tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32824107053904819502011-07-29T17:11:46.328+08:00Annnnd we're back! I (Ming Holden) have returned for a short time to Mongolia to edit literary translations and maintain the effort to spread The Word about PEN membership and all it has to offer Mongolian writers.Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-81658752738025328022009-07-23T05:01:00.001+08:002009-07-23T05:01:43.544+08:00

On June 30th, 2009, several of the foremost members of Mongolia's literary community gathered (following a typically last-minute venue change from the Zanzabar Gallery) in the Xanadu Gallery north of the State Department store for an afternoon of poetry with renowned British poet Ruth O'Callaghan. The event was an appropriate follow-up to the event that had taken place almost exactly a year

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-8230493184523500622009-07-23T05:00:00.001+08:002009-07-23T05:00:18.420+08:00

On the evening of July 2nd, over a hundred people from UB's expat and local communities, both short-term and long-term residents, Ambassadors, LGBT activists, civil society and NGO workers, full-time artists and Ivanhoe Mines executives all wandered in back of the building charred by the fiery protests following Parliamentary elections exactly a year before and through arches into the National

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-31210360597271045342009-06-23T10:44:00.001+08:002009-06-23T10:45:43.403+08:00

My article about last week's Presidential Inauguration is up here at The Huffington Post. Enjoy!

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-61507693987097588302009-06-20T12:55:00.006+08:002009-06-20T13:14:28.424+08:00

Below is the short piece I wrote for the Mongol Messenger about The Arts Council of Mongolia's awesome pioneer Fellowship program. If you wonder at the fact that Leo Tolstoy's grandson was here in Ulaanbaatar, you can thank the Arts Council of Mongolia (ACM). Over the last year, ACM has pioneered a fellowship program to empower arts administration in Mongolia. The nine fellowship recipients

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-8941534955017051422009-06-19T10:18:00.004+08:002009-06-19T10:27:53.337+08:00

Writing to come, but in the meantime, enjoy these photos from yesterday: Mongolia's Presidential Inauguration on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar.

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-77682150918318537912009-06-16T09:32:00.001+08:002009-06-16T09:33:55.028+08:00

The incomparable photographer, biologist, and world fixer David Gilbert just alerted me to this photo essay documenting two of Ulaanbaatar's street teenagers. Worth a look.

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-192393302004437072009-06-15T15:40:00.004+08:002009-06-15T15:50:13.272+08:00

There have been some requests for this article on Bolivia's Rio Beni Health Project, since it saw print in an issue of the Santa Ynez Valley Journal that wasn't archived online. Not about Mongolia, but if you're interested in this blog, it's likely you're interested in hopeful development efforts in third-world countries, so take a look. It's one of those things that gives me hope in the

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-2781027769135537792009-06-12T15:16:00.003+08:002009-06-12T15:30:58.160+08:00

The renaissancively brilliant (read: in his first two months of his Fulbright year in Mongolia produced, wrote and starred in hands down the best piece of theater--and aware, quality expat art--about Mongolia I've ever seen) Michael Littig woke me up to the existence of these photos of Mongolians in urban winter on the BBC network. Harsh, difficult, true. Please take a look, if you'd like a

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-53589685249480303512009-06-11T13:49:00.004+08:002009-06-11T14:13:07.062+08:00

As the department head of Mongolia's Ministry of Justice, upon her visit to Choibalsan's border police compound Altangerel was treated to a full day of military formation demonstrations and, of course, lots of good food and a concert filled with soldiers performing Mongolia's favorite songs on Mongolia's favorite instruments. Here is one of the more surreal moments of that day--children in

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-53131797844482598052009-06-09T09:36:00.003+08:002009-06-16T22:48:48.580+08:00

(removed at the request of those I listen to)

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-88357171349163060752009-06-08T10:32:00.006+08:002009-06-16T16:38:39.794+08:00

This is Why I love Mongolians.After a week working together near the borders of Russia and China in Choibalsan, these administrators, Ministry of Justice officials, border patrol officers, and policemen toasted and thanked one another for a week of good work by the river Kherlen with toasts, songs, hugs, handshakes, more songs, mutton with onion from a cardboard box on the hood of one of the cars

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-67895117998362938152009-06-08T10:16:00.003+08:002009-06-08T10:30:06.828+08:00

Shameless plug! I just learned I will have a poem ("Origin") coming out in the next issue of Poets&Artists (O&S), and two pieces of fiction ("The Lateral Deep" and "Disturbing the Spirits" coming out in the fall/winter issue of Cerise Press). Both are mighty fine publications so check them out!

