Language in counterpoint at the Sala Quetzal,
February 23, 2007

Xochitl Cuicatl Series Miles Merritt & Tim Hazell Wed, Feb 28, 5:30pm Sala Quetzal, Biblioteca Pública 10-peso donation

“Illusion enters through the eyes. To look is to lose the compass, one’s bearings. We need a fly’s eyes to see everything. Stone to know everything. Silent, ignorant, insatiable stone. Immobile and certain. Here. Illusion travels another highway.”

—Malva Flores (Born in Mexico City, 1961)


We can look at poetry as a process of selection to frame in a particular subject, space, color or sound with words. As writers interpret reality, elements are removed that distract the reader from the intent. Modern and elastic concepts attempt to fragment and reconfigure language’s positive and negative space. Realism determines the composition’s framework but the patterns overlaying the poetry are fluid and changeable. With the advent of Dada and surrealism, literature arrived at a place of experimentation. Developments in science, mathematics and the investigations of cubism affected the work of 20th-century poets. A minimalist approach eliminated many of the devices of illustrative verse. The results were architectonic and streamlined—a spare collage of implications. Pure abstraction without space or subject involves language as music and requires a profound sense of rhythm. Automatic writing challenges the reader because linear perspective and serial interpretation have been discarded. The simultaneous poem has to do with the value of the voice.

The Xochitl Cuicatl (Flower and Song) poetry and performance series continues at the Biblioteca Pública’s Sala Quetzal with readings by Miles Merritt, winner of the Grace A. Croff Memorial Prize for Poetry, and Tim Hazell, interdisciplinary artist. 

Merritt is a writer/photographer/film maker residing in Taos, New Mexico. His poems have appeared in the L. A.Times, Seattle Times, MidAtlantic Review, Rolling Stone, the National Poetry Anthology and numerous other periodicals. This reading of excerpts from his work will contain new selections and the subtle imagery that has engaged San Miguel audiences in the past. In addition to his fine literary output, Merrit and his wife, Gail, have produced two award-winning short films. El Cochero, starring Alonso Echanove, has garnered two awards: Best Drama Short Adaption at Worldfest in Houston and Audience Favorite Best Short Drama at the Woods Hole Film Festival in Cape Cod. Their most recent venture, Una Causa Noble, is loosely based on the true story of young Mexican Lance Corporal Juan López. López enlisted in the US Marines to expedite his family’s application for citizenship and was subsequently killed in action. Both films have been official selections at a dozen festivals internationally. Una Causa Noble w
ill show this spring on Telemundo.

Tim Hazell will be Interdisciplinary Artist in Residence at Schreiner University, Kerrville,Texas, in April, and featured speaker at the Texas Writers Conference. He is a widely published poet and essayist and has had over 50 exhibitions of his paintings in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Hazell is artistic director of the pre-Hispanic orchestra Collar del Viento and a member of Caracol de Fuego. His current project, A Forest of Americas, an original chamber music collaboration with composer Doug Robinson, combines pre-Colombian instruments with those of the traditional European ensemble. He is a recording artist and producer and has developed five DVDs of concerts, lectures and documentaries for Provicom Productions in association with director Lindy Lindemann.

This special reading counterpoints personalities, sonorities and styles. The presentation is part of a strong commitment by the founders of the Xochitl Cuicatl series to make these events a special treat for San Miguel audiences.

The write stuff: two accomplished authors share their secret
By Glenda Robinson

San Miguel PEN lectures Janice Macdonald & Sarah Lovett Tues, Feb 27, 6pm Bellas Artes Auditorium 50 pesos

Have you ever toyed with the idea of writing fiction—as a creative pursuit, a commercial enterprise or even as an indirect way to tell the story of your own life? Or perhaps you already have a half-finished novel or screenplay lurking somewhere on your hard drive or in a box in your bodega. On Tuesday, February 27, two best-selling novelists mount the stage in Teatro Miguel Malo to encourage you to take your relationship with fiction writing to the next level. 

Janice Macdonald, a native of Kent, England, and author of nine romance novels for Harlequin’s Superromance line, speaks on “Creating Commercial Fiction: How to Navigate the Novel-Writing Process from Inciting Incident to Emotionally Satisfying Ending.”

I begin our phone conversation by asking her to explain the term “inciting incident.” 


JM: “It’s the trigger point that starts the story,” she says. “In other words, when the book opens, the central character is leading a life which would go on and on just as it is—if this particular incident didn’t happen. The day that it happens is different from all the rest—and challenges the character to decide to go forward.

“I find that most novice fiction writers don’t have a hard time coming up with their beginning—or their ending for that matter. It’s that vast sagging middle that gives them trouble. How do you give structure to the peaks and valleys of your plot points and accumulate the requisite 85,000 words along the way? That is something I will talk about in my lecture.”

GR: What’s another common struggle for new fiction writers?

JM: “When I wrote my first novel, my editors read it and said ‘It’s not quite a mystery, and not quite a romance, but if you want to get published, you’ve got to be strategic and pick a genre.’ So I took my two main characters, a neonatologist and a PR exec, created a romance between them, and that sold the book. A lot of people who are writing their first piece tell me quite proudly that it doesn’t fit in any particular genre. But they don’t realize that just as there is an art to writing fiction, there is also an art to getting published. You have to stack the deck in your favor.”

GR: And how did you find yourself writing about a neonatologist and a PR exec in the first place?

