Edward Swift Interview: The Big Thicket, New York, the Orphic Journey, San Miguel de Allende, the Sierra Gorda, and more

From my Conversations with Other Writers Podcast, a new transcript, from the 2012 interview with artist and writer Edward Swift. 

>>Listen to the podcast here.<<

C.M. Mayo: Edward Swift is one of my very favorite writers. I didn't come across his work until fairly recently, however. We met in Mexico City— I think it was in 2009— at an exhibition of our mutual friend, the Mexican painter Mariló Carral. Because Mariló went on about it, I got myself a copy of Edward's memoir, My Grandfather's Finger. And I have to say, it was such a good read that every time the subject comes up I get ridiculously effusive, and I've recommended it to almost every writer I know, and lots of other people, too, and well— we'll be talking quite a bit about this very unusual memoir in the interview.

Edward is also the author of several novels: Splendora, Principia Martindale, A Place With Promise, The Christopher Park Regulars, Mother of Pearl, Miss Spellbinder's Point of View, and most recently, The Daughter of the Doctor and the Saint. I'm going to read to you a little bit from his website, edwardswiftartist.com.

"Edward Swift made his debut as a novelist in 1978 with Splendora, which the Houston Chronicle praised as one of the year's best comic novels. He has since written five other acclaimed novels, as well as a memoir, My Grandfather's Finger.

Of Splendora, The Washington Post says, "Splendora reads like an exuberant fairy tale about a young man's search for himself." And writing in The New York Times book review, Anne Tyler wrote, "Edward Swift has a particular gift for capturing the continuous low musical murmur of small town gossip. He knows how stories seem to grow on their own, drifting almost unnoticeably toward the mythical."

And of A Place With Promise— which received glowing reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Boston Globe, and many others— in the Los Angeles Times Carolyn See (no easy customer, by the way), writes, "A Place With Promise is a dignified, stately, intelligent book, everything a novel should be."

[MUSIC]

C.M. Mayo: It's the morning of February 22, 2012, and I'm in San Miguel de Allende with Edward Swift, and you might hear some chickens crowing, and children playing, and I don't know what. We have a lot of sounds going on here, and that's just the way it is.

We're in his workshop by his house— and I'm going to ask a lot of questions about the house, because it has a great story. So Edward, I am so happy to see you! I am so happy to be here to talk to you! This is really a thrill and an honor.

Edward Swift: Well, it's a thrill for me too. What in the world do you want to talk about?

C.M. Mayo: What in the world do I want to talk about? You have so many books. You have so many books! The one I love the most is My Grandfather's Finger, because it's the first one that I read by you. And you have a new novel, The Daughter of the Doctor and the Saint. You have several other novels, Splendora, A Place With Promise, and other books. And you have such an interesting life. But let's talk starting with page three of the essay that you wrote for Gulf Coast.

Edward Swift: What's on page three? I have no idea!

C.M. Mayo: [Laughs] "Come In, Mr. Proust: Remembering Marguerite Young." This is one of the most beautiful essays by a writer about his mentor, about learning to be a writer, that I have ever read.

Edward Swift: Thank you. Marguerite Young was very special to me. I sought her out. I read her book and it spoke to me, and I knew immediately that I had to not only know her, but study with her.

C.M. Mayo: And you studied with her for a long time.

Edward Swift: Four years in class at the New School for Social Research, and outside of the classroom we remained very close for about six years. And I met her for coffee almost every week, sometimes twice a week, down in the Village in New York in a little place called Reichert's, and then later on in a coffee shop called Pennyfeathers. And I was one of Marguerite's children until I was about 35 years old.

C.M. Mayo: So this was in the '70s.

Edward Swift: Yes, the early '70s.

C.M. Mayo: Greenwich Village, New York City.

Edward Swift: Yes.

C.M. Mayo: A very exciting time to be in New York.

Edward Swift: Well, it was the very last of the bohemian period in New York. Bohemian life was still alive in the Village. Now it is not. It is far too expensive now for artists to be able to move into the Village, so it's become very gentrified and full of families, and Wall Streeters, and people with a great deal of money who can afford those old brownstones and old apartment houses that we used to live in that cost nothing.

