Just back from Austin, where I gave a few talks about The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (currently being translated by Mexican poet, novelist, and blogger extraordinnaire, Agustin Cadena). It was a whirlwind visit, much, much too short but one of the highlights was that, after many years of nearly crossing paths, I finally got to meet writer and translator Liliana Valenzuela. Read more about her amazing work over at her website, www.lilianavalenzuela.com . And below is a clip from a TV interview (in Spanish):
Friday, April 30, 2010
Staying Focused: Researching and Writing the Longer Book Project
Back in March I gave a talk for the Writer's Center's Leesburg First Friday series on "Staying Focused: Researching and Writing the Longer Book Project". At long last, I have posted the PDF of the handout.(See also "Resources for Writers.")
Here's a description of the talk:
More anon.
Here's a description of the talk:
To finish the marathon of writing a long book, more than talent, more than free time, more than anything, in fact, a writer needs mental toughness to avoid the myriad distractions, damaging self-talk, frustrations, and sometimes just plain old boredom along the way. C.M. Mayo, a long-time Writers Center workshop leader and author of several books, including a deeply researched travel memoir and, most recently, an epic historical novel based on the true story (and many years of original archival research), offers tips, tricks and more to inspire you to start, stay with, and finish your book.
More anon.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
What Connects You to the 1860s? Guest-Blogging Today at Beatrice.com:
Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) is almost here-- that's the official pub date for the paperback edition of my novel based on the true story, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, apropos of which, I'm guest-blogging today over at Ron Hogan's fabulous book blog, beatrice.com, on some of the more fascinating stories I've learned from readers in the past year. More -- and more of those stories--- anon.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Link Bait Generator vs Write Your Own Academic Sentence
Not that I'm not thinking of how the Mexico City Assembly just crunched over the neighborhood associations like a Panzer tank, the Euro meltdown, and the recent unpleasantness in the Weimar Republic of, um, Arizona, but: Link Bait Generator vs Write Your Own Academic Sentence. Anyway to combine these two?
Martin Solares: Instrucciones para dibujar una novela
El Centro Cultural del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
le invita cordialmente a la conferencia ilustrada del escritor mexicano
MARTIN SOLARES
Instrucciones para dibujar una novela
Para ver el volante con foto y dibujo, abrir este link: http://www.iadb.org/conlecfilm/martinsolares.pdf
Miércoles, el 28 de abril de 2010 a las 6:30 p.m.
“Si la novela es un animal evasivo, que sólo se muestra al que la ha perseguido, ¿qué tipo de rastros deja a su paso?
¿Cómo podría ser identificada, y cuáles son las formas que han aportado al arte de la novela algunos de los principales escritores latinoamericanos en el transcurso del último siglo?”
Martín Solares, novelista y ensayista mexicano, hablará sobre la geometría y costumbres de algunas de las novelas latinoamericanas más sobresalientes del siglo XX, y examinará las distintas formas literarias que han adoptado algunos novelistas, entre ellos Juan Rulfo, García Márquez, Roberto Bolaño, y César Aira.
Martin Solares estará en el Centro Cultural del BID luego de su participación en el PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature en Nueva York. La librería Pórtico tendrá a la venta su primera novela, Los minutos negros (Mondadori, 2006), y la traducción, The Black Minutes (Grove Atlantic, 2010).
La conferencia se ofrecerá en español. Auditorio Enrique V. Iglesias, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, 1330 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC (Metro Center, McPherson Square). Entrada gratuita. Para ingresar al edificio principal se ruega presentar un documento de identidad oficial con foto. 202.623.3558 www.iadb.org/cultural
More anon.
le invita cordialmente a la conferencia ilustrada del escritor mexicano
MARTIN SOLARES
Instrucciones para dibujar una novela
Para ver el volante con foto y dibujo, abrir este link: http://www.iadb.org/conlecfilm/martinsolares.pdf
Miércoles, el 28 de abril de 2010 a las 6:30 p.m.
“Si la novela es un animal evasivo, que sólo se muestra al que la ha perseguido, ¿qué tipo de rastros deja a su paso?
¿Cómo podría ser identificada, y cuáles son las formas que han aportado al arte de la novela algunos de los principales escritores latinoamericanos en el transcurso del último siglo?”
Martín Solares, novelista y ensayista mexicano, hablará sobre la geometría y costumbres de algunas de las novelas latinoamericanas más sobresalientes del siglo XX, y examinará las distintas formas literarias que han adoptado algunos novelistas, entre ellos Juan Rulfo, García Márquez, Roberto Bolaño, y César Aira.
Martin Solares estará en el Centro Cultural del BID luego de su participación en el PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature en Nueva York. La librería Pórtico tendrá a la venta su primera novela, Los minutos negros (Mondadori, 2006), y la traducción, The Black Minutes (Grove Atlantic, 2010).
La conferencia se ofrecerá en español. Auditorio Enrique V. Iglesias, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, 1330 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC (Metro Center, McPherson Square). Entrada gratuita. Para ingresar al edificio principal se ruega presentar un documento de identidad oficial con foto. 202.623.3558 www.iadb.org/cultural
More anon.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Death Bear, You Are Fabulous
Read about Death Bear, the performance artist and energy-worker, in the LA Times.
Just had a conversation about art and money. I say, they do not necessarily go together. Follow the money and you'll end up in someplace like um, Wal-Mart's headquarters. Where I doubt they'd let Death Bear in the front gate to the parking lot. Not that I don't welcome money for my writing. But it gets complicated. Alice offers the Tulip Analogy. More anon.
Just had a conversation about art and money. I say, they do not necessarily go together. Follow the money and you'll end up in someplace like um, Wal-Mart's headquarters. Where I doubt they'd let Death Bear in the front gate to the parking lot. Not that I don't welcome money for my writing. But it gets complicated. Alice offers the Tulip Analogy. More anon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)