C.M. Mayo's Podcast (Marfa Mondays & More)

C.M. Mayo reads her longform essay about Miss Charles Emily Wilson, the Texas borderlands educator and oral historian of the Black Seminole scouts.

As part of the occasional series "Conversations with Other Writers," C.M. Mayo talks with historian M.M. McAllen about her book, Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico. Recorded in the Twig Bookstore in San Antonio, Texas, October 2015. Visit McAllen's website at www.mmmcallen.com C.M. Mayo is the author of several books on Mexico including the novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a Library Journal Best Book of 2009. Her website is www.cmmayo.com >> The transcript of this interview will be available shortly.

For the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) annual conference in Tucson, Arizona, at the Café Latino bilingual reading series at the Café Passé, C.M. Mayo reads "Café San Martin" by Mexican poet Agustín Cadena, together with her translation into English. This poem originally appeared in Cadena's collection Caceria de brujas, and the translation in Sarah Cortez's anthology, Goodbye Mexico. The MC is Alexis Levitin. Recorded on October 30, 2015. For more about ALTA www.literarytranslators.org For more about Agustín Cadena http://elvinoylahiel.blogspot.com For more about C.M. Mayo's translations http://www.cmmayo.com/pubs-translations.html

An interview with Raymond Caballero, author of Lynching Pascual Orozco: Mexican Revolutionary Hero and Paradox. > Complete show notes and transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more) 

An excerpt from C.M. Mayo's translation of Francisco I. Madero's Spiritist Manual, originally published in 1911 as Manual espírita. Madero was the leader of Mexico's 1910 Revolution and President of Mexico from 1911-1913.The complete translation is included in C.M. Mayo's book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual (Dancing Chiva, 2014), which won the National Indie Excellence Award for History. > More about this title at www.cmmayo.com.

An interview with Israel Campos, award-winning pitmaster and owner of Pody's BBQ. Recorded in June 2015. > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more) Mentioned on this podcast: Pody's BBQ on Facebook Pody's BBQ on TripAdvisor Texas Monthly on Pody's BBQ Smokestack Lightning by Lolis Eric Elie   The 100 Best Barbecue Restaurants in America by Johnny Fugitt The Prophets of Smoked Meat by Daniel Vaughn  Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook by Robb Walsh Chimney (Weber Chimney) Charcoal Starter Hatch New Mexico Chiles

C.M. Mayo lee un extracto del primer capítulo de su libro, Odisea metafísica hacia la Revolcuión Mexicana, Francisco I. Madero y su libro secreto, Manual espírita, Traducción de Agustín Cadena (Literal Publishing, 2014). Mayor información sobre este libro en la página web www.cmmayo.com

An interview with barrel racer Lisa Fernandes, recorded at the Pecos Rodeo, June 2015. > Transcript> MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more) > Official page for the West of the Pecos Rodeo

Para el programa de radio "Historia en vivo" de Radio Ciudada IMER en la Ciudad de México, la Maestra Bertha Hernández entrevista a C.M. Mayo sobre su nuevo libro, Odisea metafísica hacia la Revolución Mexicana, Francisco I. Madero y su libro secreto, Manual espírita. > Acerca de este libro (reseñas, extractos, bibliografías, artículos y más recursos para investigadores) Historiadores mencionados en esta entrevista: Manuel Guerra de Luna, Enrique Krauze, José Mariano Leyva, Alejandro Rosas, Yolia Tortolero. > Extractos de Odisea metafísica hacia la revolución Mexicana por C.M. Mayo, traducido por Agustín Cadena > Extractos del Manual espirita de Francisco I. Madero El libro original en inglés, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual > Conseguir el libro (pasta blanda o edición digital Kindle) > Escuchar un podcast en inglés, la presentación del libro en inglés, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution, en la Universidad de California San Diego 

An interview with historian Lonn Taylor, the "Rambling Boy" columnist for the Big Bend Sentinel, and author of several books, most recently, Texas People, Texas Places. Recorded in Fort Davis in March 2015. > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