C.M. Mayo: And now they're several million dollars.

Edward Swift: Now they're several million dollars.

C.M. Mayo: [Laughs] You wrote in this essay that the image of the whale was of supreme importance to her. Quote, "To be swallowed up by the world and regurgitated, reborn with enlightenment, that," she said, "is the way of the artist. Some of you go into the whale but never come out again. Some of you go in and come out, but haven't the slightest idea you've entered another room. You walk through the door without seeing the portal."

You've been an artist for many, many years. You have written book after book after book. Your know, most people want to write a book, and never write it. Or they write it, and then it's such a searing experience they give up. But you have kept at it, and kept at it, and kept at it, and you also make art. You really are an artist, decade after decade. Do you think it's being swallowed up by the whale? 

[CONTINUE READING]

Edward Swift in San Miguel de Allende: 

How to Build a House Without Losing Your Mind

Sonja D. Williams on Writing 

Word Warrior: Richard Durham, Radio, and Freedom

It's Not Like Making a Peanut-Butter-And-Jelly Sandwich 

But It's Not Rocket Science, Either, 

or: How I Made My POD (And You Can, Too)

Conversations with Other Writers Podcast Archives

San Miguel Writers Conference, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, February 10-14, 2016

I'll be doing a workshop on Podcasting for Writers and participating on a panel on historical fiction (re: The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire) for the 11th annual San Miguel Writers Conference. Over the years it's grown into something truly remarkable: one of the best writers conferences anywhere in North America. 

+ For updates about the 2016 conference schedule, be sure to sign up for their mailing list. 

+ Better yet, sign up for my mailing list.

+ Your COMMENTS are always welcome.

Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion on National Public Radio

C.M. Mayo's List of Recommended Books on Mexico

10 Tips to Help You get the Most from Your Writing Workshop

"Giant Golden Buddha" and 364 More Free 5 Minute Writing Exercises

C.M. Mayo reads for PEN San Miguel: 

The President of Mexico and His Secret Book

Restituto Rodriguez and an excerpt from The Museum on the Parque Juárez

Reading Tonight for PEN in San Miguel de Allende (Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution)

***UPDATE: Podcast recording of this event now available. >>LISTEN HERE<<

This evening in San Miguel de Allende in Bellas Artes at 6 PM I will be discussing my new book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual. 

The small admission charge of 100 pesos benefits PEN International San Miguel Center, one of the 145 centers of PEN International, the worldwide association of writers with centers in 104 countries, to promote friendship and intellectual cooperation among writers everywhere, fight for freedom of expression and represent the conscience of world literature.

President of Mexico Francisco I. Madero
and the First Lady, Sara Pérez de Madero

Back in late 2011 for the Author's Sala and again in 2012 for PEN and SOL Literary Magazine, I spoke in San Miguel de Allende about my translation of Madero's Spiritist Manual; this time I'll be talking about much more from my all-new book about that book--  including some revelations about Madero's personal library of esoterica and the mysterious German-Mexican spy Dr. Arnoldo Krumm-Heller, among others on the esoteric scene.

The cover of Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution features San Miguel de Allende artist Kelley Vandiver's "Gerbara and Eye". And another San Miguel de Allende connection: the opening pages of my book, the chapter "Roots, Entanglements, Encounters," are in SOL Literary Magazine's latest issue, (thanks, Eva Hunter).

Herewith, my article for San Miguel de Allende's Atención which, thanks to Huertista duendes, I guess, did not make it into this week's issue:

MADERO’S SECRET BOOK

When Halley's comet, that star with the quetzal's tail, flared across Mexican skies in 1910, it heralded not only the centennial of Independence, but a deeply transformative episode, the Revolution launched by Francisco I. Madero on November 20, what Javier Garciadiego calls “the true beginning of a process, the birth of the modern Mexican state.” The great chorus of Mexican historians agrees. And yet, almost unknown and curious as it may sound, a vital taproot of this revolution lies in the Burned-Over District of New York state.

