President Joseph Biden on Friday revoked a Trump-era executive order issued after the ICC announced it was investigating alleged war crimes committed by all sides in the conflict in Afghanistan, including the US.
Executive Order 13928 of 11 June 2020 imposed economic sanctions against ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division, Phakiso Mochochoko. A separate 2019 policy regarding visa restrictions on certain court staff was also terminated.
“These decisions reflect our assessment that the measures adopted were inappropriate and ineffective”, US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken said in a statement.
In welcoming the decision, the Secretary-General noted that the ICC “plays an important role in advancing accountability for international crimes”, his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement on Saturday.
Ready to re-engage
The Court, which is based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, prosecutes the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
It was established in July 1998 under a treaty known as the Rome Statute, which more than 120 countries have signed. The US is not a party to the treaty.
The ICC also issued a statement on Saturday welcoming the developments from Washington.
“The Court is mindful that the United States has traditionally made important contributions to the cause of international criminal justice,” the statement said.
“The Court stands ready to reengage with the US in the continuation of that tradition based on mutual respect and constructive engagement.”
Whilst there’s a lot that lockdown has prevented us from doing, reading is certainly not on that list. If you’re looking for something new to read, this book launch might be just what you need. The online book launch of Very Much Alive: Stories of Resilience features author readings and musical performances to be enjoyed all from the comfort of your favourite reading spot.
10 April. Free (book can be purchased with your ticket). Online event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/very-much-alive-book-launch-tickets-141610736525?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch
Blake Bailey on Philip Roth with Matthew Klam
Appointed by Philip Roth himself and granted complete access to his personal archive, Blake Bailey has spent years interviewing Roth’s friends, colleagues and Roth himself. With numerous awards under his belt – including an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award, alongside being shortlisted for the Pulitzer – it’s clear why Roth trusted Bailey to tell his story. If you’re interested in learning more about the life and work of Philip Roth, join this online event from Politics and Prose.
8 April. Free (book can be purchased with your ticket). Online event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pp-live-blake-bailey-philip-roth-with-matthew-klam-tickets-146667292821?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch
Holding Court with Alison Weir and Lucy Jago
For historical book fans, join Alison Weir and Lucy Jago as they talk about their novels. Jago’s A Net for Small Fishes has been described as one of the most gripping novels of the last year and is based on a true story. Alison Weir is the biggest-selling female historian in the UK and her series Six Tudor Queens earned her a spot on the Sunday Times-bestseller list.
8 April. Tickets from £5 (books can be purchased with your ticket at a discounted price). Online event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/holding-court-with-alison-weir-and-lucy-jago-tickets-147834082721?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch&keep_tld=1
The British Library: A Virtual Walk through the World’s Collective Memory
For everyone who misses getting to the library, this walk through of the British Library might fill the bookshelf shaped hole. Standing strong as the principal copyright library means it receives a copy of everything that’s published in both the UK and Ireland. What’s more, the library also serves as a museum, with some of the world’s most high-profile written documents on display including Shakespeare’s first folio and Jane Austen’s handwritten manuscripts. Alongside the tour, there will be a special guest to answer any burning questions.
6 April. Tickets form £10. Online event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-british-library-a-virtual-walk-through-the-worlds-collective-memory-tickets-145675325821?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch&keep_tld=1
Taking Stock: The Societal Impact of the 2020 Election
In the lead up to the release of the new book A Return to Normalcy: The 2020 Election That (Almost) Broke America, panelists for this event will be examining what 2020 taught us about the people who run for office in a highly polarised American and how such deep divisions might impact on the future. Panelists include Alan Abramowitz, a professor of Political Science at Emory University; David Byler, data analyst and political columnist for The Washington Post and Madelaine Pisani, a senate campaigns reporter for the National Journal.
If any of the events from the week have got you inspired to try writing yourself, this talk from New York Times besseller Marti Leimbach is just what you need. Leimbach will share her thoughts on the literary habits you need as a writer, the art of writing fiction, as well as giving an insight into the life of a successful writer.