Recorded January 29, 2015 in La Jolla, CA, at the University of California San Diego Center for US-Mexican Studies: C.M. Mayo discusses her new book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual. NOTES: This talk is substantially similar to the talk given for PEN San Miguel, however, some of the reading selections differ, as do the Q & A at the end. For more information about some of the many works, places, and individuals mentioned (more or less in order as mentioned):+ A Note on the Burned-Over District + Enrique Krauze's biography, Francisco I. Madero: Mistico de la libertad + Yolia Tortolero Cervantes' El espiritismo seduce a Francisco I. Madero + A Note on the works of Mexican historians Manuel Guerra de Luna and Alejandro Rosas Robles + Dr. Arnold-Krumm-Heller (Madero's doctor, a German intelligence officer, artillery expert and author of numerous esoteric works)+ Figures in the esoetric world: Papus; Rudolph Steiner; Aleister Crowley + Dr. Peebles+ Madero's La sucesión presidencial en 1910 (goes to archive.org)+ Francisco I. Madero's Commentary on the Baghavad-Gita+ Instituto Mexicano de Investigacion Síquica, Una ventana al mundo invisible (and the role of Plutarco Elias Calles) + Zavaleta, Antonio, and Alberto Salinas, Jr., Curandero Conversations: El Niño Fidencio, Shamanism, and Healing Traditions of the Borderlands + Luis Alberto Urrea's novel The Hummingbird's Daughter (about the healer Teresa de Cabora) + Helios, October 1911 issue announcing the Manual espírita (Mexican Spiritist Magazine)+ Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson (link goes to brief biography and inventory of his papers)+ Belén de Sárraga  + Victoriano Huerta (link to PBS documentary biography)+ Heribert von Feilitzsch's In Plain Sight: Felix Sommerfeld, Spymaster in Mexico+ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The History of Spiritualism  (archive.org) + A Note on the 1924 Barcelona edition of Madero's Manual espírita ("The Secret Life of a Secret Book") + Resources for Researchers page on the home website for Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution

On January 13, 2015, as the first speaker of the 2015 PEN San Miguel series in Bellas Artes, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, C.M. Mayo reads from and discusses her new book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual.(Yes, this book is available in both paperback editions and in Kindle.)For more about this book, visit www.cmmayo.com 

As part of the occasional series Conversations with Other Writers, C.M. Mayo talks with Rose Mary Salum, founding editor of Literal Magazine and Literal Publishing, and editor of the visionary anthology Delta de las arenas: cuentos árabes, cuentos judíos, a collection of Jewish and Arab stories from Latin America. Recorded in Mexico City, November 2013. Visit her website at www.literalmagazine.com C.M. Mayo is a literary journalist, novelist, and translator. The author of several works on Mexico, her most recent work is Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual. www.cmmayo.com   >>Read the transcript of this interview

An interview with photographer Paul V. Chaplo, author of Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country. Recorded at the Texas Book Festival in Austin, October 2014. This is #16 in the 24 podcast series Marfa Mondays: Exploring Marfa, Texas and the greater Big Bend region www.cmmayo.com/marfa "These stunning images of one of the most sparsely populated and least visited regions of North America are not your typical coffee table book pretty pictures. In Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country, Paul V. Chaplo, a classically trained visual artist who also happens to be a professional photographer, found and composed out of this swirlingly violent and bone-dry landscape something wondrous and haunting. Photographed from a single engine airplane, at various times of day, the land and sky and jewel-like ribbons of water come alive with form, muscle, and color." > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

An interview with Greg Williams, Executive Director of the Rock Art Foundation. Though the Rock Art Foundation has been working hard to spread the word, it still seems a well-kept secret that some of the most spectacular rock art in the world is tucked into the nooks and crannies of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Far West Texas (and into Coahuila, Mexico). I had the great privilege of being able to view some it, specifically, the rock art at Meyers Springs near the tiny border town of Dryden, Texas, through the tour offered by the Rock Art Foundation. Recorded at Meyers Springs Ranch on August 30, 2014. This is #15 in the 24 podcast series Marfa Mondays: Exploring Marfa, Texas and the greater Big Bend region www.cmmayo.com/marfa   > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

