A Tribute to Maia Williams [] Poetry & Prose Café

Poetry & Prose Café Presents

A Tribute to Maia Williams

with

Merilyn Simonds, Ken Morrow, Laura Juliet Wood

Café Murmullo, Ancha de San Antonio 24

Covered, Open-Air Venue

Thursday, October 10, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Suggested Donation: $100 pesos

by Rosaleen Bertolino

Please join us on October 10 to honor the literary life of our amazing founder, Maia Williams. Many in San Miguel are acquainted Maia from her years (2014-2020) as co-director of the San Miguel Writers Conference, or from her popular Wild Muse writing workshops, where she encouraged hundreds of writers over the years. She founded and edited San Miguel’s bilingual arts and culture magazine, Crossroads, published annually from 2015 to 2020. More recently, she edited and published the anthology, Memory As Muse: Then & Now (2022). However, what many people don’t know is that Maia was also a dedicated writer herself.

For this event, we will be celebrating Maia’s writing and her love of literature. Friends and colleagues Ken Morrow, Laura Juliet Wood, and Merilyn Simmons will read a selection of Maia’s poems, as well as from pieces of their own writing that were particular favorites of hers. We will reserve time at the end of the event for people to mingle with each other, because most of all what Maia exemplified was kindness and the magic of sharing stories together.

Ken Morrow retired to San Miguel in 2006 from a fifty-year career in architecture. His poetry has been published in Lee Gould’s La Presa Journal and Maia Williams’ anthology, Memory as Muse: Then and Now.  His first collection of poetry is titled Uncertainty Principle.

Laura Juliet Wood, is a poet, teacher, editor, and translator, as well as the author of All Hands Lost and Dreaming During the Advent of Rain. Although she lives in Pensacola, Florida with her three children, her heart has been in San Miguel de Allende since she was 9 years old.

Merilyn Simonds is the acclaimed author of 20 books, including the novel The Holding, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and The Convict Lover, a finalist for Canada’s prestigious Governor General’s Award. Her forthcoming book is Still Life with Beth, to be published by Penguin Random House in early fall, 2025.

Admission is free but we strongly appreciate a minimum donation of $100 pesos per person. The donations underwrite the costs of graphic design, promotional efforts, venue costs, and sound rentals. Memory As Muse (Volume I) will be for sale at our no-commission book table. There will also be books for sale by the participating writers. Poetry & Prose Café is an all-volunteer organization that presents local and visiting writers reading original work.

Please arrive a few minutes early, seating is limited.