So opens my book about Francisco I. Madero’s secret book, Manual espírita, which he wrote during the Revolution of 1910 and brought into circulation in 1911 when President-Elect— but under a pen name, “Bhima,” taken from the Hindu holy book, the Bhagavad-Gita. When I happened upon the Manual espírita in Madero’s archive in the National Palace, I knew at once I should translate it. A literal translation was an easy task, but understanding its metaphysics, origins, and rich esoteric context, required years more of reading and archival research—  including multiple visits to the remains of Madero’s personal library. That little-known library, housed in Mexico City’s Centro de Estudios de la Historia de México, turns out to be one the most outstanding collections of 19^th century and early 20^th century esoterica in the Americas, comprising many extremely rare volumes from authors such as Annie Besant, Madame Blavatsky, Maestro Huiracocha (Dr Arnold Krumm-Heller), Camille Flammarion, Dr. Peebles, and Swami Vivekananda.

My book about Madero’s secret book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution, is an odyssey in three senses:  Madero’s own, from norteño merchant prince to Spiritist medium, gun-slinging revolutionary, President of the Republic and, ultimately, martyr; my own; and the reader’s— for I assume most know little or nothing of Madero’s life and political career, nor of the Spiritism Madero encountered as a student in late 19^th century France, and less of that religion’s roots in Upstate New York.

As Mexican historian Enrique Krauze writes in his seminal 1987 biography, Francisco I. Madero: Místico de la libertad, “Politics does not displace Spiritism: it is born of it.” In other words, we cannot understand Madero and the 1910 Revolution without taking into account his Spiritist beliefs and his mediumship. Neither can we understand his beliefs without reference to his own statement, which is his ardent and thoroughly astonishing Spiritist Manual. 

# 

Article for ATENCION, San Miguel de Allende, January 2015, apropos of C.M. Mayo’s reading for PEN International San Miguel Center, January 13, 2015. Her new book, which includes her translation of Madero’s Manual espírita,  is Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual (Dancing Chiva, 2014). The book is also available in Spanish, translated by noted Mexican novelist and poet Agustín Cadena as Odisea metafísica hacia la revolución Mexicana, (Literal Publishing, 2014), together with a transcript of the original Manual espírita.

Why Translate? The Case of the President of Mexico's Secret Book

(Talk for the American Literary Translators Association, 2014)

Lifting the (Very Heavy) Curtain on the Leader of Mexico's 1910 Revolution

Arnold Krumm-Heller (1876-1949) and Francisco I. Madero (1873-1913):

Some Notes on Sources

Una ventana al mundo invisible (A Window to the Invisible World):

Master Amajur and the Smoking Signatures

Dr Yolia Tortolero and Her Path-Breaking Work on Francisco I. Madero,

El espiritismo seduce a Francisco I. Madero

Cyberflanerie: Writerly Whatnot & Miscellaneous Missives Edition

Michael Hyatt says imprints don't matter. Interesting argument, possibly valid. For the general reading public, certainly valid.

Learn about my one day only Literary Travel Writing workshop to be held at the Writer's Center, Bethesda MD on Saturday October 11th.

Updated and redesigned webpage: Giant Golden Buddha & 365 more Free 5 Minute Writing Exercises.

My amigo novelist Peter Behrens (and guest-blogger for Madam Mayo) sends this message:

"I'm leading a 5-day writing workshop next month at a retreat center on the west coast. Cortes Island isn't easy to get to, but it sounds like an amazing place. A few spots still open: I'd be very grateful if you could fwd the link to people who might be interested. http://www.hollyhock.ca/cms/Peter-Behrens.html There will be no chanting in my workshop." 

And my San Miguel de Allende writer amigo (and guest-blogger for Madam Mayo) John Scherber writes:

"My new book on the expat experience offers an intimate look at issues everyone thinking about settling in this historic town must consider. Health care, cost of living, crime, housing, and many others are answered with frankness and insight. Available in print, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and iTunes formats." 

Speaking of San Miguel de Allende, I'll be opening the season for PEN San Miguel on January 13 at 6 pm. Be there or be cuadrado.

