Blurbs:

64 Words
From Cross Hill: Views of My Cuba by Richard Marvin Grove is a lovely little travel memoir that will take you places in Cuba where few tourists will ever go. This book includes social commentary on Cuba in the form of letters home, metaphoric true-life stories and well-crafted poems about people and places of Cuba. See Cuba through the eyes of a literary traveller.

332 Words
From Cross Hill: Views of My Cuba by Richard Marvin Grove is a travel memoir in prose and poetry. This book includes social commentary on Cuba in the form of letters home, metaphors and true life stories that will make you love Cuba and at the same time empathise with the political and economic plight that Cubans live with every day. It is clear that Grove loves Cuba and it generous-hearted people but it is clear when reading the micro-prose “Blue Cattle Green Cattle” that the system ruffles his feathers. It is clear from reading “Being in the Garden” that Grove loves the slow pace life of living / being, in Cuba as a writer.

The short story “Compañeros”, a metaphoric dialogue between a pig and a chicken, takes the reader to the Orwellian concept that either one of them will be on the menu tomorrow. Hearing the lady of the farm wringing the dinner bell sends shivers up the spine of the pig and the chicken. Grove will tell you in the story “The Frozen Bus Ride From Havana” that you don’t want to ride for 13 hours standing in a brand new bus delivered from China, especially when the driver does not know how to turn down the air conditioner. Freezing in Cuba was not on this writers mind when he started the journey.

Some of this travel memoir is in the form of poems, “Blown By the Breeze of Hope” and “The Phantom Hand” are powerful metaphors for the realities of Cuban life. Not everything in the book is politically metaphorical in nature though there is always an undercurrent of metaphor even in the poems “Birds of Different Varieties” and “In a Wave of Black They Shattered”. Be sure to read “Makeshift Curlers” if you want to understand the true nature of Cuban ingenuity. Over all this little book is a gem that will tell you the true ins and outs of Cuba and life for the working stiff.

Richard, Marvin Grove's profile page

Author Bio:

Richard M. Grove was born into an artist family in Hamilton, Ontario, on October 7, 1953. With both parents artists and gallery owners he had a unique and early introduction into the world of visual art. His first experience with art was with photography when at the age of thirteen he purchased, with his father’s enthusiasm and help, his first single lens reflex camera. Over the ensuing years, after leaving high school, he studied pottery at Mohawk College, design and pottery at Sheridan College, leading to his graduating in 1984 from the Experimental Arts Department at Ontario College of Art. In 1994 he graduated with honours from the Humber College, Arts Administration diploma course. In 2002 he returned to school to study computer courses relating to publishing.

Since graduating from Ontario College of Art, Richard has exhibited in more than twenty, solo and group exhibitions in Hamilton, Toronto, Boston, Calgary and Grand Prairie. He has his art in over thirty corporate collections across Canada, the most prominent of which are Esso Resources, Continental Insurance, Alberta Energy Corporation and Calgary District Hospital Group. These four companies alone represent a collection of almost thirty pieces of his work. Among the many corporate collections are six commissions of different styles and mediums ranging from pastel on paper to acrylic on canvas.

His photography and digital paintings have been on the cover of numerous books and periodicals. His book of digital paintings and poetry entitled “Sky Over Presqu’ile” was published in 2003, “Substantiality” a book of digital paintings was published in 2006 with a book of photography entitled “Oxido Rojo” released in the fall of 2006 followed by a book of Photography entitled “terra firma”.

Along with his visual art, Richard has been writing poetry seriously for decades and has had over 100 of his poems published in periodicals and has been published in over 25 anthologies from around the world. Including his poetry and photography he has 10 titles to his name. To mention only two of his poetry titles, his book entitled “Beyond Fear and Anger” was released in 1997 and his book published by Micro Prose, entitled “Poems For Jack” was released in 2002. He is also the author of numerous books with metaphysical themes including “The Mind–Body Connection”, “Metaphysical Healing For a Secular Age” and “A Spiritual Study of Body”. You can reach him at writers@hiddenbrookpress.com.

He is an editor and publisher and runs a growing publishing company Hidden Brook Press from which he publishes poetry contest anthologies and books of every genre for authors around the world. Aside from being a published poet, Richard has also exhibited his poetry in acrylic on paper paintings as well as in audio sculptures. For his poetry and prose, Richard has won a few small prizes and honourable mentions as well as a finalist spot in two contest anthologies. For his short stories he has won a top ten prize.

Richard is the founder of the Canadian Poet Registry, an archival information website that lists Canadian poets including: biographical information, their book titles and awards. One can view this website at - http://www.hidden brookpress.com/Registry.htm. He was an active member of the Canadian Poetry Association for ten years serving on the executive for seven years including five as President. He is the founding president of both the CCLA (2004) – Canada Cuba Literary Alliance - www.CanadaCuba LiteraryAlliance.org and the CCLA Federation of Photographers (2006). The CCLA has an international membership and boasts a full-colour literary journal called The Ambassador and a literary e-newsletter called The Envoy. He is the founding president of the Brighton Arts Council and the co-founder of the Purdy Country Literary Festival.

Richard has also been a public speaker MCing poetry readings and other literary events. He has been invited by a number of literary groups as Feature Speaker on various topics in Cuba, Germany, USA, New Zealand and Canada. He was also the Feature Author as publisher/poet in the October 1998 issue of “The Treasure Chest” published out of Virginia, USA and Feature Poet in “Poetry Canada” in 2004.

Richard now lives with his wife, Kim, a writer, editor and teacher, in Presqu’ile Provincial Park situated halfway between Toronto and Kingston, south of the 401 hwy. Their location is a constant inspiration for their work.

