San Miguel Poetry and Prose Cafes

San Miguel de Allende Prose & Poetry Cafés  with Linda Laino * David Dykes * MaryKatherine Wainwright

At Café Murmullo, Ancha de San Antonio 24, A Covered, Open-Air Venue

Thursday, December 8, 2022, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

by Rosaleen Bertolino

Are prose and poetry mutually exclusive or can they have a relationship? Please join us on Thursday, December 8, when we feature three fabulous writers—Linda Laino, David Dykes, and MaryKatherine Wainwright, all of whom write both poetry and prose. They will read original work, and then discuss how writing in multiple mediums informs what they write and the ways each medium enriches the other.

Linda Laino is a visual artist, writer, and former teacher with an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Having been influenced by language from a young age, she moves between painting and writing, in search of the connections and the crossover. Her poems and prose have been published with distinction in many small presses and anthologies, most recently in “La Presa” out of Guanajuato City. Her poem, “Poem at Sixty” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2019. Often juggling various projects, she is currently preparing for a painting exhibition in April and working on a novel. Her paintings and blog can be accessed here: http://www.lindalaino.com and here: wordsandpictures.lindalaino.com.

David Dykes is a writer, teacher, and editor from Rockford Tennessee, a town best known for a treacherous mill dam and the adjoined mill that makes twine and mop heads. He avoided the mills and went into the family profession of teaching school. He went to college in Knoxville and later got his MFA in San Marcos, Texas.  He is a long-time resident of San Miguel, a storyteller by upbringing, and a poet by nature.

Mary Katherine Wainwright is a writer and retired professor of American literature. Her poetry and prose have been published in many books and literary journals. Published in 2018, A Taste of Salt is her first collection of poetry. En Route: Essays was published in 2019. Mary Katherine earned a Ph.D. in American Studies at Purdue University, and taught literature and writing for over thirty years in major U.S. colleges and universities, including the State College of Florida. She received numerous fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Florida Humanities Council, and the McKnight Foundation for Higher Education, among others. A Florida native, Mary Katherine has lived in San Miguel since 2009.

Here in San Miguel, she teaches courses on Poetry and Literature at the Lifelong Learning Program and the San Miguel Writers’ Conference.

Admission is free but donations are gratefully accepted to support our all-volunteer organization. We present local and visiting writers, established and emerging. Books written by the presenters will be available for purchase at our no-commission pop-up Café Bookshop. Please arrive early, seating is limited.

Who are we? The San Miguel Poetry and Prose Cafes host literary events right here in town. Our readings take place on the first Thursday of the month, September through April, from 5-6 pm, and include interesting and varied writers. Events are free, though donations to our non-profit volunteer-run organization are encouraged. Always, we adhere to Covid protocols, and tend to hold open-air events.