August 18, 2025 • 44 mins
Hi, and welcome to this episode of The Bookshop Podcast!
Step into the vibrant literary heart of Mexico with the San Miguel Writers Conference, where cultural exchange and creative inspiration meet in one of the world's most beautiful cities. Susan Page, founder and president, alongside executive director Jodi Pincus, unveil the magic behind this extraordinary gathering that transforms writers and readers alike.
This unique tricultural and bilingual event bridges the literary communities of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, creating rich connections across borders. Set against the backdrop of San Miguel de Allende—consistently voted the world's #1 city by Conde Nast Traveler—participants immerse themselves in perfectly preserved 18th-century Spanish colonial architecture while engaging with world-class authors and honing their craft.
The 2026 conference boasts an exceptional lineup of global voices: Ethiopian-American physician-author Abraham Verghese, Canadian novelist Emily St. John Mandel, Nigerian literary star Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Indigenous Mexican intellectual Yesnaya Elena Aguilar-Hill, Argentinian author Andrés Neuman, and Chinese-American writer R.F. Kuang. Beyond the keynotes, the conference offers 80 workshops across multiple genres, opportunities to pitch literary agents, discussion circles on timely topics like AI and cultural appropriation, and a dedicated "Pleasures of Reading" track for literary enthusiasts.
What truly distinguishes this gathering is its holistic approach to the literary experience—combining rigorous craft development with cultural immersion and community building. Workshops unfold in beautiful gardens, open mics create space for emerging voices, and wellness activities provide balance. Meanwhile, the conference maintains deep connections to local communities through teen writing programs and literary outreach to underserved rural areas.
Whether you're a serious writer seeking to refine your craft, a reader hungry for literary inspiration, or someone drawn to the magical energy of San Miguel, the conference offers flexible registration options to create your perfect experience. Mark your calendar for February 11-15, 2026, and join a global community of literary minds in one of the world's most enchanting destinations.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a
bibliophile.
Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast.
Each week, I present interviewswith authors, independent
bookshop owners and booksellersfrom around the globe and
publishing professionals.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
(00:33):
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
You're listening to episode 303.
In January of this year, myfamily and I spent a week in San
Miguel de Allende in Mexico, tocelebrate my eldest son's
wedding.
The city of San Miguel deAllende has been on my bucket
(00:55):
list since about 1985.
And to be able to get there andexperience the beauty, the
culture, the incredible people,the food was an experience I
shall never forget and I can'twait to get back there.
While in the city, I met friendand author Danielle Trussoni,
who is also the English programdirector at the San Miguel
(01:18):
Writers Conference.
A few months before this trip,I had interviewed author
Jennifer Clement.
A few months before this trip,I had interviewed author
Jennifer Clement, presidentEmerita of PEN International,
the global human rights andfreedom of expression
organization, and the only womanto hold that office since its
founding in 1921.
Jennifer is also a facultymember of the Writers'
(01:38):
Conference.
The San Miguel Writers'Conference is a premier
intellectual literary event setin the vibrant cultural heart of
Mexico.
The vision of the conference isto inspire and enrich the lives
of writers and readers of allages and backgrounds, while
fostering new personal andprofessional connections.
(01:58):
It's my pleasure today tointroduce Susan Page, founder
and president of the San MiguelWriters Conference, and
executive director, jodi Pincus.
Hi, susan and Jodi, and welcometo the show.
It's lovely to have you bothhere.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Thank you so much for the invitation.
It's a pleasure to be here,Mandy.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, thank you.
Wonderful to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well, we have a lot to talk about, but I'd like to
begin with learning about youboth.
Susan, you are a graduate ofOberlin College and have a
Master of Divinity degree fromSan Francisco Theological
Seminary.
You were a campus minister atWashington University in St
Louis and at Columbia Universityin New York.
Later you served as Director ofWomen's Programs at the
(02:42):
University of California,berkeley, where you hoped found
the nation's firstuniversity-based sexuality
program.
Was there a defining momentwhen you decided to conduct
workshops on relationships,become an author and relocate to
San Miguel de Allende?
What's actually?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
more relevant than my earlier career that you
mentioned is that for the last20 years, before I moved to San
Miguel, I had turned toconducting relationship
workshops, first for singles andthen for couples, and I did
that for more than 20 years andI wrote five books during that
(03:19):
time.
The first one has become aclassic.
It's called If I'm so Wonderful, why Am I Still Single?
Gosh, I love that title.
It's wonderful, thank you.
And one of my couple's books iscalled why Talking Is Not
Enough.
So I was very much involved inthe publishing world and San
Miguel appealed to me because Iknew there was a rich literary
(03:41):
history here.
So I was very surprised when Iarrived here to find no literary
activities.
There was no bookstore, noplace for us to sell our books.
So I just started.
I put a little notice in thepaper that I was having a
gathering of writers interestedin community and visibility, and
28 people showed up.
(04:02):
Everybody was wildlyenthusiastic.
And 28 people showed up.
Everybody was wildlyenthusiastic and that was the
origin of the San MiguelLiterary Sala, which turned very
shortly into the annualconference of the Sala Writers
Conference and Literary Festival.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
So there wasn't really a major turning point.
It sounds like more of anatural progression, where you
moved down to San Miguel deAllende.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
We traveled in.
My husband and I traveled inSan Miguel and found a piece of
property that knocked ourselvesoff and that gave us the idea
that we could change our livesand move down here and start a
new life.
And that was 22 years ago, andthat's so it was.
Really, finding the piece ofproperty that was straw, that
sort of broke us back orwhatever that pushed us over the
(04:50):
edge.
And then when I came, I startedthese literary activities.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I'm always in awe of how we fit into certain areas
around the globe.
You know, sometimes we can stepoff a plane or step out of your
car and you immediately feel adraw to a certain piece of land.
That's how I feel about Ojai inCalifornia.
With the mountains it's kind oflike a cradle in the valley.
It's just everything my soulneeds for now.
(05:17):
I imagine that the culture andcommunity of San Miguel de
Allende matches your personaland work values.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
We found that out right away.
It's a magical.
It's a very special communitywhere we value community.
It's almost like a campus whereif there's a play or a big
musical event, everybody goesand you're going to see your
friends there and we all runinto a town.
It's a spectacular town too,because it's all restored 18th
(05:49):
century buildings.
Spain came over here and builtNew Spain in the 1700s.
All of in San Miguel.
We've preserved all of thoseold, beautiful buildings,
mansions.
So it's a gorgeous town and ithas been a Mecca for the arts
ever since the 1930s when theystarted an art institute here,
(06:11):
and writers and artists haveflocked to the area ever since
then.
So yeah, it's quite, a veryspecial town.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And it's a global community too.
So you have this wonderful mixof the local Mexican people and
people from all over the world.
So the food is great.
The people are just absolutelywonderful.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Well, you're speaking about both the Mexicans, who
are our hosts here and whomMexicans are friendly and warm
and welcoming and very familyoriented.
And then there is a substantialforeign community here,
americans and Canadians mostly,and Europeans, and we all mingle
(06:52):
and work very well together andenjoy each other, and both of
those communities are warm andwelcoming, just as you said.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, it really is a special place.
Jodi, you have a BA in Peaceand Conflict Studies from UC
Berkeley and an MBA fromPresidio Graduate School with a
focus in sustainable management.
Your past work includesExecutive Director at Rising Sun
Centre for Opportunity,director of Economic Inclusion
Services at Inclusion Economicsand Founder and Principal of
(07:22):
Nomada Coaching and Consulting.
What drew you to San Miguel andthe San Miguel Writers
Conference?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Oh, wow, yeah, great question.
You know, and I love what youguys were saying about these
kind of special places in theworld.
For me, san Miguel is one ofthose magical places that I
think draws people that havethis openness to creativity, to
community, to connection, and soit's a soft landing when you
(07:55):
come because people are so warmand welcoming.
