Authors’ Sala reading series
By Adrienne Atwell, Feb 2, 2007

Authors’ Sala readings Susana Valadez & Carol Schmidt Fri, Feb 9, 5–7pm Posada de San Francisco Plaza Principal 2 50 pesos

Since 2004, the Authors’ Sala has promoted literacy and the art of writing through its outstanding literary programs. This month’s presentation will feature two distinguished authors, Susana Valadez and Carol Schmidt, who reside year-round in Mexico, one in the Sierra Madre Occidental and the other in San Miguel de Allende. Their readings will inform us about the unique experiences they have had while living in these Mexican communities and how they have become enterprising women in their own right through hard work and diligent writing on the subject. 

Susana Valadez 

In response to the urgent need to rescue and conserve the oral tradition of the Huichol Indians for future generations of Huichols as well as for a global audience, Susana Valadez, the founder and director of the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival (El Centro Indígena Huichol, A.C.), has used state-of-the-art computer technology to document this knowledge. Born in Chicago, Valadez has been living and working among the Huichol people since 1975, when she visited their remote communities as a UCLA graduate student in anthropology. Her marriage to the Huichol yarn artist Mariano Valadez inspired her to dedicate her life to the documentation of the vast repository of symbols and esoteric knowledge that is a part of everyday Huichol life. At the Huichol Center in Huejuquilla el Alto, Jalisco, Valadez has taught Huichol high school students to use Photoshop and other computer programs to document their stories. The students use the Huichol Center Archive, a comprehensive database of art and ethnographic documentat
ion, to create Huichol language books and computer programs, which, in turn, are used in the elementary school located on the premises. This book is one of many that Susana and her team of Huichol computer experts have written in the Huichol language. These books have been translated into Spanish and English so they can be shared with the world.

The Tale of Watácame and the Magical Blue Corn Girl recounts one of the stories that have been passed down through the oral tradition of the indigenous Huichol tribe, which inhabits a remote section of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in northern Mexico. As with many other native traditions, corn is the lifeblood of the Huichol people. Since pre-Columbian times, each new generation has listened to the shamans recount the tales that teach the Huichol people how to ensure the successful growth of the corn crops, hence their survival. In recent years, the encroachment of Western civilization into the Huichol homeland has interrupted the oral transmission of this ancient knowledge, and the endangered Huichol tribe is struggling to conserve the treasure trove of information contained in these stories.

Excerpt from The Wise Huichol Story Tellers Present: The Tale of Watácame and the Magical Blue Corn Girl (Huichol Center Press, 2005)

A long time ago when the supreme beings were busy forming the universe, they created a human by the name of Watácame. This man was different from the other beings that lived on the earth at that time, such as the Dove Woman, the Ant People, the Rain Mothers and others, all of whom were half human and half nature spirits. Watácame was just a regular guy, living among the plant and animal spirits that were able to change their identities back and forth whenever they wanted to. The creators provided plenty to eat for all the creatures on earth, and everyone was happy, well, and living perfect lives. One day the gods and goddesses decided to see how it would be if humans were left to obtain food on their own. They decided that Watácame should become the first human to figure out how to plant the corn to appease the nature spirits that make it grow, so that from then on people would know how to provide for themselves.

Previously, no one really needed to plant corn, because the spirit beings made food magically appear out of the air. For example, Watácame’s aunt, the Dove Mother, was very skilled at this because she was the Owner of the Corn. She had many magical corn daughters, all of whom had the ability to transform parts of their bodies into blue corn tortillas, toasted kernels and corn gruel. In those days, Watácame and his mom ate all the corn they wanted every day, without ever having to work for their food. But when the creators decided to teach Watácame how to plant his food and survive on his own, they decided it was necessary to separate Watácame from the Owner of the Corn and her magical corn daughters. The supreme beings sent the mischievous Ant People to raid Watácame’s home, causing the Dove Woman and her daughters to run away, leaving not a single kernel of corn behind for Watácame and his mother.

The two of them missed the Dove Woman and her magical daughters, and almost starved to death until they could adjust to eating the wild plants and roots they foraged from the mountains and river beds. Watácame became an expert at gathering and preparing the wild plants, and figured out which ones were good for eating, which ones were poisonous, and which ones could be used for medicines. But he never stopped craving those hot tortillas and popcorn. One day while digging up wild roots in the canyon, Watácame smelled something familiar. He thought to himself, “Hmmmm that smells like TOASTED CORN!!!” He followed the scent and came upon an encampment of Ant People, who were toasting corn kernels on a round clay griddle over the fire, just like the Dove Woman used to prepare. He thought to himself, “If I make friends with them, maybe they will lead me to where my Aunt and her corn daughters are.”