A hike over Burro Mesa into Apache Canyon in the Big Bend National Park, plus the reading of a brief translation from the memoir of Maximilian's gardener, Wilhelm Knechtel, about the Kickapoo ambassadors in 1865. This is #14 in the 24 podcast series, "Marfa Mondays: Exploring Marfa, TX & the Big Bend." www.cmmayo.com/marfa > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)  

Interview with John Tutino, professor of the history of Mexico and the Americas in the History Department and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Professor Tutino is the author of Making a New World: Founding Capitalism in the Bajío and Spanish North America (Duke University Press) and editor of the anthology Mexico and Mexicans in the Making of the United States (University of Texas Press). This is #13 in the 24 podcast series, "Marfa Mondays: Exploring Marfa, TX & the Big Bend." www.cmmayo.com/marfa > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

Interview with Dallas Baxter, founding editor of Cenizo Journal. Recorded in February 2013 in Alpine, Texas. Baxter talks about the flowering of arts in the desert, the aftermath of 9/11, the challenges and delights of living in the Big Bend, and the story of a successful and dynamic print journal in this digital age.  #12 in the 24 podcast series, "Marfa Mondays," which has been extended through 2015.  > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

27th annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas: cowboy songs by cowboys Michael Stevens, Craig Carter and Doug Figgs-- and an interview with Michael Stevens. Recorded on February 23, 2013. This is #11 in the 24 podcast series, "Marfa Mondays: Exploring Marfa, TX & the Big Bend, 2012-2013."> Transcript (excluding song lyrics, however) > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

C.M. Mayo reading live for PEN San Miguel in the Teatro Angela Peralta, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, on January 29, 2013. After a brief consideration of literary travel writing in the digital age, Mayo reads from her article in the winter 2013 issue of Cenizo Journal, "A Visit to Swan House," about the Presidio, Texas teaching house of adobe visionary Simone Swan, which features Nubian vaults, constructed by means of an ancient technique rescued by Swan's mentor, the renowned Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy. >Visit the Adobe Alliance webpage for more information about Swan House and photographs.> Transcript  > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

Mary Baxter came to Marfa years ago for the horses and cattle business and stayed to paint the sky-haunted landscapes in a Sorolla-like play of light: mountains, plains, horses huddling beneath a cliff, a canyon bruised purple with twilight, gold grass, the visual Haiku of a red water tank. Recently returned to Marfa after a decade in (relatively nearby) Marathon, Texas, Mary Baxter talked to C.M. Mayo in her sun-filled studio in October 2012. > View some of Mary Baxter's works at www.baxtergallery.com > Read her biography and view more works at Hunt Gallery > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

C.M. Mayo introduces her new ebook, Podcasting for Writers & Other Creative Entrepreneurs (Dancing Chiva, 2012). "Naples Dave" and others from fiverr.com are the big voices, along with music clips from istockaudio.com, uniquetracks.com, plus silly sound effects, and more. C.M. Mayo recorded her portion at ye olde writing desk desk (any snoring sounds are from the dog) and edited the whole shebang on her laptop using Apple's GarageBand. As Mayo says, "If I can podcast, so can you." About the ebook: Based on award-winning writer and avid podcaster C.M. Mayo’s one day workshop at the Writer’s Center, Podcasting for Writers & Other Literary Entrepreneurs provides an introduction and overview of podcasting for writers, from basic concepts to nuts-and-bolts tips. In 10 “easy peasy” steps (along with some “fancy schmancy” for those so inclined), Mayo shows you how to generate and publish your unique podcast—and yes, get that puppy onto iTunes. Read more about this ebook at www.dancingchiva.com C. M. Mayo is the author of the novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books); which was named a Library Journal Best Book 2009; Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Milkweed Editions); and Sky Over El Nido (University of Georgia Press), which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Mayo started out podcasting in 2009 with a simple recording of her lecture for the Library of Congress about the original archival research behind her novel; since then, it’s just been one podcast after another. Currently she hosts two podcast series, Conversations with Other Writers and, apropos of a travel memoir in progress, Marfa Mondays: Exploring Marfa, TX & Environs in 24 Podcasts.” Her website is www.cmmayo.com

