About the Writers’ Conference

A Brief History of the Conference

When we founded the San Miguel Writers’ Conference in 2006, we could not conceive that within ten years, it would become “one of a handful of must-attend writers’ conferences in the literary world,” as one reviewer recently commented. Our first conference drew twenty-six local San Miguel residents. Eleven years later, in 2016, some 3,000 unique individuals attended some or all of the Conference, having gathered in San Miguel from many parts of the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, and Europe.  Over this past eleven years, more than 2,000 writers have enjoyed the full conference, and we have filled more than 25,000 seats for keynote presentations by sixty-six keynote speakers, including some of the world’s most well known writers.

Our Humble Origins

San Miguel de Allende

 

San Miguel de Allende

When I moved to San Miguel in 2004, I knew of its reputation as a Mecca for writers and so was surprised to find no venue for author readings, no gatherings of writers, and no bookstore showcasing the works of local authors. Coming from Berkeley, where I frequented author readings at bookstores, I missed this! I was told that author readings had occurred here in the past, so I placed a small article in the local newspaper announcing a gathering of writers interested in greater visibility. Everyone was excited when twenty-eight people appeared for the meeting on April 26, 2004. The San Miguel Literary Sala was born!

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A Literary History of San Miguel

Looking back, it seems a writers’ conference here was inevitable. Long before the current scene of writers’ gatherings in San Miguel, the town has been luring writers to its colonial courtyards, glorious sunsets, and quiet writing studios for many decades. It was emerging as “the creative crossroads of the Americas” long before we thought to call it that.

Cosio del Pomar, the Peruvian painter and writer who founded the art institute at Bellas Artes in 1938 and the Instituto Allende in 1950, is the author of six books including studies of colonial Mexican and Peruvian painters, the painter Paul Gauguin, and the biography of a left-wing Peruvian activist.

Neal Cassady in San Miguel de Allende 1967

 

Neal Cassady in San Miguel de Allende 1967

In the 50s and 60s, the Beat writers moved in and out of San Miguel and frequented the infamous La Cucaracha bar when it was located on a corner of the jardinNeil Cassady, who was thinly disguised in Jack Keruac’s On the Road as Dean Moriarty, died here in San Miguel. (In an “Homage to the Beats” weekend we produced several years ago, Neil’s son, John, visited San Miguel for the first time. In a moving ritual, we took him to the railroad tracks where his father’s body had been found. Legends vary about the circumstances of Neil Cassady’s death.)

Vance Packard, whose breakthrough exposé of the advertising industry, The Hidden Persuaders, sold over a million copies, came to San Miguel in 1957 and made it his home base for more than twenty years.

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About our Logo

square-logoBy artist/designer Martí Riba

A settlement originally named “Izcuinapan” (Náhualtl for Dog’s River) by the native indigenous people, San Miguel was founded near a spring of water called “El Chorro.” The crystalline waters were discovered by the thirsty, working dogs of Fray Bernardo de Cossin during his expedition. This new-found spring supplied the growing city with water for many years and is still the site of flowing waters for bathing and washing.

Our logo is based on this beautiful legend about San Miguel’s founding. A dog drawn in prehispanic style is shown drinking the water from El Chorro; this water gave rise to one of the most stunning places on Earth. The dog represents an ancient animal that turns water, wisdom and inspiration into beautiful words, phrases and books. The symbol unites San Miguel with the celebraton of the written word that has taken place here for decades and centuries.

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