New on the blog roll: travel writer and blogger Francis Tapon, new on the blogroll (over to the right and scroll on down)

Holly Brady, former director of the Stanford Publishing Course,  suggests the best fonts for books covers and the best fonts for book interiors.

===>>>COMMENTS always welcome. And you are also most welcome to sign up for my newsletter.


SURF ON:
>MADAM MAYO
> Cyberflanerie: Epic Travel Edition
> Cyberflanerie: Fun in Mexico Edition
>>>>>AND ON THE HOME PAGE, WWW.CMMAYO.COM
>>>>> Updated and redesigned page on recommended reading for creative writers
>>>>> Marfa Mondays: Cynthia McAlister with the Buzz on the Bees

Cyberflanerie: Nonmexicans in Mexico Edition

Patrice Wynne, owner of San Miguel de Allende's Abrazos, did this fascinating podcast interview on living and doing business in Mexico. Patrice has such a beautiful and brilliant spirit. Don't miss this!

Am I the only one who always wondered what happened to Toller Cranston? I note that his San Miguel de Allende compound is up for sale. More about the exuberantly creative Mr Cranston here.

Speaking of Mexico, Good Food in Mexico City blog alerts us to Coyoacán's fabulous mega feria de tamales.

Graham Mackintosh

Ed Zieralski of the Union-Tribune San Diego reports on my amigo Graham Mackintosh's new south of the border adventure. Feliz viaje, Graham!
(P.S. Check out Graham's guest-blog for "Madam Mayo" here.)

Metaphysical Traveler blog tips us to the Mayan leprechauns, the aluxes.
(P.S. I guest-blogged for Metaphysical Traveler recently, about table tipping a la mexicana.)

This February 7 at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington DC, Edward Sullivan will give a talk entitled "Dreamscapes," about art by Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and other surrealists in Mexico. RSVP here.
(P.S. Listen to my podcast about some of these artists, with author of Villa Air-Bel, Rosemary Sullivan, here.)

Comments

World Waiting for a Dream, Reading for PEN San Miguel January 29

Pinto Canyon Rd, looking towards Mexico

I'm reading for PEN San Miguel in San Miguel de Allende this Tuesday January 29th @ 6pm, from work in progress, World Waiting for a Dream... Lots of good reasons for that title, but I'm really bamboozled about the subtitle.

1. Travels in the Big Bend?
2. Travels Far West Texas?
3. Travels in the Big Bend of Far West Texas?
4. Journey in the Big Bend of Borderlands Far West Texas?

ayy, blimey

Maybe right now... #4

Who's the guy in the photo? That's Charlie Angell, Big Bend expert and expedition guide. Don't go snerging around the Rio Grande without him. Listen in to my podcast interview with him here.

>Read more, and listen in anytime to the podcasts-- so far 9 out of 24-- at Marfa Mondays.
Including interviews with rock hound Paul Graybeal, desert pollinator expert Cynthia McAlister, artists Avram Dumitrescu and Mary Baxter, and more.

>More about the event here.

I will probably talk a bit about Cabeza de Vaca, the ghost lights, and glorious Swan House. Hope to see you there!

World Waiting for a Dream: Travels in Far West Texas

The work-in-progress, begun back in January of this year, finally has a title: World Waiting for a Dream: Travels in Far West Texas. Of course, it opens with the arrival of Cabeza de Vaca in La Junta, a dreamlike sequence if there ever was one. I'll be reading from the manuscript and talking about travel writing on January 29, 2013 for PEN San Miguel de Allende. Stay tuned for details.

Meanwhile, listen in any time to the ongoing Marfa Mondays podcasts which, so far, include interviews with art expert and museum curator Mary Bones, artist Avram Dumitrescu, Big Bend wilderness expert Charles Angell, Chihuahuan Desert bee expert Cynthia McAlister, Rock hound Paul Graybeal of Moonlight Gemstones, and Yours Truly recounting some super weird experiences with the Marfa Lights. And... I've got several more podcasts in line to upload this month and next. There will be a total of 24 podcasts through the end of 2013 at which point I expect I'll have a complete draft of the book. Which may look nothing like the podcasts. A ver qué tal.

