Literary society organizational meeting
By Susan Page and Alice Sperling
San Miguel Authors’ Sala
Literary Society Meeting
Thurs, Dec 6, 6pm
Andanza Restaurant
Casa de Sierra Nevada
Hospicio 35
The literary and cultural life of San Miguel is like an acorn, bursting with potential. Monthly Authors’ Sala readings have been drawing enthusiastic crowds of more than 100 readers and writers. The town has recently hosted such literary luminaries as John Berendt and Sena Naslund, and will soon present Rebecca Walker, and well-known Canadian playwright Norm Foster. The Spanish-language literary radio program, Sanch Panza de Cabeza, now in its third full year, is thriving. San Miguel’s first anthology, Solamente en San Miguel, presenting 35 writers in two languages, all writing about San Miguel, is already an extraordinary success, and a second volume is in the works!
This is a pivotal time, rich with possibilities. We have the opportunity now to shape the cultural future of San Miguel. Will this become a recreational area? Or will we build upon (or squander) our already rich legacy of literary and artistic depth? Will the literary arts in San Miguel rise to the world-class level of the performing and visual arts already established here?
The possibilities are limitless—a literary camp for children; literacy classes in the campo; a town-wide book club that will draw celebrity authors to town; an annual Writers’ Conference that no writer anywhere will want to miss; workshops for writers; opportunities for writers to be published. What are your ideas? None of this will happen by itself.
An organizational meeting for a new San Miguel Literary Society, under the umbrella of the San Miguel Authors’ Sala, will be held at Andanza, Casa de Sierra Nevada’s luxurious new restaurant. Sierra Nevada has created a new drink especially for us—the Literary Society Cocktail, and a free sample will be available that evening. Anyone with a willingness to become involved is welcome to attend the organizational meeting.
San Miguel is already a good arts town. Together, we can make it a great arts town. Now is the moment to make it happen.
Susan Page is the founder and coordinator of the San Miguel Authors’ Sala. Alice Sperling is a member of the Authors’ Sala Steering Committee.
Five authors read from new anthology
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Literary Event Readings from Solamente en San Miguel Fri, Dec 7, 5–6:30pm Sala Quetzal Biblioteca Pùblica Insurgentes 25 Free |
A reluctant Jewish godfather at a very Catholic baptism; a young woman’s frustrating trip to Tulum with a crazy-making elderly woman she would later come to love; an overview of the various reputable and disreputable writers who have gravitated to San Miguel. These are a few of the selections from the “Second Reading” of Solamente en San Miguel, an anthology of writings about San Miguel de Allende.
Five writers will read selections from the anthology, just published by Windstorm Creative. Copies are available through the Authors’ Sala, the Biblioteca’s La Tienda and at Barnes and Noble’s and Amazon’s websites, as well as local outlets. Copies will be available for purchase at the reading for 210 pesos or US$18.99. There is no charge for this event; however, donations to the Biblioteca Pública are highly encouraged.
Ruth Hayward will read from her short story, “La Casa de la Turca,” and Andy Blair will read from a personal essay called “The Path to the Moon.” Lou Christine will read his essay, “San Miguel Writers: Diverse and Notorious.” Wim Coleman will read, in memoriam, Charles Kuschinski’s essay, “Marrano Godfather,” and Eva Hunter will read “I Talk to Imelda” in memory of Kendall Dodge Butler. Hunter will introduce each reader.
The anthology is a result of a juried process, which initially included nearly 100 submissions. Of these, 40 writers were invited to be in the anthology, which includes short fiction, poetry and essays.
