AUTHOR

JOHN SARABIA

TRANSLATED BY

MARI OTTA

THEY ARE NUTS!

John Sarabia began attending classes at the University of Arizona when he was 14 years of age. When he was 16, he met poet and author Rita Garitano whom he studied under and his love affair with writing began. Like many gay men, he also studied theater and dance which heightened his sense of drama and timing. Before leaving college he had written, directed and produced a full length musical and a one man comedy show which he toured in Arizona. He went on to write several plays which were produced and performed in sold out theaters throughout the state. His knack for story telling and understanding his audience is one of his greatest gifts. John also performed as Master of Ceremonies in a show which he and best friend Mari designed. It was a huge success and ran for over 10 years in Chicago. It was also the first live theater event of it’s kind to be “simulcast every week on the worldwide web”. (That is old-school for live feed on the internet.) Those improvisational performances forced John to sharpen his storytelling skills. He excelled at captivating his audiences. Whether working on the script for next week’s show or creating prose and poetry in a journal, John was always writing. He sits at his computer without fail for hours and hours everyday. To date he has completed three books and has already begun plans for his fourth.

Mari Otta attended El Instituto Miravalle in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. She studied Italian and Portuguese at the University of Arizona where she graduated with a B.F.A. Mari put her language skills to use when she designed a special therapeutic workshop for the children of the Tohono O’odham Nation to deal with abusive situations. She taught theater and dance at the Tucson High Magnet School and the Academy of Ballet in Arizona. She also worked as an instructor at the Ruth page Center for the Arts in Chicago. She was employed as a certified translator of legal documents in Chicago for Abstone, Laley, DeNio Inc. She has also produced several Chicago based projects in film and theater.