Mark Montovio discusses new book ‘Notas de amor… con fe venezolana’

Local author Mark Montovio sat down with Sonia Golt during Gibraltar’s Literature Week to discuss his newly published book ‘Notas de amor… con fe venezolana’.

Described by the Gibraltar Cultural Services as a “love story spanning just over a decade full of hope, desire, sadness and loss,” Mr Montovio appeared live on the GCS’s Facebook page in a morning session of ‘An Audience With…’.

Ms Golt introduced the author following a passage from his prologue which read: “Of course one thing is to fall in love, but it’s another thing all together to love, to love someone so much that you can’t help but shout it to the winds.”

“I’ve known Mark since he was an adolescent and as he has always been a creative person back then he loved dance,” she said.

“Since then I’ve seen him become a photographer, something which is also beautiful and creative, as well as a producer and a director for a host of different shows including fashion shows and beauty contests.”

“Anything which involves creativity he tries.”

Mr Montovio described the book as a “call to arms” for people to express themselves.

The author also discussed how the notion of men being incapable to express themselves is a “big problem” in the world.

“To some extent we have a big problem in the world nowadays which is the rumour that men are unable to express themselves,” he said.

“I don’t agree, I think that men are just as able to express themselves as women are.”

“If you look at the most famous poets who have written about love [they are men] and they spoke about love and expressed themselves and did not have any problems doing so.”

Mr Montovio also stressed the importance that the world stops insisting and pushing this false narrative about men and their supposed inability to express themselves.

“From a young age you are being told ‘boys don’t talk’,” he said.

“You are being told ‘boys don’t communicate’, ‘men don’t open up’ and that ‘there are so many men that commit suicide because they don’t know how to communicate’.”

“That isn’t true. We have to stop insisting that men are incapable of communicating because the more we say it the truer it becomes. It is important.”