But for us, what led me and myfamily to San Miguel is that my
husband is from the state ofGuanajuato, where San Miguel is.
He grew up there his whole life.
We actually met in Berkeleysalsa dancing 28 years ago, but
(08:15):
we had always come back to visithis family and every time we
came back we'd sneak away to thecity of Guanajuato and San
Miguel and fell in love andalways thought when we retire,
we want a house in San Miguel,but we have two children, and we
had two young children, and wereally wanted them to be
bilingual and learn more abouttheir Mexican culture, be closer
(08:38):
to their family.
I wanted, you know, a break fromthe rat race after being an
executive director for 13 yearsin economic development, racial
equity, climate change not thelightest of topics to be
involved in for 13 years and sowe said why are we waiting till
(08:59):
later in life?
Let's just go to San Miguel,let's bring our kids, let's try
it for a year and see whathappens.
And so, six years later, we'rethere and I really was
interested in opening my heartto this, my creative spirit, I
think you know I'm good atrunning stuff, but I have this
(09:21):
big creative part of me, and SanMiguel was where I wanted to
explore that.
So, you know, I did ceramicsand painting, but one of the
first people I met was Susan,and we just connected right away
, and Susan has this wonderfulway of getting people involved
in things.
And so I started volunteeringfor the Writers Conference and
(09:43):
after that, susan and I becamefriends and we learned a lot
about each other and oneanother's background.
And so a year ago, when Susansaid, hey, you know, would you
consider being part of the teamand executive director, she had
learned about my past workexperiences.
For me, it was this perfect fitbetween my creative aspirations
(10:05):
and endeavors, as well as myorganizational development and
leadership skills.
And so, you know, san Miguel isone of those places where you
can manifest your dreams.
And I had been thinking, youknow, consulting was great, but
what I really missed, what Iloved about being an executive
director was being part of ateam and driving towards a
(10:29):
vision and mission with a groupof people, and I was really
putting it out there like whatis my next career move?
What's there for me?
I love the flexibility ofconsulting, love the spirit of
San Miguel, but I want somethingmore and I want to be part of
something more and I want to bepart of something bigger and I
want to help grow something intoits next phase.
And then, you know, susanappeared the next day, as does
(10:53):
happen in San Miguel with hey,would you consider this?
And so it was the serendipityof everything, and it's so much
fun.
Let me just tell you, workingon our team and working with
Susan, we have such a wonderfultime together.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Well, I mean, you have Jennifer Clement, who's
wonderful, and also DanielleTrussoni on your team.
They're both friends of mineand just wonderful, wonderful
women.
When I hear the two of youtalking about the San Miguel
Writers Conference, what I'mgetting is that it's truly about
community, which right now, ismore important than ever, and,
(11:31):
from firsthand experience, it'sa wonderful feeling when you
gather a group of peopletogether who share joy in both
reading and writing.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Yes, yes, and I mean that's what I think is one of
the biggest things with ourconference is how, in this world
that's not always joyous rightnow and actually very
challenging how do we createthis place for joy and retreat,
reflection and inspiration in atime where it's heavy out there
and we need these.
(12:00):
We need connection andcommunity.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Susan, do you have anything to add?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Oh, the conference is a perfect place for that all to
occur.
One of the things that's veryspecial about several things
that are novel and special aboutour conference is that we are
tricultural and bilingual.
We bring together the literarycommunities of Canada, the US
(12:26):
and Mexico and that's verymeaningful.
We are exposed to readers andauthors and writers from all
these three different culturesand styles that we ordinarily
wouldn't run into in normal life.
But because we bring thesecultures together, it's very,
very rich.
It's also bilingual.
(12:47):
So we take this in Mexico and wehave a very big mission
involving all three cultures,including the Mexicans.
So everything we do issimultaneously translated into
Spanish or into English if it'spresented in Spanish, and we
have workshops and we're veryspecial in that way and it adds
a great richness to thecommunity that gathers for that
(13:10):
week.
Another thing that's unusualabout our conference is that we
are both a writers' conferenceand a literary festival, so we
have a workshop for readers atthe same time, a series called
Pleasures of Reading for peoplewho came who aren't writers but
who are readers, who want tohear a presentation about some
aspect of literature, who wantto hear a presentation about
(13:32):
some aspect of literature.
And then we have theseworld-class speakers who draw
people from all over.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Last year, 11 countries were represented at
the conference.
When I was researching aboutthe San Miguel Writers
Conference and the Literary Sala, I noticed that you also
conduct a lot of workshops andwork within the schools in San
Miguel and the outer areas.
That's probably under thebigger umbrella of the Literary
Sala.
Are these programs ongoing?
Speaker 2 (14:01):
One of the programs we're very proud of and excited
about is our teen creativewriting workshops that take
place during the conference.
Teens from all of theseworkshops that take place during
the conference, teens from allof these mostly from rural
communities that are underservedand poor.
There are no books or magazinesin these rural homes and we
helped to create a programcalled Libros para Todos, which
(14:22):
has now gone off on its own,it's not under our umbrella
anymore, but we distribute 800copies of the same book to youth
in these rural communities.
They read the book and then theauthor comes to those villages
and meets and signs their books.
So we help.
So that's one of the veryexciting I mean it's life
(14:43):
changing for these youth and weprovide scholarships for Mexican
youth to attend the conferenceitself.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Jodi.
Is there anything you'd like toadd?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah, we have a lot of year-round programming and
we're growing it more.
We have a book, a very ownbookstore called Aurora Books,
and they'll be launchingactually book clubs for the
first time.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And is that a brick and mortar indie bookshop?
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Yes, it's a brick and mortar, very charming little,
cute bookstore in San Miguel.
So if you come to San Miguel,visit it, and it's great because
we get to feature all ourkeynote speaker books there as
well as literary.
Solemn member.
If you're a literary solemnmember, you get to have your
books in our bookstores and alsothe library bookstore, so it
(15:33):
features that, and then thebookstore along with us.
We produce events throughoutthe year, whether it's our prose
and poetry cafe, where localauthors read their work, or we
have special speakingengagements throughout the year,
and we're also starting ourvirtual workshop series as well.
(15:56):
So for faculty that are belovedat our conference and people
want more, they'll be able tohave a five-week series, whether
it's on poetry or fiction ormemoir, our creativity will be
offering much more robustactivities throughout the year
as well.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
I saw you're advertising some of Jennifer
Clement's online classes.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
That's a different.
She's doing her series andwe're helping to promote it.
Yeah, jennifer is a faculty ofours as well, as was a keynote,
and is an incredible author.
If you haven't read her books,read Jennifer Clement.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Jennifer Clement has been my guest at my Lunch with
an Author literary series inOjai in Los Angeles, and she's
been on this show.
She is an extremely, extremelytalented author and poet.
So, yeah, having her on yourfaculty must be wonderful.
Susan, you've spoken quite abit about the San Miguel Writers
(16:59):
Conference, but I'd love toknow more about the history of
the San Miguel Literary Sala andhow you ended up morphing into
the Writers Conference.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Well, it grew from a small conference.
We started with localprogramming and then one of the
women who was working with us inthe first year had come from
Aspen, where they have aWriters' Conference, and she
turned to me one day and saidthis historic comment you know,
this is a world classdestination.
We should have a Writers'Conference.
(17:29):
So we set about doing it.
Our first one had 26 people fora weekend but we were able to.
I have a friend who was goodfriends with John Barrett, who
wrote Midnight in the Garden ofGood and Evil, played him to
come to keynote.
Well, that gave us the ideathat we could be a draw for
significant, distinguished andfamous and beloved authors and
(17:51):
we set about doing that and thatis part of what has set our
reputation, that's what got usgoing to be able to grow quickly
by having these very big nameauthors coming down, and we've
been consistent with that.