Americanos and haikus for this month’s Authors’ Sala
By Jim Johnston
Authors’ Sala
Barbara Levine, Aran Shetterly
Lulu Torbet & Leah Feldon
Fri, Dec 7, 5–7pm
Posada de San Francisco
Cnr Hidalgo & San Francisco
50 pesos
Includes wine reception
| Aran Shetterly From Maine to Mexico, with a few stops in between |
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Aran Shetterly speaks about his career as a writer, and presents his recently published book The Americano at this month’s Authors’ Sala event. The title of Shetterly’s book refers to William Morgan, a native of Toledo, Ohio, who went to Cuba in 1958 and became a hero of Fidel Castro’s Revolutionary Army—the only foreign-born comandante other than Argentine-born Che Guevara. The true-story adventures of this unlikely hero are followed to their tragic end in 1961, in front of a Cuban firing squad.
The author, born in Maine, was inspired by his parents with an early love of Latin America and the Spanish language. “Several trips to Mexico as a teenager instilled in me a sense of possibility that I had never felt before,” says Shetterly. After graduating from Harvard University, he went to Costa Rica and founded the Volunteer and Information Alliance, which linked foreign and native specialists working on environmental projects. He later moved to New York City and worked in publishing. A trip to Cuba with his father in 2001 changed everything. “I’d never been anywhere that challenged all my assumptions about life,” he said. Learning about William Morgan during this trip presented him with a key to understanding Cuba through the eyes of an American. Shetterly went to live in Cuba for six months to research his book, traveling the roads Morgan had marched along, and speaking to people who knew him. His insights go beyond the personal biography of one man to explore the impact of the Revolution on Cuban soci
ety.
The Americano could also refer to Shetterly himself, who finished his book and headed to Mexico with his wife Margot in December 2006, with the idea of publishing a newspaper for the English-speaking community. The result is Inside Mexico, a monthly magazine that seeks to broaden and deepen the experience of English-speakers in Mexico with a wide range of articles on culture, politics, and purely practical matters. The magazine, which is just completing its first year, is distributed nationwide to more than 60,000 readers. Two thousand copies are offered free each month in San Miguel at more than 25 locations (for more information, visit their website www.insidemex.com).
Please join Aran Shetterly—writer, journalist, entrepreneur—to learn more about both of these fascinating “Americanos.” Copies of his book will be available for purchase.
Leah Feldon and Lulu Torbet
Pocket-sized Gringo Haiku—Hilarious for all occasions
Fresh from the success of the San Miguel Authors’ Sala Anthology, veteran writers Lulu Torbet and Leah Feldon have expanded Gringo Haiku, their hastily penned, but warmly received Anthology contribution, and have just published a small tasty book, Gringo Haiku—The Unabridged San Miguel Edition.
Feldon and Torbet will read crowd favorites from their collection, and discuss the origins and form of the venerable tradition of Japanese haiku, and its inevitable—in hindsight—transformation into its not-yet venerable gringo and latino forms.
At first, you might not think that the poignant, evocative verses of traditional Japanese haiku, with its long and illustrious history, would easily adapt to gringo needs in the raucous, less refined culture in which we now live. Ah, but there you would be wrong. Haiku is the perfect art form for expats on the go. Aren’t we always in a hurry, often too busy to find time for creative expression? We have to collect our mail, cope with the plumber, find the perfect sconce for the portico, work on our far-from-fluent Spanish, get to our zumba class on time—the list goes on and on. What better solution than a 17-syllable poem? Who’s got time for a novel, much less a short story? Even a limerick is a stretch. The sheer speed and brevity of haiku is a boon for busy gringos.
Then there’s the matter of what haiku scholars refer to as the “aha” moment, that little twist or phrase in the last line that illuminates and enhances the central image of the haiku. For example:
But for their voices
the herons would disappear—
this morning’s snow
Well, San Miguel is full of “aha” moments. Such as, “Aha! If I don’t pay my electric bill today—even though I haven’t received a bill—I’ll be writing my next haiku in the dark.”
“Aha! I hear fireworks, there must be some celebration or procession or birth or death or store opening going on somewhere…Aha! I will never know where or what it is.”
