Class and Conflict on the Other Side of the World

Here's what I'm up to this week, with three other novelists:

April 8, 2010 Denver CO
Associated Writing Programs Conference
Panel discussion: "Class and Conflict On The Other Side of the World"
10:30 AM to 11:45 AM
Scheduled Room: 210, 212 - Colorado Convention Center
R137. Class and Conflict on the Other Side of the World.
Panel Participants: Masha Hamilton, Thrity Umrigar, C.M. Mayo, Rishi Reddi.
As we become more globally linked, the role of fiction in providing a human and humane glimpse of "the other" becomes more important. But it is a challenging task. How do writers develop confidence to tell stories of cultures and countries where they don't reside? Why are such stories critically important? Authors—- who between them write about everywhere from Asia to the Middle East to Africa to Mexico—- explore this issue.

I'll post my notes on this soon. I plan to discuss a few scenes from The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire and, if there's time, talk a bit about the Reglamento y Ceremonial de la Corte, second edition, 1866. Read a few pages of that extraordinary tome here.

More anon.