Watácame courageously approached the Ant People who were very friendly and they immediately gave him a tasty bowl of corn for him to eat and to take home to his mom. They told him they had purchased the corn from a nice woman and her daughters, and that he should come back the next day if he wanted to trade some things for corn. They gave him a list of things he could use to trade with. He ran home to his mother, who was very tired of eating grilled nopal cactus and boiled wild yams, and gave her the bowl of corn. She told him, “Go get the things on the list ready so you can trade with your new friends tomorrow.”

The next day Watácame got up early and packed his basket with the many things the Ant People asked for: ashes, pine pitch, hot coals, burning grass, and pieces of broken clay griddles. “What on earth do my new friends want all of this stuff for?” he wondered.

When Watácame returned to where the Ant People lived, he noticed that not only did they have corn, but they also had mangos, chilies, flowers, oranges and all sorts of delicious things to eat. He watched them climb up the trees and then carry all of these things into their ant hole. He thought to himself, “My goodness, these Ant People sure are hard-workers”.

Watácame arrived at the Ant People’s cave with the straw basket filled with all of the things they had negotiated for in exchange for the corn. They welcomed him by yanking the basket off his back and told him that since he fulfilled his part of the bargain they would soon be leaving to go to the place where they would fill up his basket with the blue, red, white, yellow and multi-colored corn. In the meantime they gave him more of the delicious kernels to eat, and suggested that he take a little nap before leaving on their expedition after dark. Although he really wasn’t too tired, he was so full of toasted corn that he stretched out on the ground, using his hat as a pillow, and soon fell sound asleep. He had no idea what was in store for him.

While Watácame dreamed about gorging himself with delicious hot corn tortillas, the army of Ant People descended upon him. They cut off all of his hair, pulled out his eyelashes, and fought over who would carry off his prized hat to their ant hole. They pounced on his water jug, ripped up his sandals, and smashed all the things he had in his basket that they duped him into thinking would be payment for the corn. The mischievous Ant People used Watácame’s hair to make fake wigs and mustaches and laughed their heads off as they made their way down the trail to raid the fields of corn down river where the Dove Woman and her daughters lived.

The Ant People were laughing so loud about how they duped Watácame, that while climbing the stalks and stealing her corn, kernel by kernel, they woke her up. The Dove Woman tried to burn the looters out with pine pitch, hot coals, and ashes, the very things that the Ant People fooled Watácame into believing he could use to trade for the corn. She noticed how funny the Ant People looked with their fake hair and mustaches, and felt sorry for the unfortunate fool the Ant People took advantage of.


The bright sunshine woke Watácame up, but when he opened his eyes they filled up with tears because the Ant People had eaten away his eyelashes. He couldn’t see or hear any of his “buddies” around him, and it didn’t even occur to him that the Ant People were so exhausted after their adventures all night long that they were sound asleep in their ant hole below ground. He became very concerned about his “friends,” and imagined that maybe they had been eaten by a mountain lion or a jaguar. “Gee, I’m sure glad the wild animals didn’t eat me,” he thought.

The Authors’ Sala Special Series presents short works by local authors. The San Miguel Authors’ Sala presents author readings and workshops for writers and aspiring writers. Local authors’ books are for sale at the Biblioteca gift shop, La Tienda, Insurgentes 25. Look for books by local authors in a special section at the Biblioteca. For up-to-date information on upcoming events, visit www.sanmiguelauthors.com. 

Rivard tells true-crime story at Bellas Artes

San Miguel PEN lecture Robert Rivard Tue, Feb 6, 6 pm Bellas Artes, Hernández Macías 75 50 pesos

Bob Rivard will tell a chilling, real-life story in a talk called “Trail of Feathers: Searching for Philip True.” 

On a wintry day in December 1998, San Antonio Express News’ Mexico City correspondent Philip True disappeared on a solo back-country trek in western Mexico, home of the reclusive Huichol Indians and the Chapalanga, the Twisted Serpent Canyon, a 150-mile-long gash that twists and plunges through the heart of the Sierra Madre. Five days later, his editor, Robert Rivard, was part of a search party that, nearly miraculously, tracked a trail of feathers that leaked from True’s sleeping bag to find his body.

Trail of Feathers is Rivard’s story of the search for True’s body and, moreover, the effort to bring his killers to justice. The search took him from the depths of the Sierra Madre to the inner office of Los Pinos. In fact, it never ended: True’s killers, though many know their identities, are still at large. 