Elvis. The private art gallery. Lithium. And even better: no email. C.M. Mayo recounts a visit to this remote Chihuahuan Desert oasis in May of 2012. C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel,The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a Library Journal Best Book 2009, and the collection Sky Over El Nido, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is also author of a travel memoir, Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico. She is at work on a book about the Big Bend region of far West Texas, apropos of which she hosts "Marfa Mondays," a series of 24 podcasts exploring Marfa, Texas and environs. For more about these and other books and podcasts by C.M. Mayo, visit www.cmmayo.com   > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

As part of the series of occasional conversations with other writers, C.M. Mayo talks with Sergio Troncoso, author of the novel From This Wicked Patch of Dust. He is also the author of the novel The Nature of Truth; the short story collection The Last Tortilla, which won the Premio Aztlan; and the collection Crossing Borders: Personal Essays. Recorded on Skype, summer 2012. His website is www.sergiotroncoso.comC.M. Mayo is the author of the novel,The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a Library Journal Best Book 2009, and the collection Sky Over El Nido, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is also author of a travel memoir, Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico. She is at work on a book about the Big Bend region of far West Texas, apropos of which she hosts Marfa Mondays, a series of 24 podcasts exploring Marfa, Texas and environs. For more about these and other books and podcasts by C.M. Mayo, www.cmmayo.com    >>Read the transcript of this interview

C.M. Mayo recounts her experiences with the bizarre and mysterious phenomena of the Marfa Lights, comments on some of the literature and research, and interviews other witnesses.  > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

An interview with Paul Graybeal, owner of Marfa's Moonlight Gemstones. It was no exaggeration for historian Walter Prescott Webb to describe the Big Bend region as "an earthwreck in which a great section of country was shaken down, turned over, blown up, and set on fire." In short, there is ample evidence of millions of years of dramatic geological activity, with the craggiest of mountains to rocks of all kinds, from mammoth piles of boulders to pebbles. In this interview with Paul Graybeal, learn about agates, thundereggs, and more. Visit Paul Graybeal's Moonlight Gemstones at www.moonlightgemstones ; and watch the etsy.com video, "There's No Place Like Here: Marfa, Texas" in which Graybeal makes a brief but amusing appearance.  For more about C.M. Mayo's Marfa Mondays Podcasting Projects, visit www.cmmayo.com/marfa > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

An interview with Cynthia McAlister about the bees of West Texas, both imported and native to the northern Chihuahuan Desert. McAlister holds a masters degree in biology from Sul Ross University and is the author of several articles on bees, among them,"Our Native West Texas Bees," which appeared in the winter 2012 issue of Cenizo Journal. Recorded in late January 2012. > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

C.M. Mayo interviews Avram Dumitrescu, an artist and illustrator whose paintings have been featured in "Marfans: Art from the Plateau" at the Nancy Fyfe Cardozier Gallery in Odessa, and also showcased in Cenizo Journal. A native of the Channel Islands and raised in Belfast, he earned a bachelor's degree and Masters in Applied Arts from the University of Ulster at Belfast. He is married to journalist Megan Wilde. For more about Dumitrescu, and to view his portfolio, visit www.onlineavram.com. Recorded in late January 2012. > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

As part of the series of occasional conversations with other writers, C.M. Mayo talks with Michael K. Schuessler, author of the biographies Guadalupe Amor: La undécisima musa (The Eleventh Muse) and Elena Poniatowska: An Intimate Portrait, and editor of journalist Alma Reed's long-lost autobiography, Peregrina: Love and Death in Mexico. Most recently, Schuessler is co-editor (with Amparo Gómez), of the correspondence between Reed and her fiancé, Yucatan's charismatic first democratically elected governor, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Tuyo hasta que me muera (Yours Until Death). Recorded in Mexico City on March 8, 2012. (Approx 1 hour and 7 minutes)     C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel,The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a Library Journal Best Book 2009, and the collection Sky Over El Nido, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is also author of a travel memoir, Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico. She is at work on a book about the Big Bend region of far West Texas, apropos of which she hosts Marfa Mondays, a series of 24 podcasts exploring Marfa, Texas and environs. For more about these and other books and podcasts by C.M. Mayo, www.cmmayo.com 