10 April. Tickets from £5. Online event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-art-of-fiction-writing-with-marti-leimbach-tickets-148199425471?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch&keep_tld=1
Virtual Tour – A Room of Ones Own: Virginia Woolf in London
Virginia Woolf had a home in London for almost all of her life, and this tour explores all the places Woolf called home in the city. In particular, the tour will take you to her four Bloomsbury homes, hearing about some of the books she wrote whilst living in Bloomsbury.
9 April. Tickets from £6. Online event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-tour-a-room-of-ones-own-virginia-woolf-in-london-tickets-140263705519?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch&keep_tld=1
Veracruz was the place where Cortés first arrived when he led his men to conquer Mexico. Now, it remains a tourist destination thanks to its many colonial-era buildings and pre-Colombian ruins.
One of the most important colonial buildings in Veracruz is the Church of Our Lady of La Asunción, a hotspot for locals and tourists alike.
“It is a historical church on both a cultural and a religious level. Popular belief is that the temple was made on the command of Hernán Cortés, who arrived on the Holy Friday of 1519 to build the cross,” said Ricardo Cañas Montalvo, director of the Museum of the City of Veracruz.
Veracruz Cathedral is also considered one of the most beautiful churches in the state and gathers hundreds of people each week to celebrate mass. Moreover, the Virgin of La Asunción has been celebrated in the cathedral since the beginning of the 18th century.
It is located at the left of the Municipal Palace, on Mario Molina Street. It has five different areas, with the central one being the largest. It is a dome nearly 118 feet (36 meters) high. On the outside, it has tiles brought from Puebla and is mainly built out of marine coral and quarry stones.
“The material — the architectural backbone of the building, so to speak — is completely made out of coral. The church has a rich background, not only on the religious side, as it also where the pirate Lorencillo locked up the inhabitants of the city to loot the city,” said Cañas Montalvo.
Veracruz Cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin of La Asunción. (Christian Valera Rebolledo / Café Words)
It did not start as a cathedral, as it was a small parish. However, due to the influx of parishioners, Manuel Gutiérrez Zamora, the governor of Veracruz at the time, ordered several expansions to take place, taking care to respect the neoclassical style of the original building.
“The cathedral started as a small construction made out of wood and palm. However, it was burned to the ground and consumed by a fire caused by the church’s lit candles. The church was recreated and expanded to the building we now know it to be in 1731,” said the historian.
The Church is an important sacred place for Mexicans. There are crystal chandeliers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The side chapels are dedicated to Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, Saint Charbel, the Holy Trinity, and Saint Joseph.
“There are many important holy regions in church,” said Ricardo Cañas. “There are historical images of the Virgin of La Merced. It also has a Chapel dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, which was restored some years ago and looks pristine.”
Veracruzans take pride of their cathedral. (Christian Valera Rebolledo / Café Words)
Its main altar has sculptures of baroque ornamentation and a second floor for the church’s choir. Some of the most recommended days to visit the church are in December and Easter, when the choir voices harmonize and complete the parishioners’ religious picture.
Without a doubt, it is a place full of history.
“Another interesting tidbit of information is that the cathedral was the place where the first photograph in Mexico was taken,” said Cañas Montalvo.
Since 2009, the Cathedral has been part of a “rescue plan” organized by the group Rescatamos Catedral A.C. It is a group of experts that seeks to keep the construction clean and tidy, let its history be known, and let the Veracruz population attend various events. The group is headed by Tere Malpica de Estandía and chief architect Flavio Salamanca Güemes.
In 2018, then-speaker for the diocese Father Víctor Manuel Díaz Mendoza reported that the restoration project was going smoothly and as expected, according to the diocese’s official website.
“After the high temperatures ended, with all the cold winds brought by the low temperatures, the humidity rises. It is needed to give the diocese correct treatment so that every possible stain disappears,” said Díaz Mendoza. “We also have to give maintenance to the mechanical equipment, the musical instruments, air conditioning units, and cameras.”
(Translated and edited by Mario Alberto Vázquez; edited by Kristen Butler)
KARACHI: China has allowed a Pakistani firm to export meat to one of the world’s biggest markets after lifting quarantine restrictions, although the neighbouring country expressed concern over hurdles in bilateral economic relationship, it was learnt on Friday.
The Organic Meat Company received an approval from Chinese customs authorities for export of heat treated meat to China.