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-41868422405999598782009-06-05T10:05:00.002+08:002009-06-05T10:10:09.828+08:00

Hayden's Ferry Review is hosting my post for today on their wonderful blog here. I go a little deeper into the trip out here to the far east of Mongolia. Take a look and happy end of the week!

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-60929943734490968382009-06-04T12:36:00.006+08:002009-06-04T16:19:14.497+08:00

The dudes in Choibalsan I hang out withGreetings from Choibalsan, the town in far eastern Mongolia near the Russian and Chinese borders where Altai has some mysterious business. She took me along in the jeep driven by border patrol officers for the 13 hour drive from Ulaanbaatar last Sunday.Altai returned from her James Bond-style mission to the border last night. She hadn't bathed for three

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-30908725676040735702009-06-02T12:24:00.005+08:002009-06-02T12:56:56.427+08:00

The Huffington Post published my article on observing Mongolia's Presidential election with The Asia Foundation's observation mission. It's up on their world page. Yay!Here is some shaky footage of a Mongolian couple like the ones I talked aboout in the article, coming in their best clothes to vote:

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-82520512677368577032009-05-30T16:28:00.006+08:002009-05-31T07:31:11.315+08:00

Below is the article you can find in the Mongol Messenger that I wrote for the series the Arts Council of Mongolia contributes to the paper each week. Maral and Khishgee, two Mongolian musicians who recently attended Turkey's World Culture Festival “I didn't realize Russian was so useful!” exclaimed one of the 11 young Mongolian artists at the 20th World Culture Festival in Turkey earlier this

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-91948855998947988832009-05-26T14:56:00.003+08:002009-05-26T15:59:08.243+08:00

A busy home stretch, folks! I spent Sunday from around 6am to around 11pm working for The Asia Foundation as an International Observer for Mongolia's presidential elections. A lot of amazing footage and stories, which I'll share with you shortly. The Asia Foundation continues to impress me with its innovative approaches and dogged commitment to supporting democracy in Asia, and just one day

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-34748497424272412752009-05-22T12:00:00.002+08:002009-05-22T13:53:17.408+08:00

I don't know if it's the poet in me, but I get a kick out of the gems to be found amid pages of poor translations. Poor translations don't always make for a bad read. Sometimes they're downright hilarious. And sometimes there are moments of poetry in there. As I've edited (rewritten every sentence) Altai's book I've kept a list of my favorite translation bloopers. Some of them are evocative,

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-9680948339045189342009-05-21T13:57:00.002+08:002009-05-21T14:06:17.508+08:00

Today's blog post is being hosted here, at the blog of wonderful Brooklyn nonprofit Slice Magazine, to which big cheeses like Salman Rushdie have contributed interviews, whose staff N+1 challenges to trivia showdowns with Jonathan Lethem, and which, last but not least, Susan Orlean follows on Twitter! Susan Orlean, people.Their blog "Slices of Life" does profiles of people in about 500 words,

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-35637903763599160862009-05-19T07:06:00.006+08:002009-05-20T09:41:54.568+08:00

(Part V of The Poem That Still Speaks: an Essay on the Poetics of Political Exile)Tumen's niece and her brother arrived during breakfast. I could see Tumen in his nephew's eyes. The nephew was twenty according to himself, nineteen according to his sister. He put mutton in his milky tea; she put cheese in hers. She was, of course, perfect, hair in a swept side ponytail. As a matter of decent of

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-46405793059866877622009-05-16T14:02:00.007+08:002009-05-20T09:30:15.912+08:00

(Editor's Note: that's it, I'm never posting quickly before taking off for a horseriding countryside-overnight again! I managed to post the penultimate draft of Part IV, not the finished one. That's what I get for saving every draft of a piece of writing--it follows I'd at some point post the wrong draft. Anyway here's a slightly more polished read, and sorry to make you guys Be Part Of My

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-78215384492980372912009-05-14T13:27:00.008+08:002009-05-20T09:23:58.692+08:00

(Part III of The Poem That Still Speaks: An Essay on the Poetics of Political Exile)The economic downturn has not hit Mongolia--and the streets of Ulaanbaatar--the way the rise in gas prices did in 2008. There is no discernible rise in crime, and there are several new tourist-oriented places opening up, like the veranda'd Amsterdam Cafe on Peace Street where westerners and wealthy young

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-85724791848785471482009-05-13T21:59:00.011+08:002009-05-20T09:22:49.004+08:00

(Part II of The Poem That Still Speaks: An Essay on the Poetics of Political Exile)In spite of last Saturday's snow this May is warmer than last May in Ulaanbaatar, regularly in the 70s and 80s. The exchange rate has gone from roughly 1,200 Mongolian tugriks per dollar to 1,600, so now the "all boots for 5000t" booth near the Central Post Office on Sukhbaatar Square reads "all boots 6000-8000t".

