San Miguel de Allende Writers Festival: A review and a farewell

The cultural offer of a city is an indisputable parameter for the quality of life of its residents, and in San Miguel de Allende we can boast that not only the architectural beauty and history of our streets contribute to good living: in relation to the size of our municipality, the artistic and cultural proposals are something we can boast about.

Throughout the year, consecutively, those of us who live here are fortunate witnesses of the multiple events, fairs, and festivals that are hosted in this city of ours, which is a world heritage site. We are witnesses of the cultural offerings, yes, but also of how the atmosphere of our streets is infected by that effect that the arts provoke in the spectators as if in the air there were a new element that electrifies the wills hungry for an aesthetic experience; and everything changes silently, joyfully: the coffee tastes better, the colors shine brighter, the chats become more interesting… or am I exaggerating? Is it that effect doing its thing in my perception of what surrounds me?

This week, we have enjoyed and felt this effect thanks to the presence of the International Festival of Writers and Literature, in its XVIII edition, which after two consecutive years in virtual and hybrid format due to the health crisis caused by COVID-19, returns to its on-site format, which has also implied the return of the challenges of an event of great dimensions: tricultural, bilingual, with an offer of more than 40 intensive workshops, five master lectures, three master classes, among many other activities that bring together more than 50 authors, publishers, literary agencies and all lovers of literature from the three North American nations. Following the tradition of recent years, the festival will be held in the facilities of the Hotel Real de Minas, which with its large halls and beautiful gardens, has remained the ideal place for the new edition of this great event.

It is worth remembering that this important festival has received great talents from the world of literature, such as Rosa Beltrán, Calvin Trillin, Barbara Kinsolver, Juan Villoro, Cristina Rivera Garza, Margaret Atwood, Jorge Volvi, Joyce Carol Oates, among many other illustrious personalities from the world of literature. As well as these days, we have enjoyed the talent of Benjamin Lorr (The Secret life of Groceries, Hell-Bent), Brenda Lozano (Todo Nada, Cómo piensan las piedras, Brujas) and so many others.

Benjamin Lorr, Wednesday’s keynote speaker, has written two acclaimed research books, “The Secret Life of Groceries,” which tackles the myth of Trader Joe’s and the entire supply chain that underpins the grocery industry, and “Hell-Bent,” which delves into the obsessive world of competitive yoga and the culture of Bikram Yoga. Thursday’s keynote speaker is Linda Spaulding, who discusses the recreation of time and place in her historical novels, “A Reckoning” and “Daughters of Captain Cook.” Finally, on Friday, Jean Kwok talks about her own immigration story, which took her from the Chinatown sweatshops to graduating from Harvard and becoming the author of “Searching for Sylvie Lee,” “Girl in Translation” and “Mambo in Chinatown.”

As we can imagine, every great phenomenon has a great history, just remember that this writers’ festival, in its first edition in 2006 -although since 2004 a literary room was formed for the first time by the same organizers- had a modest beginning that summoned 28 attendees and that, clearly, has grown exponentially under the leadership of its founder and executive director, Susan Page, who recently in an interview via Zoom, stated that this would be her last year at the helm of the Festival.

In the interview, Susan said that “the time has definitely come for me to retire, but I will probably continue to be involved.” Most likely, she will be dealing with donors and sponsors.

Because the event has grown so much, these people help keep the conference affordable for everyone. “We couldn’t afford to run the conference on registration fees alone.” No doubt Susan’s role in the conference, although no longer as its head, will remain invaluable.

Fortunately, it leaves a professional and hard-working team. Half a dozen people will take care of all the details of the conference: logistics, talent recruitment, funding, publicity, etc. Most of her team has been working with her for more than eight years, and they are ready to take on the challenge Susan leaves behind. Still, the transition was well planned. “I handed over major responsibilities long before this festival,” she commented. One person on her team stands out, Susan’s “shadow angel,” as she calls Tina Bueche, who joined the festival as a volunteer more than 10 years ago and is now an essential part of the entire operation.

“She joined as volunteer coordinator in 2017,” Susan recalls, “and then became extremely active on the executive committee taking on more responsibility. She became director of operations and then assistant executive director. I am very grateful to her, as I needed someone who was willing and able to take over. She came to the Festival at a great time.”

Regarding the Festival itself, it’s worth noting that Susan, to our delight, was involved in the entire process, especially in the careful selection of this year’s presenters. “We’re looking for writers who are good speakers, good presenters,” Susan said. “We want the keynote to be a big hit. We look for things they’ve done on YouTube, and we write to other conferences they’ve spoken at to find out what kind of guests they were. It’s a tough criterion. We also try to have a mix of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, a mix of genres and diversity.”

“We’ve tried to create a conference that has something for everyone,” Susan says. And indeed, it does, as the conference also sponsors several writing workshops and an already famous bookstore with titles written by San Miguel’s own talent. A milestone in itself, this conference has been a great success, and although we say goodbye to Susan Page, we know the conference is in good hands.