“The company has pioneered the heat treatment process whereby foot and mouth disease virus can be removed from beef meat,” the company said in a filing with the bourse. “This process will enable us to access more markets for value-added meat products.” China is one of the world’s largest beef consumers and that imports half a million tons annually to reduce gap in demand and supply.
Chinese authorities had imposed quarantine restrictions on Pakistan’s meat which has the world’s lowest price. Pakistan exports beef to Vietnam in bulk and from there it enters into China without any restrictions, according to the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Nasser Hyatt Maggo.
Maggo lamented the bilateral trade figures are not reflecting the narrative of close friendship. There are multiple hidden tariff barriers imposed on trade with Pakistan.
“We don’t have direct relations with importers in China,” he said during a meeting with Chinese Consul General in Karachi Li Bijian and Economic and Commercial Counselor Guo Chunshui.
“China should give Pakistan its due share in Chinese imports to let Pakistani businessmen take benefits by exports to China.”
Javed Ilyas, chairman of Pak-China Business Council said bilateral trade was $18 billion in 2019 after signing of second phase of free trade agreement. Of this, Chinese exports were $16 billion while imports from Pakistan were only $1.9 billion as Pakistani businessmen faced barriers from China.
Amjad Rafi, former president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Pakistani basmati rice is best in the world and in much demanded in Europe. Indian Basmati was banned in the European Union and Pakistan exported $2 billion basmati last year, but Chinese authorities imposed quota on basmati rice.
“If Pakistani exporters are allowed free dealing in China the trade ratio could be enhanced many times,” Rafi said.
The participants discussed the matter of mutual interests and the state of affairs in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Bijian said there are various hurdles in business relations between Pakistan and China. He expressed concerns over safety and security situation for Chinese businessmen and workforce in Pakistan. He also complained about inconsistent economic policies of the government.
Lack of basic infrastructure is also harming trade and industrial relations, he said. Unskilled labours are damaging the business environment. “We spend our money, effort and time in training the labour but after some time they change their loyalties.”
The envoy said Gwadar government has not built any power plant. China is establishing its own electricity sources, which would take time. Karachi is the largest port city “that suits us.”
Finance Minister Tweah and EU Ambassador to Liberia, Laurent Delahousse posed after the openining of the dialogue.
—-Ambassador Delahousse Discloses; ends EU-Liberia Country portfolio performance review
The European Union Ambassador to Liberia, Laurent Delahousse says that EU will remain committed to supporting Liberia in its development efforts.
He said the EU is here to contribute towards Liberia’s developmental agenda mainly in line with the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD).
Ambassador Delahousse made these remarks recently on at the opening of a two-day EU-Liberia Country portfolio performance review in Monrovia.
The EU portfolio review seeks to create a policy dialogue that is part of efforts to improve aid transparency and effectiveness through government’s decision-making.
They also review the portfolio of the European Union funded projects by identifying challenges, lessons learned, and make recommendations for improvement in the implementation for future EU funded projects.
“We do not do it out of the blue sky, but in the framework of regulation of accountability,” Ambassador Delahousse, emphasized.
“In this regard, there are things you can do and there are things you can’t do because we, too, have to account for the taxpayers’ money especially the people of the European Union Countries and many others,” the EU diplomat noted.
According to him, EU delegation is in Liberia to help the government to deliver and to as well address the needs of the people of Liberia.
He said over the next six years ranging from 2021-2027, they are working on their next line of projects in an EU team’s work approach, pointing out that whatever they do is not for themselves but rather for the people of Liberia.
Minister Tweah and Delahousse (middle) along with others at the dialogue.
For his part, Finance and Development Planning Minister, Samuel D. Tweah, has underscored the need for cabinet ministers mainly those in the European Union portfolio performance platform to work hard in ensuring that they improve portfolio delivery.
Minister Tweah challenged officials of government and staff to have a proactive approach in addressing key issues of national concern in the interest of the people of Liberia.
“We should see our own challenge, write about them and find a way to solve them through our development partners”, he added.
He said gone are the days where partners will be demanding and or complaining relevant government ministries and agencies on how to spend their own monies on them instead of the government complaining the partners on making available funds intended to implement development projects for the people.