“Aha, that overweight bald guy must be new in town; he’s surrounded by six women hanging on his every word.” You get the idea. Below is an example of how a San Miguel “aha” moment like this last one can, in the hands of a gringo haiku master, transform into a sublime poem:
Pot belly? Ni modo
No hair, who cares? San Miguel
bachelor: Priceless.
There is also the matter of the evocative imagery of traditional haiku. In San Miguel, the scent of night-blooming jasmine is certainly evocative, as is the stench of the arroyo or fresh dog poop. The Japanese may have plum trees, but we have 300 varieties of cactus. Kyoto has its whispering streams. We have torrential downspouts and streets that instantly become rivers when it rains.
The adaptation of haiku for gringo self-expression was inevitable. Somebody had to do it, and Feldon and Torbet are glad they did. The haikus here are just a sampling. There are many, many more in the book—each guaranteed to provide keen insight and a hearty laugh. Gringo Haiku will be on sale at the Authors’ Sala on December 7— bring your Christmas list.
Leah Feldon is a bestselling author, journalist, TV commentator, photographer and style expert. Aside from her lifestyle books (which includes the classic Does This Make Me Look Fat? as featured on Oprah), she is also the co-writer of numerous health books, including The New York Times bestseller, The Okinawa Program and Perfect Balance, the definitive hormone book. For more info, www.leahfeldon.com.
Photographer and painter Lulu Torbet had a graphic design studio in Manhattan before being lured into the writing game. She is the author or ghostwriter of over 30 books, most of them in crafts, psychology and memoir.
New bookstore to open in San Miguel
Book Store Opening
EDUCAL
Fri, Nov 30, 7pm
Bellas Artes
Hernández Macías 75
A new bookstore will open in San Miguel de Allende. Ernesto de la Peña, head of Bellas Artes said that it will be of the chain EDUCAL, from CONACULTA (National Council for Culture and Arts). “EDUCAL publishes the works of writers, many of whom have been supported with scholarships, in narrative, poetry, tale, and essay” said De la Peña. “It also includes cultural documentaries.” De la Peña added that EDUCAL also manages books from other publishing houses such as Porrúa and Fondo de Cultura Económico, which includes the great classics of literature at economical prices. “Most of the books will be in Spanish, since we are trying to cover the demand of books in Spanish. There are only some bookstores with not a great variety of books. The English book demand is covered with El Tecolote.” There will be also some art books for sale from which some may be in English.
The opening will be this Friday, November 30 at 7pm, in Bellas Artes facilities, with the presence of the Ricardo Calderón, sub-director of the National Institute of Fine Arts.
Book Fever
By Marcia Loy
Books about books
Reading has always brought me pure joy. I read to encounter new worlds and new ways of looking at our own world. I read to enlarge my horizons, to gain wisdom, to experience beauty, to understand myself better, and for the pure wonderment of it all.
—Nancy Pearl
I love books—I guess you can tell. So what could be more fun than books about books. And here are some I’ve recently read. All of these books are in the library.
Book Lust, Nancy Pearl, 2003 and More Book Lust, 2005. The author is a Seattle librarian who has compiled “recommended reading for every mood, moment and reason.” I discovered these two books in the library one day. I took them home and for the next 18 hours, did nothing but read. Her categories are wonderful: Pawns of History; Zero: This Will Mean Nothing to You; and Czech It Out. In addition, she has “too good to be missed” writers, such as Ian McEwan, Elinor Lipman and Ward Just. Her second book contains 1,000 new recommendations. Categories include: Dewey Deconstructed; It Was a Dark and Stormy Novel; Nagging Mothers, Crying Children and Me, Me, Me: Autobiographies and Memoirs. I came away with a long written list and an even longer mental list of books to read. Pearl introduced me to several writers I’d not heard of but have come love: Michael Malone and Howard Norman; writers I’d heard of but not read: Carol Shields, Don DeLillo and Richard Ford. These two books made me realize if I ate more cottage cheese and cooked less, I’d have more time to read.