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-1076212552758496652009-05-13T18:17:00.006+08:002009-05-19T23:53:53.532+08:00

The Poem That Still Speaks: An Essay on the Poetics of Political ExilePart I.I got to Ulaanbaatar knowing it would be cold. Knowing the face of Myangaa, The Asia Foundation's driver, his tall boots, his hearty embrace. Knowing the drive into the metallic air of Ulaanbaatar. Knowing the puke and the used condoms on the street outside the new apartment block in which I stay in Josh's spare room.

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-17484424311053173552009-05-13T13:44:00.004+08:002009-05-13T13:58:45.592+08:00

This morning I had the great pleasure of meeting with Chilaajav, my adorable boss last year and the director of the Mongolian Writers Union and Mongolian Broadcasting. It was wonderful to see him again, even more wonderful than hearing his voice on my Mongolian "handy" (cell phone), which is saying a lot; he always says "I am Chilaajav" when he calls and then says English words in Mongolian

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-82360962883623134892009-05-13T13:18:00.003+08:002009-05-13T13:56:55.932+08:00

Putin is here, people.'Nuff said.I'll certainly share any and all info/footage I can get my hands on...might have to haunt Sukhbaatar Square, since the House of Parlaiment is on the north side of it, though apparently no one but the most inner of circles has been allowed in the building for four days (hearsay, don't quote me).Putin in li'l ole Ulaanbaatar! The Asia Foundation is close by the

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-85917436100984844062009-05-12T17:34:00.002+08:002009-05-12T17:40:21.649+08:00

Goodness! Google news picked Cliterati up after Guido linked to it. The glory!Altai texted me today to say she liked my revisions of her texts a lot. I'm giving story by story her texts to her as I am done with each. This feedback is good news--it means I can go ahead and dig into the edits and trust that the instinct I have for making each piece grammatically correct but also more fluid are

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-59382383576872854362009-05-12T12:38:00.002+08:002009-05-12T12:41:17.223+08:00

The fabulous Guido has offered to host my blog posts over at Mongolia Web's Blog. Anytime a post is tagged "cliterati", that's me! (You know it.) Guido's done great work on the site, which offers up-to-the-minute regional news feeds, so if you're into context, I'd encourage you to check Mongolia Web out.

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-19972845817966350632009-05-11T14:11:00.003+08:002009-05-11T23:04:58.779+08:00

After Dashnyam fed me rice, coffee and whiskey (he joked that Mongolian coffee would have milk, sugar, alcohol and meat pieces in it, in keeping with Monoglia's staple of milky tea and the tendency of Mongolians to put noodles and mutton in it) it was off to the races: Mongolia's Ministry of Justice, where Altai works. I had just finished the read-through and felt once again how lucky I was to

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-57578997255707595592009-05-11T02:48:00.002+08:002009-05-11T02:50:28.353+08:00

Thank you to the New York Times for continuing to shed light on the challenges faced by Chinese dissidents and their families, most recently with this article.

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-27500660018724796652009-05-09T15:46:00.004+08:002009-05-11T02:20:55.451+08:00

I'm sitting in Cafe Nayra, another old favorite haunt for weekend writing, a little orange building where I've met many a backpacker. The shy boy who works here recognized me from when I used to frequent the place and seemed glad to see me. A child is here, begging, and some of my favorite prints of the Ecuadorian painter Guayasimin adorn the walls, including the 6th "Mother Holding Child,"

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-77387531578147388712009-05-08T07:37:00.004+08:002009-05-08T08:50:34.314+08:00

Yesterday I had lunch at the French Bistro (one of the places expats routinely have business lunches and my first haunt for good lattes when I arrived here in September 2007, and Gerhardt is cooking there now, oh boy) with Bill and Altangerel, the author of the collection of short stories I'm editing into good English. Altangerel, or "Altai", is a real dynamo, a calm, lovely woman in her 30s who

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282410705390481950.post-16868312597865832452009-05-07T10:57:00.005+08:002009-05-08T09:39:56.847+08:00

Fittingly enough, my 200th blog post from Mongolia is the first post here on Cliterati Redux, which is basically Cliterati 2.0. Newer, better, shinier? Maybe. Certainly newer. 10 months ago, I was living in Ulaanbaatar as a Luce Scholar, working for the Mongolian Writer's Union as their International Relations Advisor. Cliterati in Mongolia (1.0) chronicles that year--and what a year it was!

Minghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330607932483672429noreply@blogger.com2