I mean we had mentioned earlier, when we were talking about
Barbara Kingsolver, the yearthat she came.
(18:13):
We went from something like 98registrations to 198
registrations.
It was a wonderful, wonderfulyear.
She gave a really beloved, muchbeloved and memorable keynote
address about her book, theLacuna.
We've had Gloria Steinem, ScottTurow, Isabel Allende.
During our COVID years online,we featured Tom Hanks and
(18:38):
Matthew McConaughey, BillyCollins, the famous poet, it
goes on and on.
We've had many mentors over theyears.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
One of the things that I really appreciate about
the San Miguel WritersConference is that you have
these top tier authorsrepresented, but you're also
introducing readers to newauthors, authors from other
countries, and to me that'sreally important because that's
what I love to do.
I like to introduce people tonew authors, authors from other
(19:07):
countries, and to backlists tonew authors, authors from other
countries and to backlists.
I enjoy reading translatedbooks because I love the cadence
of the writing.
So this is something that Ithink gets overlooked sometimes,
and I really appreciate thatyou have a variety of authors in
different stages of theircareers, and this is really
exciting for the readers whocome to the festival.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
I mean I think our conference, as you mentioned,
has something at every level andfor everyone.
We have 80 workshops, 50faculty, and our faculty are
incredible authors in their ownright and so they get to have
their books at our bookstore.
(19:50):
So oftentimes people will takesomebody's workshop and then be
very curious and buy their booksor hear them.
At our every day we featurewhether it's Canada Reads or
Mexico Reads or America's ReadAmerica Reads.
Our faculty will get to readtheir work at these events and
(20:12):
so it really does expose, as yousaid, mandy people to you know
more authors, different styles,things like that.
And our workshops we have 80workshops so you can imagine
from you know, memoir tononfiction, to poetry, to
screenwriting, to travel writing.
(20:32):
We have teen workshops,bilingual teen workshops,
marketing and publishing yeah,we really have something.
And then the Pleasures ofReading series that Susan
mentioned if you're a reader.
So we have something foreverybody to really figure out.
What do they want to learn,where do they want to grow,
(20:54):
what's piquing their curiosity?
And they can get that at ourconference.
When I came, I got inspired towrite my memoir.
I always wrote poetry, but Iwasn't.
I was a literature lover.
And what I loved about theconference when I volunteered
was just how much I learned tobe with all these interesting
(21:14):
people, thinking, reflecting,discussing.
You know we have thesebeautiful gardens, that our
conference, our workshops are inthese gardens and then we have
our open mics are outside and wehave happy hours in a market
and a pop-up bookstore and youcan just lie on the lawn also in
the afternoon and just talk topeople or reflect on what you've
(21:37):
learned and you offer yogaclasses.
We introduced last year awellness component because we
wanted it to feel like, eventhough it's pretty big, we
wanted it to feel like a retreatfor people.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
How wonderful that you've brought in that wellness
component because, let's face it, most writers are in a room on
their own writing all day andoften tend to forget about their
mental and physical health 100%yes.
Susan, the conference is rununder the San Miguel Literary
Sala, which is a nonprofitorganization founded in 2005.
(22:12):
How does this benefit theLiterary Sala and sponsors who
want to donate, and is itsimilar to opening a nonprofit
in Mexico as it is in the US?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I think it's similar.
We became a nonprofit becausewe are concerned about serving
all these lower economic andunderserved communities all
around San Miguel.
Those programs were asimportant to us as the
conference.
The conference was just onecomponent of what we're getting,
(22:45):
and still that's true.
We could not operate ourprograms or our conference
without the loyal support of ourpatrons.
And we have a very strongpatron program patrons, grand
patrons, angel patrons atdifferent levels and of course
the nonprofit status allows themto take their donations as a
tax-deductible donation.
(23:06):
So that's critical for us andthat's part of the reason that
we set up as a nonprofit.
How did we ever considerrunning it as a business?
It was a community service.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Jodi, what are the benefits of becoming a member of
the San Miguel Literary Sala?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Yeah, so the Literary Sala is this membership program
.
It's designed for local authorsto participate as a member and
have their books advertised onour website, have their books
sold at the local bibliotecalibrary as well as the store.
They also get 10% off on comingto the conference and then they
(23:46):
can participate in a lot of thelocal events that we have.
So anybody can become aLiterary Sala member, even if
you're not in San Miguel, butyou know it's designed to really
promote and support our localcommunity.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And I know you're bursting to tell us this can you
share with us the wonderfullist of authors you have and the
keynote speakers coming to the2026 San Miguel Writers
Conference?
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yeah, we have such an exciting lineup because one of
the authors is my favoriteauthor, so Abraham Verghese.
I think Cutting for Stone wasone of my favorite books.
I mean he's so epic in how heweaves these stories.
And I think one thing that's sowonderful about our conference
(24:35):
this year, as Susan mentioned,you know we are tri-cultural and
tri-national, which is socritical in this time of
division amongst you know theAmericas, but also we have a
bigger global reach 11 countries, as Susan mentioned, came to
our conference and I reallythink our keynotes this year
represent this global diversityand voices and I think it's
(25:00):
pretty exceptional the lineup wehave.
So we have Abraham Righizi,who's Ethiopian American, he's a
medical doctor and you can seeall that through his books.
We have Emily St John Mandel,who wrote Station Eleven and the
Glass Hotel and Sea ofTranquility and is Canadian and
(25:23):
her work has become thesePeabody Awards winning series.
We have a really interestingkeynote this year Yesnaya Elena
Aguilar-Hill, and she is aOaxacan Indigenous woman
intellectual activist and shewrites a lot about language
(25:44):
rights and Indigenous rights andis one of the biggest
intellectual thinkers in Mexicotoday.
So we're very excited about her.
Andres Newman he's Argentinian.
He's really prolific in theLatin American world and he was
a prize winning author ofTraveler of the Century.
We're thrilled to have him.
(26:07):
Rf Kwan, who's Chinese American,who who wrote yellow face I
just finished it.
So, um, which is it reallystimulates a lot of thinking.
You know she's.
She writes a lot of with satireand a fearless critique on race
in the united states and andalso just just super relevant to
today's times, I think, andgrappling with all the nuances,
(26:30):
whether it's social media andthe publishing industry and all
the pressures that writersreally face in today's world.
And then we're closing withChimamanda Ngozi, Adichie,
Nigerian-American, who's alsoprolific and wrote Americana,
Purple Hibiscus.
She just came out with DreamCount, and also a very relevant,
(26:55):
interesting voice.
And I just also finishedAmericana.
That's the great thing ofhaving this job.
I have like a huge reading list, incredible keynote.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Gosh, they all sound terrific.
And when you talk about thekeynote speakers, are they in
conversation with interviewersor are they speaking on their
own?
Speaker 3 (27:16):
There's different formats.
We have some just speak alone.
They're introduced and theyhave a presentation that they
want to present on a topic, andsome are interview style.
So it really depends on whatthe author prefers what they,
what they would like.
So it's nice because there's adiversity.
We also have two panels.
(27:36):
We have a keynote speaker panelwhere the audience throughout
the week gets to developquestions and put them in a box
for us.
So we get to ask and thekeynotes get to play off each
other.
And then we have an industrypanel of agents and publishers
and people who can give you theinside intel into the industry
(27:58):
and what's happening right now.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
We also have agents present who hear pitches from
potential authors.
So that's a big feature thatmany people are very excited
about and sign up for way early.
Big feature that many peopleare very excited about and sign
up for way early.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
We have several agents who spend the afternoon
listening to pitches from theauthors oh, that's always a
popular part of a writer'sconference.
This question is for both ofyou what do you think makes the
San Miguel Writers Conference astandout literary event?
We've touched on a lot of thispreviously, but I would like to
kind of nail it down even moreand see if there's anything
(28:36):
we've missed.
