Honoring the Legacy of Maia Williams

Published August 14, 2024

Maia Williams

1955 – 2024

The literary community of San Miguel de Allende lost one of our most active and passionate members when Maia Williams died on July 30.

Maia was the Co-Director of the San Miguel Writers’ Conference from 2014 to 2020.

Of the many activities she coordinated and responsibilities she held, one of her favorites was a memorable special event when the Literary Sala entertained the daughter of Diego Rivera, Guadalupe Rivera Marin, for a weekend. In her honor, Maia created a formal banquet using recipes from a book Guadalupe wrote called, Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo.

Maia founded and was the editor for San Miguel’s bilingual arts and culture magazine called Crossroads, published annually from 2015 to 2020. She also founded the currently still popular Prose and Poetry Café, a monthly reading series featuring accomplished local and visiting writers.

Maia conducted writing workshops called “Wild Muse: Show Up and Write,” offering inspiration and a supportive environment to several hundred aspiring authors over the years. Offered first in March 2015, they grew to include year-round, in-person and online courses for writers of short-form creative nonfiction, and they resulted in the publication of the anthology, Memory as Muse: Then and Now

Maia and her husband, Wyman Rousseau, arrived in San Miguel de Allende in 2011 from Charlotte, North Carolina for what they called “a year of living creatively,” and they never left. Prior to living much of the year in Mexico, Maia topped off her U.S. career in business as CEO of a sales and management consulting firm in the Carolinas, growing annual client revenues from $500 to $750 million over five years. She volunteered across North Carolina as an advocate for creative arts organizations, including a multiyear term on the board of Charlotte’s renowned Arts & Science Council and as annual fundraising chair for The Echo Foundation, an educational organization focused on social justice, with strong ties to the late Elie Wiesl, humanitarian, literary icon, and Nobel peace laureate.

The common threads throughout her career were building community, growing businesses, supporting social justice efforts and the arts. Maia celebrated love, laughter, friendship, equity, and kindness in all she did.

Her contributions to the literary community of San Miguel de Allende will endure for many years to come.

We offer our condolences to Wyman, son Landon, daughter-in-law Tracy, and her three grandchildren.

Contributions to the GoFundMe campaign for Wyman’s ongoing care needs will be greatly appreciated. The site also allows you to leave words of support and sympathy, which Wyman will see.