Other books by Richard M. Grove
1 – 1997 – Beyond Fear and Anger
2 – 2001 – Poems For Jack:Poems for the Poetically Challenged
3 – 2000 – A View of Contrasts: Cuba Poems
4 – 2006 – The Mind Body Connection
5 – 2003 – Sky Over Presqu’ile
6 – 2006 – terra firma
7 – 2006 – Oxido Rojo
8 – 2006 – Substantiality
9 – 2006 – Cuba Trip
10 – 2006 – A Spiritual Study of Body
11 – 2006 – 1st Edition / 2007 – 2nd Edition / 2009 – 3rd Edition B The Family Reunion
12 – 2008 – 1st Edition / 2009 – 2nd Edition B From Cross Hill
13 – 2008 – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life
14 – 2008 – a trip to banes, Cuba, 2002
15 – 2011 – Trapped In Paradise: Views of My Cuba
16 – 2011 – North of Belleville – photographs by Richard M. Grove – poems by James Deahl
17 – 2013 – The Importance of Good Roots
18 – 2013 – In This We Hear The Light – Photographs by Richard M. Grove – Poems by John B. Lee
19 – 2014 – Destination Cuba

What was said about some of his other books:

About – Trapped In Paradise

I just finished Trapped in Paradise. What a fun ride. Lots of good stuff I'm still chewing on. A delicious gem of a book. I laughed but I didn't cry. Although your vivid description of Cuban poverty and potholes reminded me of how the Japanese tsunami made me feel. Gut wrenching.

Gene

About – Trapped In Paradise

The reader will learn, laugh, think and meditate every mile with them. You will enjoy story after story mixed with a few poems about Cuba on the travels with this “un-put-down-able memoir”. There is a phrase used by the author in the middle of the book, “don't bite off more than you can chew”. With this book I only had to bite once and I was trapped into the paradise of travelling with Tai – or you know him as Richard M. Grove. I enjoyed every page, every mile.

Wency Rosales,

CCLA Ambassador

Cuban author, entertainer

About – The Family Reunion

I just finished The Family Reunion. What an uplifting and warm piece of literature. I could not put it down. I simply devoured it. Thanks so much.

Gene

About – The Family Reunion

I enjoyed The Family Reunion with its cast of unforgettable characters. You have a real knack for making characters come alive, and I had to laugh at some of their quirks. I couldn't help recognizing one or two as folks who turn up at our own extended family reunions every August!

Peggy Dymond Leavey

author of Laura Secord, Mary Pickford,

and nine novels for young readers.

About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life

Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life is written in the voice of hope. Sad and frustrating moments turned my thought to the value of life.

James T. Fisher

Author, teacher

About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life

Grove constructs a wonderful personality in a narrator who comes across as both interesting and pleasing to read. His dialogue is natural and never seems forced. Grove creates (or perhaps captures) an ensemble of characters who are fashioned with a skillful and sensitive hand. This is a collection about life full of stops and starts, but the overwhelming feeling of the natural procession of things is never lost. There is a tremendous emphasis placed on the passing of time. The reader is never free from the constant ticking of the clock, placing each second steadily behind us. The stories must continue… making the book a delightful and enjoyable read.

Anthony Donnelly

Author, Editor

About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life

In the preface, Grove describes his own journey through life with times of psycho babble and consternation to a place of relative peace and harmony, “All of the other stories and poems … are about the cycles of life, challenges and growth.” Most of Grove’s characters are struggling to make sense of their lives and ease the perpetual pain they live in. Grove has successfully found a way to tell of his own life experiences without preaching or whining and that’s a challenge all writers face.

Merle Amodeo

Author of, Call Waiting

About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life

This is a thought provoking, well crafted book, that will make you stop and realize that life is worth living and we are all in a better place than what suicide can offer.

Jill Anderson,

High school teacher, reader and want-to-be writer

About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life

I found it hard to reconcile this rather dark collection of short stories, vignettes, and poems with his natural ebullience and general joie-de-vivre. This book therefore, becomes an even more telling account of the stark fears that even the most high spirited of us must overcome, not only to be successful, but to merely get through our daily grind.

Grove skirts the boundaries of personal experience and relationships that have heavily influenced the writing… I wish to thank Mr. Grove for reminding me of what a hard challenge it is to do that. Ah...but that may have been his Machiavellian motive after all!

Shane Joseph

author of Fringe Dwellers

and Redemption in Paradise

About – The Importance of Good Roots

Richard M. (Tai) Grove’s collection of short stories and poems, encapsulates both image and imagination. Some of the writing within contains analogy pointing to the parallels of the seeming differences between things and of how those lines meld and melt. The novella at the book’s end is captivating, philosophical and metaphorical.

Bruce Kauffman,

poet, editor, writer, spoken word radio host,

author of three books of poetry.

About – The Importance of Good Roots

Here is a collection of poems, short fiction and a novella. Most of the poems celebrate the beauty of nature in an adult and detailed way. Grove's poetry is accessible, beautifully crafted and memorable. The images and words stay with the reader.

The novella in this collection, ‘The Importance of Good Roots’  is well written and uses the novella form to perfection. He acknowledges the past, embraces it and used it to become a good person. The writing is tight and detailed. There is a playfulness in many of the short stories. They leave the reader feeling that the day will be good and that there is hope. This is a well-balanced collection.

Jennifer Footman,

editor, writer and teacher,

has four collections of poetry and short stories

About – The Importance of Good Roots

This is a delightful, gem of a book, a well crafted collection. Themes of life and death are never far from Grove's penetrating pen. I thoroughly recommend this rather eccentric, combined-genre-work, particularly if you like to chill-out with a good fictional read.

Reviewed by Rob Harle

Writer, Editor, Reviewer

www.robharle.com