Minister Tweah made a reference to the Central Bank of Liberia’s delay on debt issue in which he had to make a personal phone call to the World Bank before said issue was addressed, even though the deadline has expired, stressing further that similar thing happens across all sectors of the country and government, pushing for more creative ways to shorting time in fulfilling their respective deliveries.
Appreciating the European Union for its continued support to Liberia, he reminded his colleagues that a development partner like EU wants results and it is incumbent upon them to work together as a government through accountability in order to solve problems of the people.
According to him, the two-day portfolio review is a practical manifestation of the energy the EU brings to help Liberia.
He pointed out that Liberia is under obligation to account for the European Union taxpayers’ money through the delivery of what they do.
“Lots of things are working, but at the same time some things are not working; there are multiple challenges and we need to get on the drawing board to strategize why they are not working and what needs to be done for them to work”, he added.
The Finance Minister stated that the greatest priority of any Government is to enhance the service of the people, thereby providing the citizens the opportunity to realize their dreams in broad areas and sectors of the country.
He reminded his colleagues that they are under obligation to deliver to their people.
Tweah emphasized that government plans and mechanism have to move to the next level in the next three years of the current administration, stressing that practical beginning is now key.
Meanwhile, the dialogue which took place in Monrovia from March 31 to April 1, 2021, was attended by stakeholders, partners and the Government of Liberia to agree on the right balance between the implementation of short and long-term services. It also seeks to build the capacity of institution to work on upgrading the sustainability in project management.
“Our association trained over 300 caregivers, who can empower other community leaders, and ensure that their support groups are effective. In addition, we led an initiative to train a total of 48 rural health motivators in five chiefdoms in the region of Shiselweni, and another group of 20 rural health motivators was trained in the Lubombo region.
WHO/Daniel Toro
Eswatini : How the world’s highest HIV-prevalence country turned around, and in record time.
Even though the lockdown negatively affected our operations, we managed to visit health centers across the country, and we soon discovered that most rural clinics did not have relevant and adequate medication, so we pressed for more of them to made available, working closely with the Ministry of Health.
We have also been in close contact with the United Nations: the UN country team in Eswatini has intensified its effort to help the government procure sufficient stocks of medical supplies at health care facilities in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has supported Diabetes Association Eswatini in developing information and educational materials, helping us to communicate a wide variety of critical issues such as nutrition, coping mechanisms, and prevention.
WHO/Daniel Toro
Eswatini : How the world’s highest HIV-prevalence country turned around, and in record time.
Creating opportunities out of the COVID crisis
When I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2005, I didn’t know how to deal with my condition, and there was no help readily available. I was in a coma for three days and, when I woke up, I told myself that I was going to learn everything there was to learn about this disease. Since then, nothing has stopped me from going the extra mile to fulfil my purpose: spreading my knowledge and helping other diabetic patients. Not even COVID-19.
In this time of economic crisis, we are also helping people with diabetes to improve their livelihoods. For example, I mobilized a group of women in my community to start a textile and handicraft business. I was lucky enough to successfully convince local textile companies to donate waste material to us, that we recycle to produce a lot of useful products that we then sell to the community, including facemasks, soaps and sanitizers.
And we have other plans to help unemployed young people to make a living: a branch of the association in Shiselweni, located in the south of the country, has embarked on a project to establish a vocational centre that will provide them with this skills they need.
We must create a stronger health system to meet the needs of people living with diabetes. There’s a lot of work to do if we are to have a healthier future in Eswatini: we need to invest more in prevention, early diagnosis, screening, treatment, and rehabilitation.”
The proposed colour-coded Nutri-Score labelling system should not be seen as a panacea for consumers to assess the healthiness of food, according to a member of the cabinet of EU’s agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.
On Thursday (1 April), Roberto Berutti, a member of Wojciechowski’s cabinet, spoke at a public event organised by the youth section of Italy’s centre-right party Forza Italia, with which he stood for local public office in the past.
In the event, which was open to all via the Facebook page of the organisers, he was introduced as a member of Wojciechowski’s cabinet although he expressed his personal views on the thorny issue of Nutri-Score that is driving a wedge through Italy and France.
He criticised quite harshly this labelling system as “an important topic that will cause a lot of damage to the Italian agri-food sector.”
In the context of the EU’s flagship food policy, the Farm to Fork strategy (F2F), the European Commission is expected to put forward a proposal for a harmonised food labelling scheme that will also consider the nutritional aspects of foodstuffs.
