"If Dante had had the San Miguel experience, he may have written more about heaven and less about hell." Tom Robbins, 2008
"We writers adore the clever, imaginative Literary Sala, the enthusiastic audiences, and the opportunity to learn.” Alice Denham, NY & SMA. Author, Sleeping With the Bad Boys.
“There are many wonderful things in San Miguel ... but one of the finest is our Literary Sala. It is always an inspiration, a wake-up to new ideas & raising of consciousness that can't be avoided, if one just shows up”. Elsmarie Norby
"I have been enormously moved by the enjoyable presentations of the San Miguel Authors Sala. Not only are the writers well-prepared, their talks are interesting and often emotional. Several years ago at the Writers' Conference, Sena Jeter Naslund made one of the most remarkable talks I have ever heard. It was a moving experience." Wayne Greenhaw, Montgomery, Alabama & San Miguel de Allende
“The Literary Sala events have been a constant source of intellectual stimulation and inspiration. They have become an integral part of our cultural experience and always meet our high expectations.” Adrienne and Arnie Brookstone
The Literary Sala exists to enrich your literary life, be it as a fan of literature or as a writer. After a career in book publishing, I began to write in San Miguel . . . the Literary Sala is my steadfast, codependent enabler as I shift from workaholic editor to obsessive observer and writer. Vicki Gundrum, peripatetic, often in San Francisco and San Miguel
The San Miguel Summer Literary Festival
August 6 to 9, 2010 Hotel Real de Minas, San Miguel de Allende
Featuring Kathryn Blair, author of
In the Shadow of the Angel
Described by one reviewer as the Gone with the Wind of Mexico, Kathryn Blair's book is the riveting true story of a remarkable woman, Antonieta Rivas Mercado. Her story takes the reader deep inside the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and its aftermath.
The two-day Literary Festival, in celebration of Mexico's Bicentennial Independence and Ms. Blair and her work, includes:
• Keynote address with Kathryn Blair.
• Panel discussion, including other members of Antonieta's family.
• Lecture about Mexico in the tumultuous first three decades of the twentieth century by historian Anna Adams.
• Presentation about the challenges of building the Angel of Independence monument in the Reforma in Mexico City.
• Many other surprises!
Plus a special 2 Day Excursion (optional) to Mexico City to view the mansion where Antonieta grew up, the mansion where her sister lived, and a private tour of the Angel of Independence monument itself.
We highly recommend that you read the book In the Shadow of the Angel before attending the Conference. Copies are available in the Tienda in the Biblioteca in San Miguel or from on-line booksellers. CLICK HERE for Pricing and Registration
This is a true story of an extraordinary Mexican woman of the twenties. Published in Spanish in 1995, it continues to be a bestseller, acclaimed both for its historical and literary value.
Antonieta Rivas Mercado was the daughter of the architect of Mexico’s Independence Monument, popularly known as "The Angel." She was born in 1900 and committed suicide in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, in 1931. Heiress of a fortune and brilliant, Antonieta was as conflictual and passionate as Mexico itself.
She intensely lived the three decades of Mexico’s struggle for national identity: the last ten years of a long dictatorship which ended in the lavish Centennial celebration of 1910, the chaos wrought by ten years of violent revolution, and the struggle for power in which the social and political order of Mexico today was rooted.
In fluid narrative, Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa, Diego Rivera,Frida Kahlo, Tina Modotti, Clemente Orozco and Mexico’s future men of letters are woven into this vivid saga. Antonieta broke with her class mores and traditions defending womens' rights, consorting with bullfighters, homosexuals, threadbare artists, and communists.
The clash of cultures in her ill-fated marriage to Albert Blair, an Anglo-American revolutionary, and her obsession with planting seeds of culture in Mexico’s fertile soil of the twenties fill the pages with colorful images and personages.
Antonieta Rivas Mercado 1923
In 1928, Antonieta entered the political arena and the arms of a presidential candidate, José Vasconcelos. On the campaign trail, she faced the realities of her country: grinding poverty, injustice, corruption, lack of education and opportunity. She poured her money and passion for women’s rights into the campaign.
Caught in the vortex of the fraudulent election, Antonieta suffered a moral and spiritual collapse from which she never recovered. She kidnapped her son and fled Mexico, soon to face the crucified Christ in Notre Dame Cathedral.
The story ends with the birth of the PRI, the political party, which has governed Mexico for seventy-one years. Antonieta’s dream of a free, democratic Mexico was realized on July 2, 2000, when an opposition candidate, Vicente Fox, won, breaking the longest tenure of any governing party.
