Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion and the Whereabouts Press series

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of my Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion anthology. This week I'm off to the American Literary Translators Association conference in Oakland, California, where, thanks to my amiga, Jill Gillian, editor of Argentina: A Traveler's Literary Companion, I will be participating on roundtable discussion panel of editors of the Whereabouts Press Traveler's Literary Companion series: founding editor David Peattie; Jill Gibian (Argentina); Alexis Levitin (Brazil); Ann Louise Bardach (Cuba); and William Rodamor (France).

THE UNIQUE AND VISIONARY CONCEPT OF THE TRAVELER'S LITERARY COMPANION SERIES
Whereabouts Press founder David Peattie's concept of the series is visionary, and I was truly honored to have been invited to edit the Mexico collection. 

As the Whereabouts Press website says, "unlike traditional guidebooks, our books feature stories written by literary writers. Through these stories, readers see more than a place. They see the soul of a place."

Isabelle Allende praised the Whereabouts Press Traveler's Literary Companion series: 

"We can hear a country speak and better learn its secrets through the voices of its great writers. An engaging series— a compelling idea, thoughtfully executed."

[[ MEXICO:
A TRAVELER'S LITERARY COMPANION,
EDITED BY C.M. MAYO ]]

HEREWITH, THE WHOLE ENCHILADA OF LINKS. AS THEY SAY IN MEXICO, SERVE YOURSELF WITH THE BIG SPOON!

Webpage for Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion
Includes:

> Table of Contents

> List of writers and translators

> Preface

> "Lady of the Seas" by Agustin Cadena

> About the cover-- the beautiful painting of the "Cocina verde co arroz al horno" (Green Kitchen with Baked Rice) by Elena Climent 

> National Public Radio interview about this book with Yours Truly

> Q & A plus other interviews

> Links to buy this book from amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, and more.

"It will open your eyes, fill you with pleasure and render our perennial vecinos a little less distante." 
Los Angeles Times Book Review

"One of the outstanding contemporary works on this country"
David Huerta, El Universal, Mexico City

"Highly recommended."
Library Journal

"Discovering it was like opening a door and walking into a brightly lit room filled with all kinds of literary treasures" 
Mexico Connect

"This delicious volume has lovingly gathered a banquet of pieces that reveal Mexico in all its infinite variety, its splendid geography, its luminous peoples. What a treat!"
Margaret Sayers Peden, editor, Mexican Writers on Writing

+ + + + + 


Because I am at work on a book about Far West Texas, my translation endeavors have slowed to a bit of a crawl this year. That said, I should soon be finished with my translation of Mexican writer Rose Mary Salum's award-winning collection of short stories, The Water that Rocks the Silence. More about that anon.

Translating Across the Border: 

Transcript of my talk for the American Literary Translators Association Panel, 

"Translating the Other Side", Tucson, Arizona, 2015

"Café San Martín": Reading Mexican Poet Agustín Cadena
at the Café Passé in Tucson, Arizona

Why Translate?

The Case of the President of Mexico's Secret Book

(ALTA 2014 in Milkwaukee)

At the FIL or,

The Mexican megabookmashup

Ricardo Elizondo Elizondo

Terribly sad news: Ricardo Elizondo Elizondo, a Mexican writer who will be remembered as one of the greatest of the 20th and early 21st centuries, has passed away. For those of you not familiar with his magnificent work, check out his short story, "The Green Bottle," translated by Geoff Hargreaves,  (PDF) which appeared in my anthology, Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Whereabouts Press, 2006) and is reprinted on the National Public Radio webpage. 