The labelling framework most likely to get the nod from the Commission is the colour-coded Nutri-Score, developed and backed by France.
The Nutri-Score converts the nutritional value of products into a code consisting of five letters, from A to E, each with its own colour. However, it is seen as penalising some of the core products of the Mediterranean diet.
For this reason, the Italian government has offered the Commission another scheme called NutrInform, based on a “battery-powered” symbol that shows the consumer the nutritional contribution in relation to their daily needs, as well as the correct dietary style.
“The battery system is certainly a much more honest alternative for the legitimate need of the end consumer to know how food is made and from which original products the food they eat is derived,” Berutti said.
He left it to other speakers on the panel to explain the technical aspects and the reasons why there is “an ideological fallacy in describing the Nutri-Score as a panacea.”
According to him, it’s not only the survival of the Mediterranean diet that is at stake.
“They [Mediterranean countries] have to defend all that multitude of excellent products defined by the EU as products with protected designation of origins (PDO) or with protected geographical indication (PGI), which the European Union itself, in a schizophrenic manner, tries to penalise as the common narrative now is that meat is the devil, not to mention alcohol,” he said.
The cabinet to which Berutti belongs is only partially involved in the process, as the task of outlining a proposal for a harmonised food labelling scheme is within the mandate of the food safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.
The Commission’s proposal is due in the fourth quarter of 2022 and will be preceded by an impact assessment and stakeholder consultations.
Speaking of other countries’ behaviour on the promotion of agricultural products, Berutti said that France has been remarkably silent on this issue so far, despite being the largest country after Italy in the EU in terms of PGI.
“It is absolutely strange that the French world is backing the wishes of the Greens, represented in disguise by the chair of the European Parliament’s environment committee [Pascal Canfin], and they are not rebelling against this excessively green wave, which is no longer a green transition but a green revolution,” he said.
He also mentioned that Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who is in charge of delivering the Green Deal, usually talks about the so-called international dimension of the F2F strategy in his meetings with other cabinets.
For Timmermans, the EU should export its model of sustainability to countries like the African ones, teaching them how to do agriculture in a sustainable way.
“Try to think of the examples he cited in many of the meetings we had? I’ll tell you, they were; Nestlé, Unilever, Mondelez and Danone,” he said.
“So if these are the champions of sustainability, my fear is that in the future they will be labelled with the “green” of healthy products, only ultra-processed products that can be graduated in terms of sugar content or fat,” he added.
This will, according to Berutti, end up losing a whole series of elements typical of the Mediterranean food tradition that has proven to be more a harbinger of longevity than many other diets.
“The attempt is to replace products traditionally grown in the field with those grown artificially using hydroponic or vertical garden processes. All this, we must avoid,” he concluded.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — In the weeks after the death of George Floyd, thousands of people flocked to the Sanctuary Covenant Church, an 18-year-old, multi-ethnic church in North Minneapolis, to volunteer. Ten months later, that Church’s lead pastor many of those same people are continuing to stick around.
“They’re constantly asking — when are you guys re-opening because we want this to be our church,” said Sanctuary’s Rev. Edrin Williams. “That’s a good problem to have.”
Sanctuary is bucking the trend of overall declining church affiliation across the U.S. For the first time ever, Gallup found fewer than half (47%) of adults belong to a church, synagogue or mosque. That’s down more than 20 points from the turn of the century.
So, what changed over that 20 years? Good Question.
“There’s at least a couple of different factors,” said Penny Edgell, a professor of sociology who studies religion and non-religion at the University of Minnesota.
She said one reason is that moderately religious or more liberal former church-goers have moved away.
“People began to associate organized religion with political stances they don’t favor,” said Edgell. “Or the idea, it’s controversial, it’s politicized.
Researchers used to point to the lifecycle patterns of religion as a way to explain how younger people reported fewer connections to religion – that young people would move away, but then return to religious organization once they were older and started families.
“It was true for many generations in this country, it’s no longer true,” said Edgell, pointing out people are getting married later and having children later. “So, what that means for a good 10 to 15 years of their lives, they haven’t been involved in a religious institution, so they don’t think to go back.”