C.M. Mayo interviews Mary Bones, curator of the exhibit "The Lost Colony: Texas Regionalist Paintings," in the Museum of the Big Bend, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas. The Lost Colony refers to the summer art colony at Sul Ross which began in 1932 and ended somewhat mysteriously in 1950. Alpine is 30 minutes northeast of Marfa-- right next door. Of the region, as Michael Duty writes in the introduction to the exhibit's catalog, "It... has long called to artists who have been captivated by its natural beauty, its history, and its people. In recent times, the area has also drawn the attention of writers and reporters who have written numerous articles touting the area's prominence as something of a center, albeit a far flung one, for contemporary art. Those articles focus primarily on Marfa and the influence that minimalist sculptor Donald Judd has had on the town..." Later, Duty adds, that Judd "was certainly not the first artist to be so captivated". Mary Bones explains the inspiration for the exhibit, and shares the stories about and friendships of some of the painters, in particular Texan Julius Woeltz and his teacher Xavier González, a native of Spain, both of whom made trips to Mexico City to study the Mexican muralists, including Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. Some of the other painters discussed are Mabel Vandiver, Anna Keener, Elizabeth Keefer, Coreen Mary Spellman, Harry Anthony De Young, Beatrice Cuming, Otis Dozier, William Lester, James Swann, Ethel Edwards, Alice Reynolds, and Juanita Montgomery. Several of these paintings can be seen in the article by Mary Bones, "The Lost Colony: Texas Regionalist Paintings -Rediscovering an Artistic Past," Cenizo Journal, 4th Quarter 2011. > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)    

As part of the series of occasional conversations with other writers, C.M. Mayo talks with Edward Swift, author the memoir, My Grandfather's Finger, and several novels, most recently, The Daughter of the Doctor and the Saint. Recorded in Swift's studio in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, on February 22, 2012. For more conversations with other writers, visit www.cmmayo.com   C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel,The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a Library Journal Best Book 2009, and the collection Sky Over El Nido, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is also author of a travel memoir, Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico. She is at work on a book about the Big Bend region of far West Texas, apropos of which she hosts Marfa Mondays, a series of 24 podcasts exploring Marfa, Texas and environs. For more about these and other books and podcasts by C.M. Mayo, www.cmmayo.com 

Recorded at the PEN / Sol Literary Magazine Reading Series event of February 22, 2012 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. C.M. Mayo introduces and discusses her translation-- the first into English-- of Francisco I. Madero's secret book of 1911, Spiritist Manual. Madero was the leader of Mexico's 1910 Revolution and President of Mexico from 1911-1913. For more about Madero's Spiritist Manual, including extensive Q & A and resources for researchers, visit www.cmmayo.com/SPIRITISTMANUAL (Note: this is an abbreviated version of the longer podcast, which is available at www.cmmayo.com/podcasts.html , with fellow author Gerard Helferich, who read from his book, Stone of Kings.) 

Recorded in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, February 22, 2012. Gerard Helferich reads from and discusses his new book, Stone of Kings: In Search of the Lost Jade of the Maya, and C.M. Mayo discusses her translation-- the first into English-- of Francisco I. Madero's secret book of 1911, Spiritist Manual. Madero was the leader of Mexico's 1910 Revolution and President of Mexico 1911-1913. Introduced by Eva Hunter, editor of Sol Literary Magazine.

