"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
Join us for an International Community Read of The Lacuna!
Barbara Kingsolver has specifically asked for active dialogue aboutThe Lacuna at the 2010 San Miguel Writer's Conference, and she will participate in the dialogue - with the public - at the Open Book Group session in February.
No matter where you live, or where you'll be in February when Barbara Kingsolver is in San Miguel, you can be in the literary vortex, right here, online (though you know we'd rather meet you in San Miguel!).
Book Clubs and readers around the world will be joining in on our Big Read - so get ready to be a part of something terrific!
Here's what Publisher's Weekly says about The Lacuna:
"Kingsolver’s ambitious new novel, her first in nine years (after The Poisonwood Bible), focuses on Harrison William Shepherd, the product of a divorced American father and a Mexican mother. After getting kicked out of his American military academy, Harrison spends his formative years in Mexico in the 1930s in the household of Diego Rivera; his wife, Frida Kahlo; and their houseguest, Leon Trotsky, who is hiding from Soviet assassins.
After Trotsky is assassinated, Harrison returns to the U.S., settling down in Asheville, N.C. where he becomes an author of historical potboilers (e.g. Vassals of Magesty) and is later investigated as a possible subversive.
Narrated in the form of letters, diary entries and newspaper clippings, the novel takes a while to get going, but once it does, it achieves a rare dramatic power that reaches its emotional peak when Harrison wittily and eloquently defends himself before the House Un-American Activities Committee (on the panel is a young Dick Nixon).
“Employed by the American imagination,” is how one character describes Harrison, a term that could apply equally to Kingsolver as she masterfully resurrects a dark period in American history with the assured hand of a true literary artist."
Please note (to those in San Miguel): In order for the Tienda at the Biblioteca, Garrison and Garrison Books, and El Tecolote Bookstore to have copies of The Lacuna in San Miguel by the publication date of November 3, they must have books pre-ordered and paid for. Please go into one of these bookstores before October 10 and order and pay for your copy. That is the only way you will be able to have your very own copy on publication day: November 3.