Here is what our mutual friend, the Mexican writer Araceli Ardón, posted today on facebook, along with links to two notices in the Mexican press:

Ricardo Elizondo Elizondo fue, ante todo, un tipo divertido. Un hombre brillante, erudito en algunos temas sociales y literarios, experto en los auténticos vampiros, antes de que se pusieran de moda. Sabía todo de crucifijos y ataúdes para colegas de Nosferatu. Me encantaba escucharlo en sus conferencias sobre Maximiliano y Carlota o la poesía de García Lorca. Nos transportaba al Guadalquivir, a ver en vivo el romance del gitano con la mozuela que tenía marido. En el Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey, presentó mi novela Historias íntimas de la casa de Don Eulogio. En 2006, la editora C.M. Mayo publicó un cuento suyo y uno mío en la antología Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion. La estación de radio NPR publicó ambos cuentos, en inglés y español, en su sitio web. Me sentí muy orgullosa de estar como autora junto a él. Gran narrador, buen amigo, lo recordaré siempre. Que el infinito te reciba, Ricardo, y que la vida eterna sea feliz, setenta veces siete.
http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/muereelescritorricardoelizondo-1817685.html
http://plazadearmas.com.mx/murio-ricardo-elizondo-gran-relator-del-noreste 

I WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS

French Feast: A Traveler's Literary Companion, edited by William Rodamor

One of the loveliest things about having published Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion with Whereabouts Press is that I get to hear right away about their new titles. The latest is a fresh departure from the standard collection of fiction and literary prose as a portrait of the country (e.g., Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Ireland, Australia, France, Isreal, etc): French Feast. From the press release:

When food and fiction intertwine, the pairing can be a delight to the literary palate. And where better than France to explore culinary literature? ... Prize-winning writers gather around our banquet table to offer up appetizers, entrees, and of course desserts."

Sounds tres yummy.

Read more here.

Argentina: A Traveler's Literary Companion

Whereabouts Press, publisher of the Traveler's Literary Companion series-- and publisher of my anthology, Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion--- has just brought out Argentina, edited by Jill Gibian, Professor of Spanish and Latin Ameican Studies at Eastern Oregon University, and an expert on tango. It looks like a beautiful collection, with works by Julio Cortázar, Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Luisa Valenzuela, and more than a dozen more Argentine writers. This is one I am especially looking forward to reading.

South Africa: A Traveler's Literary Companion edited by Isabel Balseiro and Tobias Hecht

New from Whereabouts Press, a book for travelers who want insights more profound than a mere guidebook can provide: South Africa: A Traveler's Literary Companion edited by Isabel Balseiro and Tobias Hecht. As an avid reader of international fiction and as a fellow Whereabouts Press anthologist (mine is Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion) I am so delighted to see this excellent new addition to the series (and with such a gorgeous cover!). A couple of the authors, Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coatzee, are familiar names, but the majority are new to me and I am sure, most American readers. The section under "Gauteng" includes works by Ivan Vladislavic, Es'kia Mphahlele, Ahmed Essop and Zacharia Rapola; "Kwazulu-Natal" includes Alan Paton, Ronnie Govender, and Lewis Kkosi; "The Western Cape", Jan Rabie, Richard Rive, J.M. Coatzee,Rustrum Kozain; and finally, "The Rural Areas, the Farm, and the Game Park" includes A.C. Jordan, Oliver Schreiner, H.C. Bosman, Gcina Mhlope, Modike Dikobe, and Nadine Gordimer. The cover's painting is "Repositioning II" by Bongi Bengo 2009). More anon.

Blogs Noted: City Bees, Ex Libris, Whereabouts Press, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Janette Griffiths

City Bees (the White House Hive)
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman
Ex Libris
Whereabouts Press (Traveler's Literary Companion series)
Janette Griffiths

Whereabouts Press's Traveler's Literary Companion Series is Now on FaceBook

Here--- and includes links to the material about my own anthology in the series, Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion. (I'm still not ready for FaceBook, however.) I was especially interested to read the interview with the editor of the France anthology, William Rodarmor. An excerpt:

Why isn’t more French writing being translated?
I think it’s partly because of the tremendous consolidation of U. S. publishers in the last thirty years. Small, high-quality houses like David R. Godine have to compete with multinational mega-companies that pay celebrity authors million-dollar advances. And translation is expensive, since you have to pay both the author and the translator. Read more

Here's my answer to the question,

Why isn't more Mexican writing being translated?
For the same two reasons that very little literature in any language is being translated. First, readers have a natural bias toward their own culture; second, cost. Translation can be expensive! Read more

There are some dozen books in the Whereabouts Press Traveler's Literary Companion Series, including Italy, Greece, Vietnam, Israel, Australia, Ireland, Japan, China... and more in the pipeline. Visit my page for Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion here.