For example, how does thebeauty of the city and her
people and cultural exposure addto every attendee's overall San
Miguel experience?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
We've touched on many of those many parts of the
answer.
We are tricultural, which isvery unusual, and bilingual,
which is unusual and adds, as Isay, a richness to the whole
experience.
The town of San Miguel is anexperience in itself.
(29:11):
It is a huge draw for people.
It has consistently been votedthe number one city in the world
by Conde Nast Traveler Survey,imagine.
But it's the extraordinarypreserved 18th century
architecture, so it's utterlycharming.
They started an art institutehere in the 1930s.
(29:32):
That has grown and grown andgrown and established the
reputation of San Miguel as anarts community.
There are many, many paintersand ceramic artists, the plastic
arts, and we have five operaorganizations here and a lot of
theater and dance and writing.
(29:55):
The literary arts are very richhere, san Miguel itself is a
discovery and the conferencecombines, being a literary
festival where we bring veryworld-class writers together
with a writers' conference,which is skill-building
workshops for writers, and thenwe have a lot of extras.
(30:17):
Jodi, we haven't mentioned someof the other extras that are
part of the open mic, which Jodidid mention is very popular.
Where works in progress, peoplecan come and share what they're
working on.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I mean, I think what's wonderful about the
conference is also our teamsevolved and we have this amazing
team.
You mentioned some of the folkson our team, mandy, but we are
a very bilingual, biculturalteam as well, and I think
there's a very age diverse team,you know from folks who've been
(30:57):
involved in the conference for20 years and new folks.
And so we really are thinkingabout who are we today and where
do we want to go as aconference, and so we've
introduced things likediscussion circles where that's
open to the public.
We have a lot of free eventswhere people can come and
discuss things around.
(31:17):
You know the topic of AI, whichis super relevant to all
creatives today.
What does this mean for us?
Where it's not so much somebodylecturing but it's all of us
kind of thinking and putting ourheads together.
Or the topic around you knowcultural appropriation, or how
do we represent differentcultures Just lots of different
(31:38):
relevant topics.
So our afternoons are designedto sort of create your own
experience, whether you want tohave a sound bath on the lawn or
just write and reflect, or youwant to go to our market that
features local authors, or youwant to partake in a discussion
circle or the open mic or theAmerican Reads, and so our
(32:01):
programming.
And then it's free, a lot ofthat to the public and people
can come and just reallyexperience.
And then San Miguel everythingthat Susan said, but it's a
great destination If you'relooking for a meaningful way to
vacation, where you want culture, you want to do like some
thinking and work, but you alsowant to go horseback riding in
(32:22):
the country or down a zip lineor to the hot springs.
There's so much it has to offerand so many people come to our
conference and end up, you know,buying a home in San Miguel.
It's a very common story.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I'm going to add a couple of things.
I would say the visual art isexceptional in San Miguel.
You can see the art ingalleries, in restaurants, but
one of the things that I love todo while I was down there is
actually walk through the parksand see the artists there, and
some of them are actually atwork, which is kind of fun.
(32:56):
The food from the markets thefarmer's markets is great, and
the restaurants, oh my goodness,the food is exceptional.
And because I was in fashionfor so many years, I was
surprised to see some of themost unique and beautifully made
clothing in San Miguel andlittle boutiques.
(33:20):
That's pretty exciting.
I thought that was wonderful.
And while San Miguel itself hasa lot of history, there's
actually ancient archaeologicalsites that you can go and
explore with a tour guide justoutside of the city.
And with all of this toexperience, my question is what
can attendees expect from theweather during the conference in
(33:42):
San Miguel?
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Oh, that's one of the big wonderful features.
We have sunny, beautiful, warmweather in February.
We're at 6,400 feet, so we havea temperate climate all year
long.
Our summers are not super,super hot.
They're very, very pleasant.
Right now it's in the 70s andgorgeous, and in the winter we
(34:07):
encourage people to come downfrom all those snowy venues up
in New York and Minnesota, comedown to sunny San Miguel in
February.
In February, I think in 22years of running our conference
21 years I guess we have hadrain in February one time.
(34:28):
It's not supposed to rain inthe winter and it doesn't,
except for one time.
It's sunny, warm, beautifulweather in February, but not too
hot.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Not too hot, not too cold.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
And how do people get there?
Let's start off with how youwould get to San Miguel de
Allende from LAX airport in LosAngeles.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Well, since you picked LAX, from LAX and from
the Bay Area there is a shortdirect flight to our airport.
Our airport is an hour and ahalf away, or less than that, an
hour and 20 minutes by adoor-to-door shuttle.
That's a very good, efficientservice.
So from the Bay Area in LAXthere's a short, three-hour
flight, and from most otherdestinations you would fly into
(35:18):
either Dallas or Houston andfrom there get a three-hour
flight down to our airport.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And how long does the drive from either the airport
at Lyon or Querétaro take to getto San Miguel de Allende?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Lyon and Querétaro are equidistant, they're both
about an hour and a half away byshuttle, and they're both very
convenient.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I feel like there's another airport you can fly into
, so you've got Leon Queretaro,and which is the other one?
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Mostly Leon and Queretaro.
You could fly into Mexico Cityand it's a three and a half hour
bus ride to San Miguel.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Okay, say, I'm a listener and I've decided right
now I want to sign up for theSan Miguel Writers Conference
2026.
Where do I go to do this andmaybe give us a rundown of
registration accommodation?
All of the above, that would begreat.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Okay, wonderful.
So the dates are February 11ththrough the 15th.
Put that on your calendar andyou go to our website at
sanmiguelwritersconferenceorgand click into registration.
You'll see a button there andwe really have three different
(36:33):
ways that I think are the mostcommon for people to choose
their experience at ourconference.
If you're a writer and you wantit all, you choose the works
package.
You'll have seven workshops,six hours of intensives, all the
main stage events with thekeynotes and the panels and all
the parties.
(36:53):
So it's really the full-onexperience and it's wonderful.
If you're mostly a reader andyou really are excited about the
keynotes, just do the corepackage.
Come do the core package, youget all those main stage events
with the keynotes and the panelsand the parties, and then you
could add on the seven seriespleasures of reading series to
(37:18):
the experience and you get toalso experience all the free
conference things that I'vementioned throughout this.
If you're a person that likes tochoose your own adventure and
really wants to hear twokeynotes and maybe do three
workshops and do two agentpitches, something like that, we
have an individual ticketbutton that you can click
(37:41):
through and you can sign up andreally create your own
conference experience.
You want to spend two days onexcursions and two days, three
days, at the conference.
You know you can do that too.
So there's many different ways.
We have different discounts.
Right now is our early birdspecial.
That ends September 1st, so Iencourage people for our
(38:03):
packages.
That works for our packages,not individual tickets, so I
encourage people to do that.
Also, our workshops fill upfast.
So if you are really seriousabout writing and honing your
skills, sign up for that workspackage or the workshops of your
choosing.
If you know, we have greatcustomer service, so any help
(38:28):
that you need, contact us andwe'll get right back to you.
When you go through ourregistration platform, you can
also go into the schedule.
It says schedule and if youfilter, you can filter by
faculty, by genre, by experienceand sort of, because we offer a
lot.
It can be overwhelming tonavigate our website.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
But I will say this your website is really clear,
which is very helpful, and Ithink it would be great if you
spoke a little aboutaccommodations helpful and I
think it would be great if youspoke a little about
accommodations.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
You can book right through us to Real de Minas
Hotel, which is where theconference is, so we have a link
to book.
You know.
You can book your accommodation.
You can also book the shuttleservice through Angelica Tours
that Susan mentioned through us,and also excursions.
You can book and we'll connectyou to a local place that does
excursions.
San Miguel also has beautifulboutique hotels very close
(39:29):
walking distance.
Yeah, gorgeous.
There's so many I can't namethem all.
