MÉXICO CITY (apro) – The 12th edition of the “San Miguel Writers’s Conference & Literary Festival” will take place from Wednesday 15 to Sunday 19 February 2017, at the Convention Center of Hotel Real de Minas and the Ignacio Ramírez Cultural Center “El Nigromante” of San Miguel de Allende, a World Cultural Heritage Site.
The purpose of this festival is to gather more than 100 authors from México and other countries.
Among the guests are Billy Collins, Judy Collins, David Ebershoff, Ana García Bergua, Julián Herbert, Claire Joysmith, Mary Karr, Naomi Klein, Eduardo Limón, Lisa Moore, Robert Moore, Pedro Ángel Palou, Gibrán Portela, Anna Styczynska and Rodrigo Pámanes, among others.
In an interview, Armida Zepeda, Director of the festival, pointed out that, “this meeting of literature has been become as one of the most representative festivals throughout Mexico, featuring the most outstanding contemporary authors in Spanish and English, as well as emerging writers from México, United States and Canada”.
Judy Collins, a Speaker of this Festival
Amid the controversial policies conducted by the U.S. President Donald Trump, Armida Zepeda stressed “bridges should be built instead of walls, and this festivity is a great opportunity to share a significant knowledge among authors and journalists from Canada, the United States and Mexico, so we definitely have a new commitment with literature”.
Proceso Magazine asked Zepeda: Regarding the possible renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), could this affect the literature industry?
“Literature has always been ahead of any negative circumstance, and it is proof that through the word we can always disagree, declare and manifest.
Otherwise, it is not possible to imply what we feel like Canadians, Americans and Mexicans, and we are talking about three countries with a different culture.”
“During the meeting, young students of literature and writers will share ideas with their colleagues from Canada, the United States, France and Australia among other countries, creating an amazing cultural exchange throughthe art of literature”, Zepeda underlined.
Billy Collins will participate in the Literary Festival
Proceso: In the festival, what place does poetry occupy against story and novel?
We always strive for a balance between all literary genres.
In this occasion, the cultural offer vary, presenting poetry, short story, and novel workshops, and we will feature for the first time a film script workshop and training conducted by Gibrán Portela, who is the screenwriter of the feature films “The Wilderness” produced by Amat Escalante, “Güeros”, by Adolfo Ruizpalacios, and “The Golden Cage”, by Diego Quemada-Diez; and we will also have a novelist autobiography workshop, given by writer and journalist Eduardo Limón.
In addition, the following speakers will offer lectures:
- Canadian Naomi Klein, will offer the talk “This changes everything” (Esto lo cambia todo)
- Lisa Moore will talk about “Discovering the art of Newfoundland” (Descubriendo el arte de Terranova)
- Mexican Pedro Angel Palou will explain “The historical novel in times of systemic violence among Americans” (La novela histórica en el tiempo de la violencia sistémica entre los estadounidenses),
- David Ebershoff will participate with “The Danish Girl” (La chica danesa), Billy Collins with “The rain in Portugal” (Lluvia en Portugal), and Mary Karr with “Blessings and Curses of Autobiography” (Bendiciones y maldiciones de la autobiografía).
The Rain in Portugal by Billy Collins
Zepeda also mentioned that, the organizing committee is part of the non-profit NGO called “San Miguel Literary Sala”, made up of Canadians and Americans, most of them permanent residents of Mexico.
The director of the festival concluded: “All year we organize promotional activities for reading and writing, through several programs, and currently I’m working on one that is called “Books for all” (Libros para todos) and we go to rural and urban schools, where we read books to elementary school children, in order for them to get into reading”.
Source: http://www.proceso.com.mx