Want to be notified? I welcome you to sign up for my newsletter.

View previous newsletters here.

Cyberflanerie: Besquare, Sandell Morse in Ascent, Pond on Pond, Cloud Terrace, and an Open Letter from Patrice Wynne

Besquare, Craig Lockwood's collection of creative talks. (Sandwich-time worthy indeed!)
Here's his own intro.

"Hiding," a new essay by Sandell Morse in one of my favorite literary journals, the now on-line Ascent.

Pond on Pond by Meredith Pond
A fun and thoughtful blog by my fellow Writer's Center member and Baja Buff.

Cloud Terrace, art installation through Fall 2012 at Dumbarton Oaks
By Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot.
This fairy-like natural light show is located within the gardens in "Arbor Terrace," which was originally designed by Beatrix Ferrand (Edith Wharton's niece) in the 1930s and subsequently redesigned by Ruth Harvey in the 1950s. If you're anywhere near Washington DC this fall, be sure to check this out.

And an open letter from the fabulous Patrice Wynne, beautiful creative spirit and book angel of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico:

Dear Community, 

You are joyfully invited to my Birthday Fiesta, Store Sale, and Fundraiser at Abrazos featuring San Miguel Designs, for a 3 day celebration, Thursday, October 4th and Friday, October 5th, from 9am to 8pm, and Saturday October 6th, 9am to 12pm.  

Abrazos is located at Zacateros 24, near Pila Seca in San Miguel. We are known as the apron store of San Miguel, but our collection now includes over 35 cool creations, all made with Mexican themed fabrics by local, talented, hard working seamstresses. Come visit us! 

As many of you know, I have been seriously ill and recuperating at LifePath Center for a month. This event marks my return to Abrazos. Nothing would make me happier than to share these days with you to celebrate my birthday, to introduce you to our new designs and creations (dresses, pillow cases, covers for electronics, shoulder bags), to lure you to our new sale section (some items up to 50% off!), to have a heckofa lot of fun and to raise some income to cover my self insured medical expenses. 

There will be food and drink in abundance, birthday cake, and original gifts with purchase of 150 pesos or more. 

If you cannot attend, there are other ways to connect with Abrazos featuring San Miguel Designs : via Facebook, Pinterest, and our website. To place an order from our website, send your Wish List in the Contact section. 

Website: www.sanmigueldesigns.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbrazosSanMiguel Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sanmigueldesign/  

Please invite your friends, mil gracias. I hope to see you here, and to exchange abrazos in Abrazos, or to meet you online! To Life! 

SALUDos, Patrice 

A Conversation with Artist and Writer Edward Swift

So why, when, where, and how am I podcasting? Read all about my Conversations with Other Writers podcasting series here.

New podcasts:

Edward Swift, artist and writer based in San Miguel de Allende, on the Orphic journey, Marguerite Young, the Big Thicket, the wonders of the Sierra Gorda, My Grandfather's Finger, The Daughter of the Doctor and the Saint, on being an ABT flower man, his house designed by Jesus Zarate, among a whole bunch of other things! This one hour plus interview with one of my very favorite writers was splendid fun.

>>Listen in right here.

>>Previous conversations with other writers: Sara Mansfield Taber, Solveig Eggerz, and Rosemary Sullivan.

Also new:

Abbreviated podcast-- just Yours Truly talking about my translation of Francisco I. Madero's secret book of 1911-- of the PEN / SOL Literary Magazine Reading Series event, February 22, 2012 in San Miguel de Allende is now on-line.

>> Listen here.

Astral Projection, Interplanetary Reincarnation (and Way More!)

Working on the website for the Spiritist Manual, my translation of Francisco I. Madero's 1911 secret book, Manual espírita. Read all about it here.

Watch the plummy new video here:


I'll be presenting and discussing my translation of this most unusual work in San Miguel de Allende next Thursday November 10th at the Author's Sala reading series.

The book will be available as an e-book, both PDF and Kindle. (And a print edition? Stay tuned.)