Excerpt from Book Lust. A . . . My Name is Alice: I once heard Anna Quindlen answer the question of what authors she most enjoyed reading by saying that, basically, she read “the Alices.” I realized then that one could have a most enjoyable binge reading these Alices: Alice Adams, Alice Elliot Dark, Alice Hoffman, Alice Mattison, Alice McDermott, Alice Munro, Alice Walker, and first-time novelist Alice Sebold.
For the Love of Books: 115 Celebrated Writers on the Books They Love Most, Ronald B. Shwartz, 1999. The author sent inquiries to over 100 authors, mostly American, Canadian and British, asking them to identify three to six books that influenced or affected them most deeply, and asking them to explain why. He received responses from a diverse group, including Russell Banks, Arthur Miller, David Lodge, Carol Shields and Herman Wouk. Many cited Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Joyce and Proust but there were some lovely surprises. Dave Barry mentioned The Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, Archie comics and Calvin Trillin. Michael Ondaatje suggested Marilynne Robinson, Graham Swift’s Waterland, Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen and others. Peggy Noonan listed the biography of Samuel Johnson, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, all of Walker Percy and all of Tom Wolfe. Now I have another long list of books to read, as well as Post-its on 17 pages of witty or profound things to write down. And the book’s due tomorrow.
Excerpt from Amy Bloom, who chose, among others, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I must have been powerfully affected by Jane Austen, since I read these two books about once every two years. I think there were lots of things that I missed when I first read them at fifteen or sixteen, but I certainly recognized that she was, like me, somebody who took a lot of pleasure in noticing things and being snippy about them. I was very sorry that Jane Austen hadn’t moved next door. I was sure we would have had a very good time, you know, hanging out and smoking cigarettes.
So Many Books, So Little Time, Sara Nelson, 2003. This is not a comprehensive guide to books like Book Lust, but a personal account of reading one book a week for 52 weeks and writing about them. Like me, Nelson is an eclectic reader, choosing everything from the latest novel to classics to nonfiction. This is a fun book. I loved it when she admitted trying to read a few lines of The Bird Artist at the movies with her son, while watching a Harry Potter movie for the third time. I’ve never done that, although I’m considering stashing a book in my handbag should the next movie be disappointing. And thanks to Nelson I have a new list of books to read, including Caroline Knapp’s Drinking: A Love Story and T.C. Boyle’s East Is East.
Here’s an excerpt from a chapter she entitles Hype. Like every other business, publishing is susceptible to—no, make that dependent on—what they call buzz, the slow, humming interest that might someday grow to a dull roar and tip a book into big-shot bestseller land. . . . So this week I read Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. This is the novel whose author was wet-kissed by New York magazine, the debut that got a front page rave in the venerable New York Times Book Review, the book that as of this writing—a few months after publication—has sold an impressive 95,000 copies in hardcover and has been bought by a paperback publisher for just shy of $1 million. . . . Here’s what my friend Rita said about it: “Shtetl, scmetl.”
An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the World of Books, Wendy Werris 2006. I loved this memoir of a woman who got a job in a legendary Los Angeles bookstore when she was 19, and instead of returning to college, became a publisher’s sales rep in the heyday of independent book stores. Lots of fun. And now I have another list of books to read.
Excerpt: [Having filled out an employment application, she sits in an interview across from the personnel manager.]
“I see you have no bookstore experience. Why do you want to work here . . . ?”
“You see,” I stammered, “I really love literature and I read quite a lot so I’m prettyknowledgeableaboutbooks.” My words ran together in a fit of nerves. “And I spend so much time shopping in here anyway thatitalmostfeelslikehometome.
And I know how to make change!” Now my brains were falling out of my mouth. . . .
“I like you. You can start on Monday if you’re interested.”
Coming in December: my favorite fiction.
Marcia Loy is a member of the steering committee of the Authors’ Sala and a volunteer at the Biblioteca Pública.