There's Airbnbs.
There's something foreverybody's budget.
You want like high, high end.
Go to the Rosewood.
You want something close andcozy where you can cook for
yourself?
Get an Airbnb.
It's a city that you know.
(39:50):
You walk around it in 1520minutes, so it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Oh, I just thought of something else which sounds
wonderful to do while you're inSan Miguel.
Oh, I just thought of somethingelse which sounds wonderful to
do while you're in San Miguel.
Jennifer Clement told me aboutLa Gruta, and I think you can
just get a taxi from San Miguelto La Gruta, but why don't you
explain what it is?
Speaker 3 (40:09):
So it's right.
It's in Etotanilco, nearGalleria Etotanilco, which is
where you know Susan runs that.
It's an incredible gallery offolk art that Susan can talk
more about, but there's alsonatural hot springs all around
that area, and the town ofAtocha Nilco is incredible as
(40:31):
well.
That's a wonderful day trip,susan.
Do you want to add to that?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Well, one of the things that we offer on the
website and after you've comehere is what we call excursions,
and there are many of them,from horseback riding to
exploring the archaeologicalsites.
One of them is a day trip tothis charming little old,
historic town called Atotonilco.
(40:58):
There's a church there that isa World Heritage site because
they call it the Sistine ofMexico, because it's completely
the walls and ceilingscompletely painted over with
18th century paintings of Biblestories.
It's a remarkable visualexperience and historic
experience.
Right near Atonilco are thesemagical hot springs called La
(41:22):
Gruta.
There's also the finestcollection of Mexican folk art
for sale in all of Mexico.
It's a collection of the finest, most authentic and beautiful
Mexican folk art that's right inTotonilco as well, right near,
and folk art that's right in aTotonilco as well, right near.
(41:43):
And you know, when we weretalking about ways to register,
I wanted to add a couple ofthings.
Number one we didn't mentionthe website, which is
sanmiguelwritersconferenceorgall spelled out
sanmiguelwritersconferenceorg.
And there's another option forregistering that I just want to
run past people, which is thatyou can become a patron.
(42:03):
The lowest amount you can payto become a patron is $2,000.
And it greatly enriches yourexperience of the conference.
You get upfront VIP seating andVIP treatment during the
ballroom events.
It's a huge ballroom, sositting up front is a big
special deal.
You get the use of the patronhospitality lounge all week,
(42:26):
which is its own littlecommunity.
There's a lavish, lavish patrondinner or this year I think
it's going to be a comida in theafternoon on Saturday, a lavish
dinner where you have theopportunity to be seated with a
keynote speaker at a small table, and so on.
There are other benefits, soanyone who can consider becoming
(42:49):
a patron should also considerthat option, and that patron is
right there on the website aswell.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Susan and Jodi, thank you so much for coming on the
Bookshop podcast and sharing thefantastic lineup you have for
the San Miguel WritersConference for 2026.
Once again, the dates areFebruary 11th through February
15th 2026.
Register now so you have timeto make your accommodation
(43:16):
arrangements.
Thank you so much for bothbeing here.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
Thank you so much for the invitation.
It's a pleasure to be here,Mandy.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
Thank you, it's been a real pleasure.
It's going to be a wonderfulaffair.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
You've been listening to my conversation with Susan
Page, founder and president ofthe San Miguel Writers
Conference, and Jodi Pincus, theexecutive director.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
(43:48):
podcast.
To find out more about theBookshop Podcast, go to
thebookshoppodcastcom and makesure to subscribe and leave a
review wherever you listen tothe show.
You can also follow me at MandyJackson Beverly on Instagram
and Facebook and on YouTube atthe Bookshop Podcast.
If you have a favorite indiebookshop that you'd like to
(44:10):
suggest we have on the podcast,I'd love to hear from you via
the contact form atthebookshoppodcastcom.
The Bookshop Podcast is writtenand produced by me, mandy
Jackson-Beverly, theme musicprovided by Brian Beverly, and
my executive assistant andgraphic designer is Adrian
Ottahan.
Thanks for listening and I'llsee you next time.
(44:31):
Thank you.
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a
bibliophile.
Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast.
Each week, I present interviewswith authors, independent
bookshop owners and booksellersfrom around the globe and
publishing professionals.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
(00:33):
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
You're listening to episode 303.
In January of this year, myfamily and I spent a week in San
Miguel de Allende in Mexico, tocelebrate my eldest son's
wedding.
The city of San Miguel deAllende has been on my bucket
(00:55):
list since about 1985.
And to be able to get there andexperience the beauty, the
culture, the incredible people,the food was an experience I
shall never forget and I can'twait to get back there.
While in the city, I met friendand author Danielle Trussoni,
who is also the English programdirector at the San Miguel
(01:18):
Writers Conference.
A few months before this trip,I had interviewed author
Jennifer Clement.
A few months before this trip,I had interviewed author
Jennifer Clement, presidentEmerita of PEN International,
the global human rights andfreedom of expression
organization, and the only womanto hold that office since its
founding in 1921.
Jennifer is also a facultymember of the Writers'
(01:38):
Conference.
The San Miguel Writers'Conference is a premier
intellectual literary event setin the vibrant cultural heart of
Mexico.
The vision of the conference isto inspire and enrich the lives
of writers and readers of allages and backgrounds, while
fostering new personal andprofessional connections.
(01:58):
It's my pleasure today tointroduce Susan Page, founder
and president of the San MiguelWriters Conference, and
executive director, jodi Pincus.
Hi, susan and Jodi, and welcometo the show.
It's lovely to have you bothhere.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Thank you so much for the invitation.
It's a pleasure to be here,Mandy.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, thank you.
Wonderful to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well, we have a lot to talk about, but I'd like to
begin with learning about youboth.
Susan, you are a graduate ofOberlin College and have a
Master of Divinity degree fromSan Francisco Theological
Seminary.
You were a campus minister atWashington University in St
Louis and at Columbia Universityin New York.
Later you served as Director ofWomen's Programs at the
(02:42):
University of California,berkeley, where you hoped found
the nation's firstuniversity-based sexuality
program.
Was there a defining momentwhen you decided to conduct
workshops on relationships,become an author and relocate to
San Miguel de Allende?
What's actually?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
more relevant than my earlier career that you
mentioned is that for the last20 years, before I moved to San
Miguel, I had turned toconducting relationship
workshops, first for singles andthen for couples, and I did
that for more than 20 years andI wrote five books during that
(03:19):
time.
The first one has become aclassic.
It's called If I'm so Wonderful, why Am I Still Single?
Gosh, I love that title.
It's wonderful, thank you.
And one of my couple's books iscalled why Talking Is Not
Enough.
So I was very much involved inthe publishing world and San
Miguel appealed to me because Iknew there was a rich literary
(03:41):
history here.
So I was very surprised when Iarrived here to find no literary
activities.
There was no bookstore, noplace for us to sell our books.
So I just started.
I put a little notice in thepaper that I was having a
gathering of writers interestedin community and visibility, and
28 people showed up.
(04:02):
Everybody was wildlyenthusiastic.
And 28 people showed up.
Everybody was wildlyenthusiastic and that was the
origin of the San MiguelLiterary Sala, which turned very
shortly into the annualconference of the Sala Writers
Conference and Literary Festival.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
So there wasn't really a major turning point.
It sounds like more of anatural progression, where you
moved down to San Miguel deAllende.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
We traveled in.
My husband and I traveled inSan Miguel and found a piece of
property that knocked ourselvesoff and that gave us the idea
that we could change our livesand move down here and start a
new life.
And that was 22 years ago, andthat's so it was.
Really, finding the piece ofproperty that was straw, that
sort of broke us back orwhatever that pushed us over the
(04:50):
edge.
And then when I came, I startedthese literary activities.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I'm always in awe of how we fit into certain areas
around the globe.