San Miguel Writers Conference February 2012 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

I'm teaching the two day only "Techniques of Fiction" workshop this time. Click here for more information.

My other workshops for 2011 and 2012 are listed on my workshop schedule. It's a bit sparse this year, as I'm working on a new novel (when that will be ready only the Muses know) and the prologue to Madero's Spiritist Manual, which comes out this November.

Get my free e-book C.M. Mayo on Creative Writing: The Best from the Blog here. Recent posts on creative writing not in this e-book include

>>Decluttering Your Writing: The Interior Decoration Analogy

>>The Arc of Writerly Action
From a panel discussion on writing historical fiction, American Independent Writers Association Conference, held at the Writer's Center

>>Language Overlay: A Technique of Fiction
A very simple yet very effective technique I learned from novelist Douglas Glover

More anon.

Podcast Now Live: C.M. Mayo at "PEN Writers Aloud" in San Miguel de Allende

Here's the podcast from my recent reading and discussion of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire as part of the PEN Writers Aloud Reading Series in San Miguel de Allende last week. The reading was co-sponsored by SOL Literary Magazine.


Relevant links:

---> PEN Writers Aloud Reading Series

---> SOL Literary Magazine

---> The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire

---> El último príncipe del Imperio Mexicano

---> Full archive of my podcasts

More anon.

Report from San Miguel de Allende

Think art colony + sunshine + pedestrian paradise (if you're wearing flat shoes, that is)... Oh, all the pink puffs of bougainvilleas against pure blue sky! I managed to reach escape velocity from Mexico City for a brief visit to San Miguel de Allende apropos of a reading of my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which took place in the gloriously pink and coral-red Salon Quetzal of the Biblioteca, sponsored by PEN San Miguel and SOL Literary Magazine.

+++
UPDATE:
PodCast is now live at podomatic.com
+++

Thank you, Eva Hunter, for the introduction, and Bill Pearlman, for all you do to organize this splendid reading series. Lucina Kathmann and Edward Swift, it was a delight to see you there. Edward-- everybody listen up! -- has a new novel about to come out, and it features Nezahualcoyotl's poems and stunning cover art by Kelly Vandiver. Edward's novel is one I am eagerly looking forward to reading, for I am a must-tell-EVERYBODY fan of his extraordinary memoir of growing up in the Big Thicket, My Grandfather's Finger. It was also a happy surprise to meet my fellow Unbridled Books author, George Rabasa, author of The Wonder Singer, whose new novel, Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb, is about to come out this spring. And Mariló Carral, Marisa Boullosa, and Lulu Torbet, wonderful artists, I send you besos.

P.S. I'll be back in San Miguel de Allende later in February for the San Miguel Writers Conference, for which I'll offering the mini-workshop on "Techniques of Fiction."

Also of note: My amiga writer Gina Hyams will be giving a workshop on blogging. Check out her bodacious blog! For anyone interested in starting or improving their blog, this is a terrific opportunity.


And here's the Q & A that didn't make in time for the announcement in San Miguel de Allende's local paper, Atención:

Three Questions for C.M. Mayo

Q: Why did you decide to write about this period of Mexican history?

A: I was so surprised to learn that the mother of the prince of the title– Agustin de Iturbide y Green (1863-1925) – was an American. I am also an American married to a Mexican, one very distantly related to her mother-in-law, so I was curious to learn more about her, how she came to Mexico and what made her agree, at first, to collaborate with Maximilian von Habsburg. When I started to delve into reading about the period and about her, however, I quickly found so many contradictions, mysterious distortions and vagueness, that I realized her story, and that of her son, had never been properly researched. I also felt it is an important story, for both Mexicans and Americans.

Q: As the author of nonfiction books, two on finance and a travel memoir of Baja California, how did you make the transition to writing fiction?


A: I made an effort to learn the craft of fiction through taking workshops, reading books on craft, and then re-reading novels, not as consumer wanting to be entertained, but as as a fellow craftsman, actively noting, for example, how does Chekhov describe the snow? Or Tolstoy, a dress? Lampedusa, a dance? Flaubert, a sense of joy or despair? How do they handle dialogue, transitions, building suspense? And so on. It was really as simple– and as difficult— as that.

