Lit/Pub #IV - The Wake Up Issue - Spring2024
The magazine of Professor Andrea di Robilant literary class at The American University of Rome. "Last year’s issue of Lit/Pub was about the slow return to a post-Covid world. This year, the initial theme was dreams – time to get on with it and think about the future. But the more we discussed what to put in the issue, the more it became apparent that a lingering wariness was still in the air, even a certain complacency. Hence the exhortatory title – The Wake Up Issue – which Isabella Klepikoff has deftly captured in the design of this year’s cover: a wolf resting by a Roman fountain. He looks to be resting, but his lively green eyes tell us he is stirring back to action."
The magazine of Professor Andrea di Robilant literary class at The American University of Rome.
"Last year’s issue of Lit/Pub was about the slow return to a post-Covid world. This year, the initial theme was dreams – time to get on with it and think about the future. But the more we discussed what to put in the issue, the more it became apparent that a lingering wariness was still in the air, even a certain complacency. Hence the exhortatory title – The Wake Up Issue – which Isabella Klepikoff has deftly captured in the design of this year’s cover: a wolf resting by a Roman fountain. He looks to be resting, but his lively green eyes tell us he is stirring back to action."
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Sidetracks<br />
Tango at the Jey<br />
By Gian Carbone<br />
<strong>The</strong> interior of the Jey Jazz club was in the shape of a tilted hourglass. <strong>The</strong> front room – a barand-lounge<br />
with red and black walls, and scattered seats and couches – was filling up quickly when I<br />
arrived; the space led to an even more crowded hall where people were craning their necks to catch a<br />
glimpse of the musicians who were getting ready to play.<br />
Veronica Bigliani was at the piano chatting with friends; when strangers came up to her to say<br />
hello she smiled politely. I recognized Edgar Dutary on the other side of the small concert room; he<br />
was wearing a black harness for his tuba which contrasted with his brown vest.<br />
I had met Edgar and Veronica at the Panamanian embassy in Rome while visiting my aunt<br />
who works there. <strong>The</strong>y had told me they were jazz musicians and had invited me to one of their upcoming<br />
concerts. <strong>The</strong>y went by the name Contrast Duo.<br />
Edgar, who plays the tuba, is from Panama City – he was at the embassy that day to get some<br />
travel papers. He is a burly, jovial fellow with brown eyes and close-cropped curly hair. Veronica, an<br />
accomplished pianist, is Italian but was born in San Francisco and has spent much of her life in Asia<br />
(her father is a diplomat). She has a warm smile, blue-gray eyes, and a rich cascade of auburn hair that<br />
turns blond towards the ends.<br />
I told friends about the concert, and a few actually showed up. I spoke to them briefly, and<br />
then wiggled through the choke point, into the hall where Veronica and Edgar were about to start<br />
playing. Half a dozen portraits of jazz musicians holding their trumpets and saxophones hung on the<br />
walls. I made eye contact with Edgar and his face lit up. I started to move in his direction; he swung<br />
through the crowded space with ease, shook my hand, and then guided me back towards his position.<br />
Veronica, who was wearing a white shirt with fringes, was still surrounded by friends; but now<br />
she sat stalwart behind her instrument – an island in the room’s turbulent sea. She smiled and shook<br />
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