Interview with Charles Angell, owner of Angell Expeditions, on the Big Bend: how he got here, the rivers, the birds, geology, archaeology, rock art, movies, and much more. > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

Ever since I first heard about Marfa and the remote mountain ranges of West Texas, I yearned to go there. About a decade ago, on a brief visit, I drank in the majesty of the vast spaces, the bluer than blue skies, and at night, stars beyond stars, and— yes, they're real—the Marfa Lights. But the people? Breezing through, I didn't have a chance to talk to many, for I was deep into writing another book, Miraculous Air, about Baja California, Mexico's nearly 1,000 mile long peninsula. Once that wrapped up, I wanted to come back to explore Marfa but first, what I imagined would be a lickety-split project: researching and writing a novel based on the strange but true story of, as the title says, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. It seems a pattern with me, that writing a book always takes about seven times longer than I had planned, but never mind, finally, I am returning to Marfa and West Texas. No, not to live: I'm based in Mexico City, but over the next two years, in a series of journeys, I'll be writing a book about Marfa and environs. So why the podcasts? In the past, as I did while writing Miraculous Air, I would have turned out a series of travel articles for newspapers and magazines. I may still write an article or three, but I am less interested in which is the cheapest / best / coollest bed-and-breakfast & etc., than I am in talking to people and, now that podcasting is possible, rather than stash my notes and taped interviews in the drawer, I can share them widely. With this series of 24 podcasts, scheduled for the third Monday of each month from 2012 through 2013, I invite you to join me in this adventure in listening.  [UPDATE: Through 2016] > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

As part of the series of occasional conversations with other writers, C.M. Mayo talks with Sara Mansfield Taber, author of the memoir Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy's Daughter. For Taber, growing up in Taiwan, Japan, Washington DC, the Netherlands, and Borneo was tough as well as exotic, and she found the experience even more unsettling because, as she learned at fifteen, she was the daughter of a covert CIA agent. In this lyrical memoir, Taber captures the painful journey as she ― and her adored father ― struggle to understand who they are and what it means to be an American. The conversation ranges from her father's work in Asia, including his daring rescue of over a thousand Vietnamese after the fall of Vietnam to the Vietcong, and his disenchantment with the agency while working in Germany; Taber's childhood in Taiwan, highschool years in Washington DC during the Vietnam War; her previous books, including, Bread of Three Rivers and Dusk on the Campo; other travel writers, reading as a writer; writing practice, and teaching writing. Visit Sara Taber at www.sarataber.com  The sensory and emotional detail of this memoir is as delicately wrought as bone china, yet saved from fragility by Sara Taber’s uncompromising journey deeper and deeper inward with every page...a beautiful, mysterious, and unexpectedly suspenseful story of the struggle to find a place in the world.-William O’Sullivan, features editor, The Washingtonian MagazineSara Mansfield Taber has worked magic with this intoxicating memoir of her exotic childhood. With a child’s innocence and sensitivity, Sara composes her family’s haunting story, stroke by exquisitely beautiful stroke. This vibrant family portrait of love and heart-ache also reveals much about America—our passion, confusion, contradictions, and especially, the tragedy we bring upon the world despite our very best intentions.-Mary Stucky, National Public Radio  CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER WRITERSpodcast series home page Read the Transcript of this podcast 

C.M. Mayo, author of several works of fiction and creative nonfiction, long-time workshop leader at the Writers Center and the San Miguel Workshops, and a veteran herself of uncounted workshops (Bread Loaf, Sewanee, Bennington, and more), offers her top ten tips for you to get the most out of your writing workshop. For more resources for writers, and C.M. Mayo's updated writing workshop schedule, visit www.cmmayo.com and click on "workshop."

As part of the series of occasional conversations with other writers, C.M. Mayo talks with Solveig Eggerz, author of the fiercely poetic novel Seal Woman. Inspired by the Icelandic fairytale of the seal woman and the true story of some 300 German war widows brought to Iceland to marry and work on the remote farms, Seal Woman has been widely praised and translated into both Hebrew and Icelandic. The conversation ranges from the author's unusual background (from Iceland to England to Germany to Alexandria, Virginia), Iceland's book culture, fairytales, advice for writers, and more. Visit Solveig Eggerz at www.solveigeggerz.com   C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel,The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a Library Journal Best Book 2009, and the collection Sky Over El Nido, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is also author of a travel memoir, Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico. She is at work on a book about the Big Bend region of far West Texas, apropos of which she hosts Marfa Mondays, a series of 24 podcasts exploring Marfa, Texas and environs. For more about these and other books and podcasts by C.M. Mayo, www.cmmayo.com 

Award-winning writer and workshop leader C.M. Mayo explains the power of the 5 minute writing exercise. The end of the podcast includes an exercise-- so if you're listening, get out your pen and paper. For more exercises, visit "Giant Golden Buddha & 364 More 5 Minute Writing Exercises," all free at www.cmmayo.com (click on 'workshop"). 