Bob Rivard has served as editor of the San Antonio Express News since 1997. For his work in Latin America, he was awarded the 2002 Maria Moors Cabot Award from Columbia University and the Columbia University and Society for Professional Journalists’ top prize for foreign correspondents in 1982. His book, also called Trail of Feathers: Searching for Philip True, was described by Dan Rather as “a powerful, important story, filled with intrigue, insights, fascinating characters and high drama. It’s a potent, revealing non-fiction book that reads like a novel ... a haunting, riveting work as timely as tomorrow’s headlines.”

The Chicago Tribune said: “All the pieces of a brilliant true-crime story are here: an exotic location, mysterious circumstances, and a complex, endearing victim.”

The story Bob Rivard will discuss is about True, an ace reporter who, after an unhappy and unsettled youth, was finally settling down to a career and a wife he loved. His first child was about to be born. It is also a story about Rivard, who, much more than True’s editor, has proven to be True’s dogged and faithful friend, investigator, representative and advocate in a story that touches many difficult realities of Mexican life.

Rivard’s talk is part of the winter series of lectures sponsored by San Miguel PEN. Contributions of 50 pesos help PEN’s work on behalf of fellow writers. Come early, because seats are limited. For more information, write lucina@unisono.net.mx or call 152-0614.

San Miguel Writers’ Conference is for artists, too

San Miguel Writers’ Conference

Sat & Sun, Feb 24 & 25

Hotel Real de Minas

Ancha de San Antonio & Stirling Dickinson

US$225

Founding Children’s Publisher and Editor-at-Large is Victoria Rock’s official title at Chronicle Books. What that means is that Rock finds writers and artists and puts them together to make children’s books for Chronicle Books. 

Rock is one of the tops-in-the-industry presenters at the Second Annual San Miguel Writers’ Conference. Presenting at Sunday’s luncheon, Rock will speak about what it means to be an editor-at-large. As a publisher as well, she is well positioned to inform aspiring writers, artists and illustrators what Chronicle Books is currently looking for. 

Also headlining the event is memoirist, novelist and travel writer Tony Cohan, author of the bestselling travel memoirs On Mexican Time and Mexican Days. 

Chronicle Books, founded in 1967, stands out in the publishing industry with a list that includes fine-art titles in design, art, architecture and photography. Mexico is a favorite treasure trove for lush Chronicle photo, info and coffeetable books, serving as the setting for books such as Mexicasa: The Enchanting Inns and Haciendas of Mexico, Mexicolor: The Spirit of Mexican Design with text by Tony Cohan, Arts and Crafts of Mexico and Mexicocina: The Spirit and Style of the Mexican Kitchen, among many other titles. Beautifully crafted and presented art, photography, architecture and design books make up a large portion of Chronicle’s overall list. 

One of Chronicle’s noted titles is Nick Bantock's Griffin & Sabine (1991). Originally slated for an edition of 10,000, this interactive book became the most talked-about title of the year and a New York Times best-seller for 50 weeks. Chronicle brought its innovative philosophy to cookbooks with its four-color release of Sushi (1981), which sold 90,000 copies and is still in print. Chronicle Books also publishes James McNair's eye-catching cookbooks, all perennial best-sellers having sold over one million copies.

Chronicle’s children’s books list includes traditional picture books and also affordable paperbacks, board books, plush toys and novelty merchandise. Noted titles include the best-selling Mama, Do You Love Me? (over one million copies in hardcover), Ten Little Rabbits (450,000 copies) and N. C. Wyeth's Pilgrims (100,000 copies). 

Tony Cohan is the author of On Mexican Time, the memoir Native State (a Los Angeles Times Notable Book of the Year) and the novels Opium and Canary (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), but he is best known to San Miguel residents and visitors as the author who wrote honestly and beguilingly about their town. His Mexican books, published by Broadway Books, quickly became travel classics for their explorations of the landscapes and cultures of Mexico, with the shadow of the United States and what it means to have come from there, in the background. Cohan, who divides his time between Mexico and California, is a favorite crowd-drawing speaker. He will give the conference’s Saturday luncheon address. 

Photographers and visual artists will also want to attend breakout sessions such as “Photographic documentary” by MaryAnn Brooks Mueller; “Writing children’s picture books” by Dianna Hutts Aston, which the author claims is about using pictures and very few words; and various sessions about publishing such as “Self-publish or sell to a publisher: how to decide?” by Susan Page. 

To register or to find more information on the 2007 San Miguel Writers’ Conference, 

visit www.sanmiguelwritersconference.com. Tickets can be purchased online at the website or at La Conexión, Aldama 3, Box 630, where you can leave a check (made payable to San Miguel Writers' Conference) or cash (please have the correct amount with correct exchange rate if you are paying with pesos) and sign the attendance register. A receipt will then be emailed to you.