Then, there’s the co-hort effect, where people who don’t consider themselves religious are less likely to raise their children as religious.
According to the Pew Research, 16% of people considered themselves atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” By 2019, that percentage jumped to 26%
Experts who follow religious trends believe that U.S. will remain a religious country, but these changes are here to stay.
“It’s hard to see how it changes direction because this is driven by deep and long-term changed in demographics,” Mark Chaves, a sociologist at the Duke Divinity School, who focuses on the social organization of religion.
Edgell said these trends can be seen in churches, synagogues and mosques.
Not all churches in the U.S. are seeing lower numbers. Mega-churches and multi-ethnic churches, like Sancutary, have grown over the last decade.
“We want to be a church that blesses north Minneapolis and the broader Twin Cities,” said Rev. Williams. “That’s who we are and there are so many people who are looking for a place like that to get involved.”
New Delhi [India], April 2 (ANI): Raising the issue of human rights abuses in Tibet, the Centre for Democracy, Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR), in its latest report, has revealed that various individuals and organisations working for the rights of Tibetan people have reported abuses of rights in Tibet that include restricted freedom of religion, belief and association.
The CDPHR report said that the arbitrary arrests, maltreatment in custody, including torture and forced abortion and sterilisation have also been reported.
“The issue of human rights in Tibet is much debated and contested due to lack of credible information allowed by the authoritarian communist Chinese administrative mechanism and the PRC regime. Various individuals and organisations working for the rights of Tibetan people have reported abuses of human rights in Tibet that include restricted freedom of religion, belief, and association,” the report said.
Slamming China, the report asserted that the communist government of China has come under criticism from the international community on the status of religion, mainly as it relates to figures that are both religious and political, such as the exile of the 14th Dalai Lama.
Additionally, the CDPHR said freedom of the press in China is absent, with Tibet’s media tightly controlled by the Chinese leadership, making it difficult to accurately determine the scope of human rights abuses.
On the issue of ‘crushing’ Chinese policies, the report said, “The communist Chinese policies of crushing any political dissent have gravely threatened the Tibetan political and cultural identity as they disregard to the international condemnation of the human rights situation in Tibet.””The PRC demonstrated no intention of following through on its international obligations. Despite signing and ratifying international agreements on human rights, the PRC has acted in contravention,” it added.
Noting the rights abuses in China, the CDPHR suggested that “it is important for the international community concerned for the protection of human rights to recognise the PRC’s betrayal of its international human rights obligations in defending and protecting of human rights in Tibet.”The rights group further said the world community has become increasingly reticent to discuss Beijing’s human rights violations at various international forums due to various intimidation tactics exerted by the communist government of China. (ANI)
NEW YORK — Giancarlo DiTrapano, an avant-garde magazine and book publisher who as the founder of New York Tyrant worked with Atticus Lish, Sam Lipsyte and Padgett Powell among others and proudly defied mainstream trends, has died. He was 47.
A spokesperson for DiTrapano’s family, Lauren Cerand, told The Associated Press that he died Tuesday in New York City. She did not immediately have further details. DiTrapano had a small, but devoted following, and was praised for his willingness to take on writers that the larger publishers shunned.
“He was who you should have wanted to impress, a real person in a world where there are vanishingly few,” the novelist and critic Lauren Oyler tweeted Friday. ”He was exactly what a publisher should be and was going to do so much more.”
A native of Charleston, West Virginia, and graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, he founded New York Tyrant Magazine in 2006 and three years later began Tyrant Books, which he ran out of his kitchen in Hell’s Kitchen. Releases from what became New York Tyrant ranged from a book of photographs of Iggy Pop to Scott McClanahan’s raw “The Sarah Book” and Marie Calloway’s “what purpose did i serve in your life,” a work so explicit that a printing company refused to produce copies of it.
“Tyrant stuff isn’t for everyone, but nothing should be for everyone,” DiTrapano once said.
In 2015, the publisher received broader attention with Lish’s “Preparation for the Next Life,” which won the PEN/Faulkner prize for fiction.
DiTrapano was also a writer who was published in The Paris Review and Playboy among other magazines and co-founded a highly regarded writing workshop that he ran out of his family home in Italy. He is survived by his husband, Giuseppe Avallone; his mother, Martha, and three siblings.