From C.M. Mayo's "Techniques of Fiction" workshop: the number one technique. An explanation with examples-- plus a nugget of advice from Chekhov. For C.M. Mayo's upcoming workshops, and for many more resources for writers, visit www.cmmayo.com

C.M. Mayo reads her article from Inside Mexico about a conversation with Rosemary Sullivan, author of Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape, and a House in Marseille, a work of fundamental importance to the history of modern art in Mexico. 

C.M. Mayo reads an excerpt from her memoir, Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Milkweed Editions paperback; Dancing Chiva e-book). It covers, in part, the history of the Jesuit Conquest. For more about this book, including excerpts, photos, videos, and more podcasts, please visit www.cmmayo.com "A luminous exploration of Baja California... a work of nonfiction that elides into modern myth" -- Los Angeles Times Book Review"A sensitive and knowing over-view of a place and a people so near and yet so far from the U.S. or Mexico" -- Harry W. Crosby, author of Last of the Californios and Antigua California Read more reviews of this book here. 

From a panel discussion on writing historical fiction, American Independent Writers Conference 2011, held at the Writer's Center, Bethesda MD (just outside Washington DC). For more resources for writers, visit http://www.cmmayo.com/workshop-resources-for-writers.htmlwww.cmmayo.com

A reading from the series on creative writing at the Madam Mayo Blog. To read this blog post in its entirely, visithttp://madammayo.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-decluttering-or-integrity-of-design.html For more resources for writers, visit http://www.cmmayo.com/workshopnotes.html 

Presentación El último príncipe del Imperio Mexicano, la novela basada en la historia real, en la ciudad de México 26 de mayo, 2011 con el Dr. Javier Garciadiego, Carlos González Manterola, el novelista Carlos Pascual, Eduardo Turrent, y la autora, C.M. Mayo. La novela, originalmente publicada en inglés como The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, y nombrado uno de los mejores libros de 2009 por Library Journal, fue traducido por Agustín Cadena y publicado en septiembre de 2010 por Grijalbo Random House Mondadori. "En México se han escrito novelas históricas que recrean con erudición, maestría y poesía una época, un episodio, una atmósfera y unos personajes. Pienso, desde luego, en Noticias del imperio de Fernando del Paso; también en la obra de Enrique Serna sobre Santa Anna, la de Rosa Beltrán sobre Guerrero o la reciente novela de C.M. Mayo: El último príncipe del Imperio Mexicano, sobre el nieto de Iturbide en la corte de Maximiliano." Enrique Krauze "Después de realizar una investigación imponente, Mayo, ganadora del premio Flannery O'Connor para cuento corto por su libro El cielo de El Nido, ha compilado una historia que es a la vez grandiosa e íntima sobre un niño que suscitó un escándalo internacional. La intrigante narración del príncipe de México nos ofrece una excelente lección de historia sobre las razones por las que la aventura paternal de Maximiliano en un país que no lo quería estaba destinada al fracaso". Latin American Book Review "He leído algunas novelas históricas fascinantes que han quedado grabadas en mi memoria: La guerra y la paz, de León Tostoi es una de ellas; otra es Historia de dos ciudades, de Charles Dickens y Doctor Zhivago, de Boris Pasternak. Ahora puedo agregar a mi lista El último príncipe del Imperio Mexicano."James Tipton, Mexico Connect   "Un logro impresionante… una sugerente novela que dista mucho de las aburridas lecciones de historia." El Paso Times "Una rica novela histórica donde las ambiciones políticas, las intrigas de la corte imperial y la relación entre países en la cúspide de la colonización europea son el hilo conductor de la intricada trama de la novela, que nos transporta en un viaje vertiginoso desde Washington hasta Veracruz y París, y de regreso a México y Estados Unidos. Las evocadoras descripciones e irónicos comentarios sobre la relación entre culturas hace de ésta una novela importante y disfrutable, de particular relevancia en los tiempos que vivimos". Literal: Latin American Voices / Voces latinoamericanas