Q: Which authors have most influenced your writing?


A: For this novel, the most influential was Guiseppi di Lampedusa's richly splendid novel, The Leopard, which covers a similar period in Sicily. For the flexible narrative voice and language I learned from Henry James’s Portrait of A Lady and Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country and for structure, her tragic novel The House of Mirth. Contemporary influences include A. Manette Ansay, Kate Braverman, Bruce Chatwin, Ted Conover, Douglas Glover, V.S. Naipaul, and oh, so many others. Everyone in Mexico asks me if I’ve read Fernando del Paso’s Noticias del Imperio. The answer is, other than a very few pages which I translated for my anthology, Mexico: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, no, and not because I am unaware that it is considered one of Mexico’s greatest novels. Del Paso covers the same period and many of the same characters, and I wanted to have a clear conscience that my novel is my own. So now I have to read it!

More anon.

PEN WRITERS ALOUD Speaker Series, San Miguel de Allende

In San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Hosted by Bill Pearlman.

PEN SAN MIGUEL & SOL Magazine’s WRITERS ALOUD SERIES FIFTH YEAR
WEDNESDAYS FROM 3:00 to 4:30 PM
In the Sala Quetzal of the Biblioteca

January 5====Hal Johnson and Lynda Schor
The series begins with iconic poet Hal Johnson and prose stylist Linda Schor.

January 12==Eva Hunter and Christopher Cook
San Miguel well known memoirist Eva Hunter & popular writing teacher and co-editor of Sol Literary Magazine http://solliterarymagazine.com). Also, Christopher Cook, whose novel Robbers was made into a film, will read from recent work.

January 19==C.M. MAYO
Novelist C.M. Mayo will read from her recent work, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, the novel based on the true story.

January 20==A tribute to Leonard ‘Red’ Bird
Bill Pearlman, Jane Leonard and others will pay tribute to the great “atomic veteran” and astonishing poet Leonard ‘Red’ Bird, who recently passed on.

February 2==Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin
Acclaimed writing team Wim Coleman & Pat Perrin take the stage.

February 9==Margaret Tallis & Katka Pinosova
Short story writer and artist Margaret Tallis has the mike, along with Czech poet Katka Pinosova.

Feb. 16==Carolyn Hernandez & Wayne Frank
Prose stylist Carolyn ‘Cazz’ Hernadez, who also serves as assistant editor of Sol, teams with Milwaukee playwright and poet, Wayne Frank.

February 23==Jan Harvey and Bill Pearlman
Storyteller and essayist Jan Harvey reading with poet Bill Pearlman.

Series Ends March 2==Geoffrey Young
Series ends with Figures Press editor & poet Geoffrey Young from Great Barrington, MA

(All proceeds go to help support Pen & Biblioteca Scholarship Fund. 70 pesos, students 50 pesos)

SOL Literary Magazine: Call for Manuscripts

Here's the direct link to the submission guidelines:
http://solliterarymagazine.com/about-the-magazine/call-for-submissions/

From editor Eva Hunter:

SOL: English Writing in Mexico is seeking submissions for its third on-line literary magazine, which will come out in March. Deadline for submissions is January 15. SOL seeks fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry. Well-known writers in previous issues are C.M. Mayo, Christopher Cook, Tony Cohan, Wayne Greenhaw, and others. SOL seeks material from already publishing writers, as well as promising new writers. A hard-copy of each year's on-line magazine will be published at the conclusion of each year's issues. Full information about submitting to SOL can be find in the writers' guidelines section of the magazine, http://solliterarymagazine.com

P.S. Want to meet the editor? Eva Hunter is reading in the PEN Writer's Aloud Speakers Series in San Miguel de Allende on January 12th.
More anon.

