Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington DC: The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire

Herewith a few photos of the launch event for my new novel the other day in the beautiful music room at the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington DC (Instituto de Mexico). It was an honor indeed to be introduced by the Institute's Director, the Mexican Embassy's Cultural Attache, Alejandra De La Paz, and then by Professor John Tutino, Chair of the History Department at Georgetown University. After his very kind introduction (and some amusing thoughts about how confoundingly complicated 19th century Mexican history is--- and its essentially transnational nature), I read a few sections from The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire--- in particular, the opening, set in Rosedale; the scene with Ambassador General Almonte in the White House levee; and the "high noon" of the Mexican Empire (to quote journalist William Wells), an 1865 ball in Mexico's Imperial Palace. I also talked about how The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is, for several reasons, a very Washingtonian story and at the same time, a story that goes into a very deep vein--- in fact, if tangentially, it is a story about what it means to be Mexican. Some excerpts from my talk:

The Second Empire was an assertion by the French, by the Catholic Church, and a large number of Mexican conservatives, that Mexicans were properly subjects of a crown. The Jaurista, Republican response--- ultimately victorious--- was that, no, Mexicans are citizens. Citizens of a Republic.

The prince as a person is not the main character; rather, it is the prince as the living symbol of an idea--- the idea that the Mexican Empire could continue into the future.

And yet, it is a very Washingtonian story on many levels, for it begins in Washington, with the prince's mother... What all of the histories of the Second Empire have missed is that she was not only a Washingtonian but she was from a very prominent Washington family. She was not an ordinary person. This explains a lot about what happened--- the arrangement she and her husband and his family made with Maximilian and later, when she wanted her little boy back, the wherewithal she had to get up what was truly an international scandal. She took the matter to General Bazaine, Supreme Commander of the French forces in Mexico, then, after her arrest and expulsion from Mexico, all the way to U.S. Secretary of State Seward, then to Paris, to U.S. Minister John Bigelow, who was in constant contact with the highest levels of the French Imperial Government! She even got the matter on the front page of the New York Times-- claiming Maximilian had "kidnapped an American child."

What an honor indeed to see the wife of Mexico's ambassador in the front row! And so many Mexican friends and Mexico buffs and Mexico experts, Barbara Tenenbaum, Andrew Selee, and also the gals from my writers group-- Kathleen Currie, Kate Blackwell (You Won't Remember This), Mary Kay Zuravleff (The Bowl is Already Broken)--- translator of Mexican poetry and amazing poet herself, Brandel France de Bravo (Provenance), travel writer L. Peat O'Neil, visionary librarian Jane Kinney Meyers, novelists Fred Reuss, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Joyce Hackett, Mexican award-winning short story writer Luis Felipe Lomeli, DC's own Poetry Goddess, Kim Roberts, and Dan Vera--- and thanks so much Dan, for sharing these photos of the event. It was also such an honor to see my editor, Greg Michalson, and his partner at Unbridled Books, Fred Ramey--- and last, but most importantly, my husband, to whom the book is dedicated.

The venerable Politics & Prose handled the booksales, and I was very sorry to disappoint friends that they ran out of books!! I understand they have more in the bookstore. (Click here for general information about ordering.)



P.S. All photos are courtesy of Dan Vera.

And for those of you in Washington DC area who don't know the Mexican Cultural Institute, be sure to visit their website and get on their mailing list--- it's such a beautiful venue, close to the metro, and always busy with cornucopia of concerts, shows, readings, cooking demonstrations, and screenings. It is a jewel on the cultural scene here in Washington.

I'll be reading this Sunday at 2 pm at the Writers Center in Bethesda MD--- and more info and more events are listed here. More anon.

Guest-blogger Francisco Aragón on 5 Books of Latino Poetry

My amigo Francisco Aragón, Washington DC-based poet and editor, has been such an inspiration to me. It was his Momotombo Press's beautiful series of Latino poetry chapbooks that inspired me to bring out Tameme's bilingual chapbooks. The other day we were both interviewed by Grace Cavalieri for her radio program, The Poet and the Poem, at the Library of Congress. More about that anon. In the meantime, herewith Francisco's guest-blog post on what's new and noteworthy in Latino poetry. Over to you, Francisco!