JM: “I used to ghost-write medical articles for RN Times, and in the process I became fascinated with the technical and ethical issues of neonatal care. And during a stint in the corporate world, I was director of media relations for a large HMO. Sometimes I feel like a thrifty seamstress,” she chuckles, “making a patchwork quilt out of the various pieces of my life.”


Macdonald will share the stage with Sarah Lovett, author of the Dr. Sylvia Strange mystery novel series and 25 nonfiction books, including the award-winning children’s series Extremely Weird. In her lecture, “Changing Lanes: Commercial vs. Literary Fiction,” Lovett describes how a temp job at a penitentiary led to six-figure book deals, five novels and ultimately the commercial writing trap—and the risks she’s taking to break out of it. I spoke with Sarah at her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.


GR: How did your novel series come about?

SL: “A few years ago, I was hired to do legal research at the New Mexico Penitentiary, and I was fascinated and disturbed by what I found there.

There is a part of me that is really drawn to understanding psychopathology, or the ‘dark side’ of human nature, and that fascination, along with my exposure to the prison system, led to the creation of the lead character in my mystery series, Dr. Sylvia Strange, a forensic psychiatrist.

GR: When you talk about “breaking out of the commercial writing trap” what do you mean?

SL: “While some writers I know write for its own sake, I’ve never been that way. I’ve always wanted to be published for lots of reasons—some practical, some having to do with ego and ambition. But once you are in print and you succeed, you become a brand of sorts. The public and your publishers both want more of the same, and although the idea of giving it to them is seductive, I’ve just never been able to do that. I am someone who needs to take risks to make art—I have to change lanes and set out for uncharted territory in order to not fall into an inauthentic life.”

GR: You also coach other writers. Tell me about that process.

SL: “I work with writers in a very intensive way, almost always long distance using the phone or the computer. We talk about the craft of writing—story structure and so on—but also about the inner process. What is it that makes you want to write? And what is it that keeps you from writing? Sometimes the thing that stops you is just the fear of doing something new and making a fool of yourself, the fear of changing lanes. But if there is a little voice inside you telling you to write you owe it to yourself to pay attention and give it some floor time.

The funds raised by this lecture will help provide PEN scholarships for deserving local students. They also support the ongoing efforts of PEN International: defending writers imprisoned or under attack for their work, and promoting freedom of expression throughout the world. For more information about San Miguel PEN or its annual Winter Lecture Series, write jjenya@yahoo.com  or call 154-7358.

2007 Writers’ Conference begins February 24

San Miguel Writers’ Conference
Sat & Sun, Feb 24 & 25
Hotel Real de Minas
Ancha de San Antonio & Stirling Dickinson
US$225

Congratulations to the winners of the 2007 San Miguel Writers’ Conference manuscript contest! Sessions for the 10 winners to meet with New York literary agent Joy Harris are lined up during the conference on Saturday, February 24. Harris is the president of the Joy Harris Literary Agency. 

Participants have two full days of exciting events to look forward to. The conference kicks off with a breakfast talk by agent Joy Harris, followed by breakout sessions “Children’s Book Writing” by Dianna Hutts Aston, “Writing the Nonfiction Book Proposal” by Gerard Helferich, “Photographic Documentary” by Dr. Maryann Brooks-Mueller and “Tips from a Professional Writing Coach” by Sarah Lovett. The next round of sessions includes “Poetry Writing” with Christopher Locke, “Memoir Writing” by Wayne Greenhaw, “Publishers’ Rules” by Linda Lowery and Richard Keep and “Creating 3-Dimensional Characters” by Cynthia Simmons. 

A luncheon talk by novelist, memoirist and travel writer Tony Cohan is followed by sessions on “Self-Publishing” by Dave Riveness, “Writing Literary Short Stories” by Gail Henningsen and “Writing Tricks from the World’s Greatest Authors” by Naomi Epel. 

Also highlighting Saturday are open mic readings during which conference participants can share their writings and works-in-progress in fiction, poetry and children’s literature. This is a great opportunity for writers to connect and form local or even online writers’ groups. The open mic sessions begin at 6pm along with an Authors’ Sala-sponsored book release and signing by Eva Hunter.

Sunday starts with a splash: a screenwriting panel featuring screenwriters Karl Schiffman, Ozzie Cheek and Harry Burrus and director of the Guanajuato Film Festival Sarah Hoch Delong. The panel is moderated by author Beverly Donofrio. 

Following, Donofrio and longtime writing friends Sandra Gulland and Susan McKinney offer guidelines to maintaining a supportive group in “Forming a Writers’ Group.” Or participants can choose to hear about “Ghost Writing” by Leah Feldon and Lulu Torbet, “Accessing the Transcendent Function Through Poetry” by Bill Pearlman or “Writing the Literary Nonfiction Story” by Eva Hunter. 

In the final breakout sessions, Karl Schiffman addresses topics surrounding screenplay writing, Manja Argue talks about flash fiction, Janice Macdonald explains fiction using the storyboarding method and Susan Page takes on the question: “Self-Publish or Sell to a Publisher – How to Decide?”

Conference attendees can also purchase a ticket for a “Meet & Greet the Authors” Cocktail Party at Sazón, Correo 22, Friday evening, February 23, before the conference from 6 to 7:30pm. Cocktail party tickets are 300 pesos at the door. Each attendee can purchase up to two tickets.

The price for the Conference, including lunch both days, is US$225. Walk-up registration is available at the Hotel Real de Minas on the corner of Ancha de San Antonio and Stirling Dickinson. Registration begins Saturday, February 24, at 8am. For more information see www.sanmiguelwritersconference.com.