You know, sometimes we can stepoff a plane or step out of your
car and you immediately feel adraw to a certain piece of land.
That's how I feel about Ojai inCalifornia.
With the mountains it's kind oflike a cradle in the valley.
It's just everything my soulneeds for now.
(05:17):
I imagine that the culture andcommunity of San Miguel de
Allende matches your personaland work values.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
We found that out right away.
It's a magical.
It's a very special communitywhere we value community.
It's almost like a campus whereif there's a play or a big
musical event, everybody goesand you're going to see your
friends there and we all runinto a town.
It's a spectacular town too,because it's all restored 18th
(05:49):
century buildings.
Spain came over here and builtNew Spain in the 1700s.
All of in San Miguel.
We've preserved all of thoseold, beautiful buildings,
mansions.
So it's a gorgeous town and ithas been a Mecca for the arts
ever since the 1930s when theystarted an art institute here,
(06:11):
and writers and artists haveflocked to the area ever since
then.
So yeah, it's quite, a veryspecial town.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And it's a global community too.
So you have this wonderful mixof the local Mexican people and
people from all over the world.
So the food is great.
The people are just absolutelywonderful.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Well, you're speaking about both the Mexicans, who
are our hosts here and whomMexicans are friendly and warm
and welcoming and very familyoriented.
And then there is a substantialforeign community here,
americans and Canadians mostly,and Europeans, and we all mingle
(06:52):
and work very well together andenjoy each other, and both of
those communities are warm andwelcoming, just as you said.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, it really is a special place.
Jodi, you have a BA in Peaceand Conflict Studies from UC
Berkeley and an MBA fromPresidio Graduate School with a
focus in sustainable management.
Your past work includesExecutive Director at Rising Sun
Centre for Opportunity,director of Economic Inclusion
Services at Inclusion Economicsand Founder and Principal of
(07:22):
Nomada Coaching and Consulting.
What drew you to San Miguel andthe San Miguel Writers
Conference?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Oh, wow, yeah, great question.
You know, and I love what youguys were saying about these
kind of special places in theworld.
For me, san Miguel is one ofthose magical places that I
think draws people that havethis openness to creativity, to
community, to connection, and soit's a soft landing when you
(07:55):
come because people are so warmand welcoming.
But for us, what led me and myfamily to San Miguel is that my
husband is from the state ofGuanajuato, where San Miguel is.
He grew up there his whole life.
We actually met in Berkeleysalsa dancing 28 years ago, but
(08:15):
we had always come back to visithis family and every time we
came back we'd sneak away to thecity of Guanajuato and San
Miguel and fell in love andalways thought when we retire,
we want a house in San Miguel,but we have two children, and we
had two young children, and wereally wanted them to be
bilingual and learn more abouttheir Mexican culture, be closer
(08:38):
to their family.
I wanted, you know, a break fromthe rat race after being an
executive director for 13 yearsin economic development, racial
equity, climate change not thelightest of topics to be
involved in for 13 years and sowe said why are we waiting till
(08:59):
later in life?
Let's just go to San Miguel,let's bring our kids, let's try
it for a year and see whathappens.
And so, six years later, we'rethere and I really was
interested in opening my heartto this, my creative spirit, I
think you know I'm good atrunning stuff, but I have this
(09:21):
big creative part of me, and SanMiguel was where I wanted to
explore that.
So, you know, I did ceramicsand painting, but one of the
first people I met was Susan,and we just connected right away
, and Susan has this wonderfulway of getting people involved
in things.
And so I started volunteeringfor the Writers Conference and
(09:43):
after that, susan and I becamefriends and we learned a lot
about each other and oneanother's background.
And so a year ago, when Susansaid, hey, you know, would you
consider being part of the teamand executive director, she had
learned about my past workexperiences.
For me, it was this perfect fitbetween my creative aspirations
(10:05):
and endeavors, as well as myorganizational development and
leadership skills.
And so, you know, san Miguel isone of those places where you
can manifest your dreams.
And I had been thinking, youknow, consulting was great, but
what I really missed, what Iloved about being an executive
director was being part of ateam and driving towards a
(10:29):
vision and mission with a groupof people, and I was really
putting it out there like whatis my next career move?
What's there for me?
I love the flexibility ofconsulting, love the spirit of
San Miguel, but I want somethingmore and I want to be part of
something more and I want to bepart of something bigger and I
want to help grow something intoits next phase.
And then, you know, susanappeared the next day, as does
(10:53):
happen in San Miguel with hey,would you consider this?
And so it was the serendipityof everything, and it's so much
fun.
Let me just tell you, workingon our team and working with
Susan, we have such a wonderfultime together.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Well, I mean, you have Jennifer Clement, who's
wonderful, and also DanielleTrussoni on your team.
They're both friends of mineand just wonderful, wonderful
women.
When I hear the two of youtalking about the San Miguel
Writers Conference, what I'mgetting is that it's truly about
community, which right now, ismore important than ever, and,
(11:31):
from firsthand experience, it'sa wonderful feeling when you
gather a group of peopletogether who share joy in both
reading and writing.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Yes, yes, and I mean that's what I think is one of
the biggest things with ourconference is how, in this world
that's not always joyous rightnow and actually very
challenging how do we createthis place for joy and retreat,
reflection and inspiration in atime where it's heavy out there
and we need these.
(12:00):
We need connection andcommunity.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Susan, do you have anything to add?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Oh, the conference is a perfect place for that all to
occur.
One of the things that's veryspecial about several things
that are novel and special aboutour conference is that we are
tricultural and bilingual.
We bring together the literarycommunities of Canada, the US
(12:26):
and Mexico and that's verymeaningful.
We are exposed to readers andauthors and writers from all
these three different culturesand styles that we ordinarily
wouldn't run into in normal life.
But because we bring thesecultures together, it's very,
very rich.
It's also bilingual.
(12:47):
So we take this in Mexico and wehave a very big mission
involving all three cultures,including the Mexicans.
So everything we do issimultaneously translated into
Spanish or into English if it'spresented in Spanish, and we
have workshops and we're veryspecial in that way and it adds
a great richness to thecommunity that gathers for that
(13:10):
week.
Another thing that's unusualabout our conference is that we
are both a writers' conferenceand a literary festival, so we
have a workshop for readers atthe same time, a series called
Pleasures of Reading for peoplewho came who aren't writers but
who are readers, who want tohear a presentation about some
aspect of literature, who wantto hear a presentation about
(13:32):
some aspect of literature.
And then we have theseworld-class speakers who draw
people from all over.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Last year, 11 countries were represented at
the conference.
When I was researching aboutthe San Miguel Writers
Conference and the Literary Sala, I noticed that you also
conduct a lot of workshops andwork within the schools in San
Miguel and the outer areas.
That's probably under thebigger umbrella of the Literary
Sala.
Are these programs ongoing?
Speaker 2 (14:01):
One of the programs we're very proud of and excited
about is our teen creativewriting workshops that take
place during the conference.
Teens from all of theseworkshops that take place during
the conference, teens from allof these mostly from rural
communities that are underservedand poor.
There are no books or magazinesin these rural homes and we
helped to create a programcalled Libros para Todos, which
(14:22):
has now gone off on its own,it's not under our umbrella
anymore, but we distribute 800copies of the same book to youth
in these rural communities.
They read the book and then theauthor comes to those villages
and meets and signs their books.
So we help.
So that's one of the veryexciting I mean it's life
(14:43):
changing for these youth and weprovide scholarships for Mexican
youth to attend the conferenceitself.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Jodi.
Is there anything you'd like toadd?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah, we have a lot of year-round programming and
we're growing it more.
We have a book, a very ownbookstore called Aurora Books,
and they'll be launchingactually book clubs for the
first time.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And is that a brick and mortar indie bookshop?
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Yes, it's a brick and mortar, very charming little,
cute bookstore in San Miguel.