Guest-blogger Writer and Writing Coach Eva Hunter on 5 Ways to Avoid Writing

Writer's block? Sometimes you can begin to dissolve it by looking unblinklingly at the ways you make it worse. But what's tricky about that enterprise is that, lo, you might discover an idea for a story! Today's guest-blog post is by my San Miguel amiga, Eva Hunter, a writer who knows the inside-out-and- upside-downs of this wacky (if you can call it a) business. Eva has been a writing coach for over 20 years, in addition to producing hundreds of literary nonfiction stories, feature articles, short stories and a book, The Lord of the Dolls: Voyage in Xochimilco. Her writing credentials include The New York Times Magazine, Quii, The Quarterly, Northwest Magazine, Oregon Magazine, Portland State Magazine, The Oregonian, Oregon Business Magazine, and the Boston Herald. Currently she is currently writing a memoir about growing up near Las Vegas in the 60s: A Little Mormon Girl. She has taught creative writing as faculty at Portland State University, at the Art Museum School of Portland, and privately in both the United States and Mexico. A popular writing conference speaker, she is co-founder of the Portland, Oregon based Connexus, The Writer's School, and The Writer's Workshop: San Miguel in Mexico. In June, 2010, she started a blog, Professional Writing Coach, which conveys information about the craft of writing. Her weekly series, under the heading "The Craft of Writing" takes the writer from concept to finished product.

Five Ways to Avoid Writing

When I lived in Portland, Oregon, I had a writer friend I called every morning, or— indeed— every time I thought about the particular writing project I was avoiding at the moment. Grant you, this means we talked on the telephone several times a day. One of our regular topics was the imaginary book we threatened to write together: One Thousand Ways to Avoid Writing. Of course we never wrote that book. We were too busy avoiding writing. But what follows is the abridged version. And, of course, one of the best ways to avoid writing is to call someone up and talk about avoiding writing.

1. Investigate 500 potential mates on a dating website even if you already have a mate.

2. Bake a batch of brownies then eat them all yourself, planning your weight-loss diet while you’re doing it.

3. Decide to join Netflicks again, and compile the list of movies they’ll mail you for the next ten years.

4. Plan a trip around the Mediterranean, comparing freighter cruises, air, and land travel.

5. Check out bargain catalogue sites for red boots, (overstock.com, bluefly.com, smartbargains.com) real leather, in your size.

Or write a guest blog for someone.

--Eva Hunter


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

Winter Writing Workshops with C.M. Mayo

an Miguel de Allende (Techniques of Fiction); Bethesda MD (Dialogue Intensive): and Rehoboth Beach (Point of View). Click here for more info.

San Miguel Author's Sala December 10th: The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire & The World of San Miguel de Allende

It's my last reading for 2009, and I'm really delighted about the wonderful venue, the San Miguel de Allende's Author's Sala in the Posada San Francisco, across from the Jardin. If you're in San Miguel, come on by! Check out their line-up: the series is very eclectic and always fun.

C.M. Mayo reading, dicussing and signing The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire together with Robert de Gast, The World of San Miguel de Allende: An Uncommon Guide. this Thursday December 10th from 5:00pm - 7:00 pm. Cost: 70 pesos, includes wine reception. More anon.

P.S. Why attend a reading?

Sandra Gulland and Mistress of the Sun, Barbara Levine and Finding Frida Kahlo

If you're anywhere in the neighborhood of San Miguel de Allende this Thursday November 12, don't miss this! As part of the San Miguel Literary Sala series, Sandra Gulland will be talking about her latest and splendid novel, Mistress of the Sun, and Barbara Levine will also be talking about her book, Finding Frida Kahlo. This takes place at 5 pm in the Hotel Posada San Francisco (across from the jardin) and there's a wine reception to follow (donation 70 pesos). For further information, see the San Miguel Literary Sala website.

P.S. On Thursday, December 10th I'll be presenting my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, along with filmmaker and novelist Jan Baross.

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Techniques of Fiction Workshop in San Miguel de Allende, February 22-23, 2010

This February 22-23, 2010, I'll be giving a two day only workshop, Techniques of Fiction, for the San Miguel Workshops in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. This is a workshop intended for both beginning and advanced fiction writers. For a full description and registration information, visit: http://www.sanmiguelworkshops.com/Fiction.html More anon.