An introduction to Mexico and Mexican literature: C.M. Mayo reads her prologue to her collection of 24 contemporary Mexican writers, MEXICO: A TRAVELER'S LITERARY COMPANION (Whereabouts Press). Visit www.cmmayo.com to read more, including table of contents, list of contributors, excerpts, and C.M. mayo's interview on National Public Radio, and more. "It will open your eyes, fill you with pleasure and render our perennial vecinos a little less distante." Los Angeles Times Book Review

C.M. Mayo's reading at the PEN Writers Aloud Reading Series in San Miguel de Allende, January 2011, from her novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, with Q & A from the audience.

C.M. Mayo reads an excerpt from Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Milkweed Editions, 2007) from the chapter "The Sea is Cortes", about a visit to the East Cape for the story of Baja California's spectacular sportfishing industry. "With elegant prose and an artist's eye for detail, Mayo may just have written one of the best books ever about Baja California. Highly recommended"Library Journal"Miraculous Air is rich with its own evocative descriptions of the peninsula's raw beauty... Her journey of 1,000 miles is a trip worth taking."The San Diego Union-TribuneRead more about this book at www.cmmayo.com

How thin is the veil between our world and the next? C.M. Mayo reads a guest-blog post about the writing of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, her novel based on the true story, for the "Hist Fic Chick" blog, October 15, 2010. For more about the novel visit www.cmmayo.com     Read the original blog post at www.cmmayo.com/last-prince-haunted-fiction.html

Advice from the author of the novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books). For more about C.M. Mayo's other books, as well as more resources for writers and information about upcoming workshops at the Writer's Center and in Mexico, visit the workshop page at www.cmmayo.com.  My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-a515e1e2e43fe7bdbe752c9104a39bb6}

C.M. Mayo lee un extracto de la novela El último príncipe del Imperio mexicano, traducida por el novelista y poeta Agustín Cadena (Random House-Mondadori, septiembre 2010). El último príncipe del Imperio mexicano es una novela histórica sobre el breve, trágico y a veces surrealista reinado del emperador Maximiliano y su corte. Mientras al otro lado de la frontera se desataba el fragor de la Guerra Civil, un grupúsculo del clero y conservadores mexicanos en exilio convenció a Luis Napoleón de invadir México e instalar al archiduque de Austria, Maximiliano de Habsburgo, como emperador. Un año más tarde y no teniendo hijos, Maximiliano asumió la custodia y educación del príncipe Agustín de Iturbide y Green, de dos años de edad y mitad norteamericano, convertiéndolo en el heredero del trono.La reluctancia de Maximiliano para devolver el niño a sus afligados padres, incluso cuando ya el Imperio se tambaleaba y la emperatriz Carlota se precipitaba en la locura, provocó un escándalo internacional. Esta fastuosa épica se halla basada en la historia real y viene a iluminar tanto las raíces culturales de México como el desarrollo político de las Américas. Pero lo que la hace más cautivadora es la profundidad de la escritura de Mayo y su conocimiento de las presiones e influencias que desempeñaron un papel sobre estos, demasiado humanos, personajes. Su prosa lleva al lector a sentir México: el sabor de la comida, el olor de las especias y las flores, el calor. Mayo escribe para los sentidos, y para todas las épocas. El último príncipe del Imperio Mexicano es una historia al mismo tiempo arrolladora e íntima, una historia sobre la geopolítica, el glamour de la realeza y las jerarquías militares, sobre la arrogancia del poder, los oscuros laberintos de la ambición y, sobre todo, la historia de un niño que al final no fue un príncipe sino un pequeño que pertenecía a sus padres. www.cmmayo.com/espanol.html