So if you come to San Miguel,visit it, and it's great because
we get to feature all ourkeynote speaker books there as
well as literary.
Solemn member.
If you're a literary solemnmember, you get to have your
books in our bookstores and alsothe library bookstore, so it
(15:33):
features that, and then thebookstore along with us.
We produce events throughoutthe year, whether it's our prose
and poetry cafe, where localauthors read their work, or we
have special speakingengagements throughout the year,
and we're also starting ourvirtual workshop series as well.
(15:56):
So for faculty that are belovedat our conference and people
want more, they'll be able tohave a five-week series, whether
it's on poetry or fiction ormemoir, our creativity will be
offering much more robustactivities throughout the year
as well.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
I saw you're advertising some of Jennifer
Clement's online classes.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
That's a different.
She's doing her series andwe're helping to promote it.
Yeah, jennifer is a faculty ofours as well, as was a keynote,
and is an incredible author.
If you haven't read her books,read Jennifer Clement.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Jennifer Clement has been my guest at my Lunch with
an Author literary series inOjai in Los Angeles, and she's
been on this show.
She is an extremely, extremelytalented author and poet.
So, yeah, having her on yourfaculty must be wonderful.
Susan, you've spoken quite abit about the San Miguel Writers
(16:59):
Conference, but I'd love toknow more about the history of
the San Miguel Literary Sala andhow you ended up morphing into
the Writers Conference.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Well, it grew from a small conference.
We started with localprogramming and then one of the
women who was working with us inthe first year had come from
Aspen, where they have aWriters' Conference, and she
turned to me one day and saidthis historic comment you know,
this is a world classdestination.
We should have a Writers'Conference.
(17:29):
So we set about doing it.
Our first one had 26 people fora weekend but we were able to.
I have a friend who was goodfriends with John Barrett, who
wrote Midnight in the Garden ofGood and Evil, played him to
come to keynote.
Well, that gave us the ideathat we could be a draw for
significant, distinguished andfamous and beloved authors and
(17:51):
we set about doing that and thatis part of what has set our
reputation, that's what got usgoing to be able to grow quickly
by having these very big nameauthors coming down, and we've
been consistent with that.
I mean we had mentioned earlier, when we were talking about
Barbara Kingsolver, the yearthat she came.
(18:13):
We went from something like 98registrations to 198
registrations.
It was a wonderful, wonderfulyear.
She gave a really beloved, muchbeloved and memorable keynote
address about her book, theLacuna.
We've had Gloria Steinem, ScottTurow, Isabel Allende.
During our COVID years online,we featured Tom Hanks and
(18:38):
Matthew McConaughey, BillyCollins, the famous poet, it
goes on and on.
We've had many mentors over theyears.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
One of the things that I really appreciate about
the San Miguel WritersConference is that you have
these top tier authorsrepresented, but you're also
introducing readers to newauthors, authors from other
countries, and to me that'sreally important because that's
what I love to do.
I like to introduce people tonew authors, authors from other
(19:07):
countries, and to backlists tonew authors, authors from other
countries and to backlists.
I enjoy reading translatedbooks because I love the cadence
of the writing.
So this is something that Ithink gets overlooked sometimes,
and I really appreciate thatyou have a variety of authors in
different stages of theircareers, and this is really
exciting for the readers whocome to the festival.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
I mean I think our conference, as you mentioned,
has something at every level andfor everyone.
We have 80 workshops, 50faculty, and our faculty are
incredible authors in their ownright and so they get to have
their books at our bookstore.
(19:50):
So oftentimes people will takesomebody's workshop and then be
very curious and buy their booksor hear them.
At our every day we featurewhether it's Canada Reads or
Mexico Reads or America's ReadAmerica Reads.
Our faculty will get to readtheir work at these events and
(20:12):
so it really does expose, as yousaid, mandy people to you know
more authors, different styles,things like that.
And our workshops we have 80workshops so you can imagine
from you know, memoir tononfiction, to poetry, to
screenwriting, to travel writing.
(20:32):
We have teen workshops,bilingual teen workshops,
marketing and publishing yeah,we really have something.
And then the Pleasures ofReading series that Susan
mentioned if you're a reader.
So we have something foreverybody to really figure out.
What do they want to learn,where do they want to grow,
(20:54):
what's piquing their curiosity?
And they can get that at ourconference.
When I came, I got inspired towrite my memoir.
I always wrote poetry, but Iwasn't.
I was a literature lover.
And what I loved about theconference when I volunteered
was just how much I learned tobe with all these interesting
(21:14):
people, thinking, reflecting,discussing.
You know we have thesebeautiful gardens, that our
conference, our workshops are inthese gardens and then we have
our open mics are outside and wehave happy hours in a market
and a pop-up bookstore and youcan just lie on the lawn also in
the afternoon and just talk topeople or reflect on what you've
(21:37):
learned and you offer yogaclasses.
We introduced last year awellness component because we
wanted it to feel like, eventhough it's pretty big, we
wanted it to feel like a retreatfor people.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
How wonderful that you've brought in that wellness
component because, let's face it, most writers are in a room on
their own writing all day andoften tend to forget about their
mental and physical health 100%yes.
Susan, the conference is rununder the San Miguel Literary
Sala, which is a nonprofitorganization founded in 2005.
(22:12):
How does this benefit theLiterary Sala and sponsors who
want to donate, and is itsimilar to opening a nonprofit
in Mexico as it is in the US?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I think it's similar.
We became a nonprofit becausewe are concerned about serving
all these lower economic andunderserved communities all
around San Miguel.
Those programs were asimportant to us as the
conference.
The conference was just onecomponent of what we're getting,
(22:45):
and still that's true.
We could not operate ourprograms or our conference
without the loyal support of ourpatrons.
And we have a very strongpatron program patrons, grand
patrons, angel patrons atdifferent levels and of course
the nonprofit status allows themto take their donations as a
tax-deductible donation.
(23:06):
So that's critical for us andthat's part of the reason that
we set up as a nonprofit.
How did we ever considerrunning it as a business?
It was a community service.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Jodi, what are the benefits of becoming a member of
the San Miguel Literary Sala?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Yeah, so the Literary Sala is this membership program
.
It's designed for local authorsto participate as a member and
have their books advertised onour website, have their books
sold at the local bibliotecalibrary as well as the store.
They also get 10% off on comingto the conference and then they
(23:46):
can participate in a lot of thelocal events that we have.
So anybody can become aLiterary Sala member, even if
you're not in San Miguel, butyou know it's designed to really
promote and support our localcommunity.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And I know you're bursting to tell us this can you
share with us the wonderfullist of authors you have and the
keynote speakers coming to the2026 San Miguel Writers
Conference?
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yeah, we have such an exciting lineup because one of
the authors is my favoriteauthor, so Abraham Verghese.
I think Cutting for Stone wasone of my favorite books.
I mean he's so epic in how heweaves these stories.
And I think one thing that's sowonderful about our conference
(24:35):
this year, as Susan mentioned,you know we are tri-cultural and
tri-national, which is socritical in this time of
division amongst you know theAmericas, but also we have a
bigger global reach 11 countries, as Susan mentioned, came to
our conference and I reallythink our keynotes this year
represent this global diversityand voices and I think it's
(25:00):
pretty exceptional the lineup wehave.
So we have Abraham Righizi,who's Ethiopian American, he's a
medical doctor and you can seeall that through his books.
We have Emily St John Mandel,who wrote Station Eleven and the
Glass Hotel and Sea ofTranquility and is Canadian and
(25:23):
her work has become thesePeabody Awards winning series.
We have a really interestingkeynote this year Yesnaya Elena
Aguilar-Hill, and she is aOaxacan Indigenous woman
intellectual activist and shewrites a lot about language
(25:44):
rights and Indigenous rights andis one of the biggest
intellectual thinkers in Mexicotoday.
