 2012 | |
| Public Relations – Grammy Nominated Dir. Ernesto Fundora, New York, NY Translate press kit, write press releases, interpret, subtitle and promote videography for festivals, producers and distributors in English speaking countries. | 2000 - Present | |
| Publications, Awards & Fellowships Pen American Member since 20152015 NYSCA/BCA Artist in Community Grant for multidisciplinary series of workshops Underneath the Accent of My Skin2014 BRIO Award for Excellence in Poetry, Bronx Council on the Arts, New York Apologia: Cuban Childhood in My Backpack, 5-Stars Review, Readers’ Favorite; Book-of-the-Semester, City University of New York, 2012 La otra isla / The Other Island (Spanish edition), Linden Lane Press Poetry Prize, 2011 Citywalker, Gold Medal in the Poetry/Music category, Readers’ Favorite Book Review & Award Contest, 2011 2011 Artist Summer Institute Fellowship, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Creative Capital's Professional Development Program. Contributor to several anthologies of poetry and essays, journals, print and online magazines such as: The Best of Panic, Why We Wrote, Linden Lane Magazine, Otro Lunes, Sentado en el Aire, La Peregrina, In the Desert Sun and The Adroit Journal. Creator and writer of two blogs: Pandora’s Box is Broken and Dancing with Muses. | 2000-Present | |
Computer Skills | Microsoft Word • Excel • PowerPoint • Photoshop • Windows and Macintosh Systems | |
| REFERENCES, WRITING SAMPLES & PORTFOLIO FURNISHED UPON REQUEST My books available at Barnes and Noble My books available at Amazon | ||