From my perch as director of Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, I try to stay abreast of what's new in Latino poetry, particularly among emerging voices. As 2008 winds to a close, I'd like to recommend five titles, stocking stuffers if you will-all published by small presses, where American poetry is at its most vital, in my view. Here they are, with companion commentary:

1. The Date Fruit Elegies (Bilingual Press) by John Olivares Espinoza.
"Espinoza es una espina en el corazón, a thorn in the heart. Gracias Espinoza for writing about our raza with so much sentimiento, so much love. Sometimes the beauty and pain of our stories are overwhelming, and I am grateful when writers like him recognize this responsibility as a privilege."
-Sandra Cisneros

2. Jane-in-the-Box (March Street Press) by Rita Maria Martinez
"Rita Maria Martínez's Jane-in-the-Box is a Rubik's Cube of Janes. Each poem is a smartly annotated hauntingly revisionist homage to Jane Eyre. Martínez's astounding poems are literary, conversational, personal, fun, as she confidently transports her Janes from Moors to Macy's, from Thornfield Manor to the world of tattoos." -Denise Duhamel

3. Please Do Not Feed the Ghost (BlazeVox) by Peter Ramos
"I've lived with these poems for many years-- they've never failed me. Part Plath's black humor, part Stevens's bright obvious, part Hugo's degrees of gray. Please Do Not Feed the Ghost is an exceptional meditation on family, country, friendship, and language-and on the inevitable loves and thefts to which these things give rise" -Graham Foust

4. Little Spells (GOSS 183 / Casa Menendez) by Emma Trelles
"'The beginning should eat the eyes'. With intimate and imagistic language, the start of Little Spells offers a graceful meditation on how to write a poem, drawing us into a poetry collection filled with humor and sorrow and the bright details of a hyphen-American life. Also a journalist, Emma Trelles is a Cuban-American writer accustomed to crossing cultures, and these poems wind with equal ease between a host of settings, and with a lens trained on the magic of the ordinary. Urban hamlets are painted as fables and saints and musicians offer salvation, as do intricate women, the green wilds of Florida and a spry attention to the beauty of words." -Goss 183

5. The Space Between Our Danger and Delight (Beothuk Books) by Dan Vera
"The poetry of Dan Vera is clear, strong, honest and funny. He's the sharp-eyed observer in the corner who doesn't say much, but makes every word count. He handles the political and the personal with equal grace, even as the lines blur. Whether he's ruminating on the perils of bilingualism, giving voice to the bewilderment of his Cuban immigrant family, cursing the censors who tried to repress gay writers over the years, waiting for the late great poet Sterling Brown to turn the next corner in Washington, D.C., or taking delight in things delightful, Dan Vera is damn good company. You'll see. -Martín Espada

--Francisco Aragón

---> For the archive of Madam Mayo guest-blog posts, click here.

Washington DC Writers's Houses

Via Dan Vera's Wonder Machine, his and Kim Roberts's very cool project to photograph Washington DC area writers's residences. Pictured left is Ambrose Bierce's Logan Circle apartment (and click here to read DC area poet M.A. Schaffner's work on Beltway about Bierce.). Here are a few more, yet to be listed, whom I am quite curious about:
--->Frances Calderon de la Barca, author of Life in Mexico
She met her husband, a Spanish diplomat, in Washington
--->Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of the childrens's classic The Little Princess, The Lost Prince, The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy
I believe she lived on Connecticut Avenue.
--->Fanny Chambers Gooch, author of Face to Face with the Mexicans
I know she was in Washington for a time and had many Washington connections.
--->Henry Ridgley Evans, author of numerous works, including Old Georgetown on the Potomac, a biography of Cagliostro, and many on Freemasonry
This high-ranking Freemason and all-around very curious person lived on I Street NW. I have the address somewhere... I came across Evans's works when I was researching Georgetown history for my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. There is an ample collection of his books in the Georgetown Public Library's Peabody Room.
More anon.