Greetings once more from San Miguel, a heritage town in the heart of Mexico, which overflows with happenings. One weekend it's the party of the year with the opening of an art gallery/chapel in the garden of two eccentric artists in the country. Then it is a visit of the Buddhist relics which have been traveling the globe since 2001, containing tiny pearl like remnants from enlightened Buddhist masters. it is possible to fill every moment of the day with some thing of great interest.
I have, however, just participated in what appears to be the most important event of this season -- the San Miguel Conference and Literary Festival. This year's theme, The Creative Crossroads of the Americas, attracted more Mexicans to what is now the largest bilingual literary event of the Americas.
Canada was in the forefront of this festival with the iconic Margaret Atwood as the keynote speaker. She was treated like a VIP when she and her husband Graeme Gibson, another writer, were driven from Mexico City in a Canadian embassy car with the consul, who officially introduced her at the event. At her presentation, some local gringos performed a musical prelude, singing as God's gardeners, taken from her book The Year of the Flood. Atwood, with her usual wry wit, did not talk much about her latest book, but recalled her early career and what it is like to be a writer. Her wit seemed lost on the three Mexicans sitting next to me wearing their translation paraphenalia, as not a smile crossed their faces.
Mexico's most celebrated and prolific female writer and journalist Elena Poniatowska, now 80 and still going strong, wowed most of the audience. Although descended from Polish and French royalty, she has lived in Mexico since early childhood and writes about some of the most difficult situations. Her event was quite a history lesson and she recalled interviewing some of the greats from the 30s and 40s, including Luis Bunuel the filmmaker and Diego Rivera.
Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation represented the U.S. A renowned poet who also performs internationally with her band Arrow Dynamics, she created a dynamic shot of energy. Hearing all three women on a panel inevitably brought up the connections between the countries and there was discussion about the Alberta oil sands pipeline and the many sacred lands of the Americas it could well potentially destroy. Canada was indeed well represented!
Naomi Wolf, writer and activist, gave and inspiring talk on advocacy writing. A somewhat different audience appeared in a separate event and showing of the film and talk based on her book 'The End of America.' San Miguel members of the Center for Global Justice and Occupy Wall Street, shot her several questions and she talked about the importance of continued protest.
For four full days the 500 writers and would-be writers at this literary event attended workshops with editors and writers (there were men presenters also, although fewer.) Now know internationally this conference certainly could not be in a more magical setting.
As I drove away with a friend after the last event, we turned into a narrow street and passed Margaret Atwood and husband walking slowly on the cobble stones, wearing her sensible shoes, as we all have to do in San Miguel.
Kami Kanetsuka