So we're very excited about her.
Andres Newman he's Argentinian.
He's really prolific in theLatin American world and he was
a prize winning author ofTraveler of the Century.
We're thrilled to have him.
(26:07):
Rf Kwan, who's Chinese American,who who wrote yellow face I
just finished it.
So, um, which is it reallystimulates a lot of thinking.
You know she's.
She writes a lot of with satireand a fearless critique on race
in the united states and andalso just just super relevant to
today's times, I think, andgrappling with all the nuances,
(26:30):
whether it's social media andthe publishing industry and all
the pressures that writersreally face in today's world.
And then we're closing withChimamanda Ngozi, Adichie,
Nigerian-American, who's alsoprolific and wrote Americana,
Purple Hibiscus.
She just came out with DreamCount, and also a very relevant,
(26:55):
interesting voice.
And I just also finishedAmericana.
That's the great thing ofhaving this job.
I have like a huge reading list, incredible keynote.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Gosh, they all sound terrific.
And when you talk about thekeynote speakers, are they in
conversation with interviewersor are they speaking on their
own?
Speaker 3 (27:16):
There's different formats.
We have some just speak alone.
They're introduced and theyhave a presentation that they
want to present on a topic, andsome are interview style.
So it really depends on whatthe author prefers what they,
what they would like.
So it's nice because there's adiversity.
We also have two panels.
(27:36):
We have a keynote speaker panelwhere the audience throughout
the week gets to developquestions and put them in a box
for us.
So we get to ask and thekeynotes get to play off each
other.
And then we have an industrypanel of agents and publishers
and people who can give you theinside intel into the industry
(27:58):
and what's happening right now.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
We also have agents present who hear pitches from
potential authors.
So that's a big feature thatmany people are very excited
about and sign up for way early.
Big feature that many peopleare very excited about and sign
up for way early.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
We have several agents who spend the afternoon
listening to pitches from theauthors oh, that's always a
popular part of a writer'sconference.
This question is for both ofyou what do you think makes the
San Miguel Writers Conference astandout literary event?
We've touched on a lot of thispreviously, but I would like to
kind of nail it down even moreand see if there's anything
(28:36):
we've missed.
For example, how does thebeauty of the city and her
people and cultural exposure addto every attendee's overall San
Miguel experience?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
We've touched on many of those many parts of the
answer.
We are tricultural, which isvery unusual, and bilingual,
which is unusual and adds, as Isay, a richness to the whole
experience.
The town of San Miguel is anexperience in itself.
(29:11):
It is a huge draw for people.
It has consistently been votedthe number one city in the world
by Conde Nast Traveler Survey,imagine.
But it's the extraordinarypreserved 18th century
architecture, so it's utterlycharming.
They started an art institutehere in the 1930s.
(29:32):
That has grown and grown andgrown and established the
reputation of San Miguel as anarts community.
There are many, many paintersand ceramic artists, the plastic
arts, and we have five operaorganizations here and a lot of
theater and dance and writing.
(29:55):
The literary arts are very richhere, san Miguel itself is a
discovery and the conferencecombines, being a literary
festival where we bring veryworld-class writers together
with a writers' conference,which is skill-building
workshops for writers, and thenwe have a lot of extras.
(30:17):
Jodi, we haven't mentioned someof the other extras that are
part of the open mic, which Jodidid mention is very popular.
Where works in progress, peoplecan come and share what they're
working on.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I mean, I think what's wonderful about the
conference is also our teamsevolved and we have this amazing
team.
You mentioned some of the folkson our team, mandy, but we are
a very bilingual, biculturalteam as well, and I think
there's a very age diverse team,you know from folks who've been
(30:57):
involved in the conference for20 years and new folks.
And so we really are thinkingabout who are we today and where
do we want to go as aconference, and so we've
introduced things likediscussion circles where that's
open to the public.
We have a lot of free eventswhere people can come and
discuss things around.
(31:17):
You know the topic of AI, whichis super relevant to all
creatives today.
What does this mean for us?
Where it's not so much somebodylecturing but it's all of us
kind of thinking and putting ourheads together.
Or the topic around you knowcultural appropriation, or how
do we represent differentcultures Just lots of different
(31:38):
relevant topics.
So our afternoons are designedto sort of create your own
experience, whether you want tohave a sound bath on the lawn or
just write and reflect, or youwant to go to our market that
features local authors, or youwant to partake in a discussion
circle or the open mic or theAmerican Reads, and so our
(32:01):
programming.
And then it's free, a lot ofthat to the public and people
can come and just reallyexperience.
And then San Miguel everythingthat Susan said, but it's a
great destination If you'relooking for a meaningful way to
vacation, where you want culture, you want to do like some
thinking and work, but you alsowant to go horseback riding in
(32:22):
the country or down a zip lineor to the hot springs.
There's so much it has to offerand so many people come to our
conference and end up, you know,buying a home in San Miguel.
It's a very common story.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I'm going to add a couple of things.
I would say the visual art isexceptional in San Miguel.
You can see the art ingalleries, in restaurants, but
one of the things that I love todo while I was down there is
actually walk through the parksand see the artists there, and
some of them are actually atwork, which is kind of fun.
(32:56):
The food from the markets thefarmer's markets is great, and
the restaurants, oh my goodness,the food is exceptional.
And because I was in fashionfor so many years, I was
surprised to see some of themost unique and beautifully made
clothing in San Miguel andlittle boutiques.
(33:20):
That's pretty exciting.
I thought that was wonderful.
And while San Miguel itself hasa lot of history, there's
actually ancient archaeologicalsites that you can go and
explore with a tour guide justoutside of the city.
And with all of this toexperience, my question is what
can attendees expect from theweather during the conference in
(33:42):
San Miguel?
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Oh, that's one of the big wonderful features.
We have sunny, beautiful, warmweather in February.
We're at 6,400 feet, so we havea temperate climate all year
long.
Our summers are not super,super hot.
They're very, very pleasant.
Right now it's in the 70s andgorgeous, and in the winter we
(34:07):
encourage people to come downfrom all those snowy venues up
in New York and Minnesota, comedown to sunny San Miguel in
February.
In February, I think in 22years of running our conference
21 years I guess we have hadrain in February one time.
(34:28):
It's not supposed to rain inthe winter and it doesn't,
except for one time.
It's sunny, warm, beautifulweather in February, but not too
hot.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Not too hot, not too cold.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
And how do people get there?
Let's start off with how youwould get to San Miguel de
Allende from LAX airport in LosAngeles.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Well, since you picked LAX, from LAX and from
the Bay Area there is a shortdirect flight to our airport.
Our airport is an hour and ahalf away, or less than that, an
hour and 20 minutes by adoor-to-door shuttle.
That's a very good, efficientservice.
So from the Bay Area in LAXthere's a short, three-hour
flight, and from most otherdestinations you would fly into
(35:18):
either Dallas or Houston andfrom there get a three-hour
flight down to our airport.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And how long does the drive from either the airport
at Lyon or Querétaro take to getto San Miguel de Allende?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Lyon and Querétaro are equidistant, they're both
about an hour and a half away byshuttle, and they're both very
convenient.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I feel like there's another airport you can fly into
, so you've got Leon Queretaro,and which is the other one?
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Mostly Leon and Queretaro.
You could fly into Mexico Cityand it's a three and a half hour
bus ride to San Miguel.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Okay, say, I'm a listener and I've decided right
now I want to sign up for theSan Miguel Writers Conference
2026.
Where do I go to do this andmaybe give us a rundown of
registration accommodation?
All of the above, that would begreat.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Okay, wonderful.
So the dates are February 11ththrough the 15th.
Put that on your calendar andyou go to our website at
sanmiguelwritersconferenceorgand click into registration.
You'll see a button there andwe really have three different
(36:33):
ways that I think are the mostcommon for people to choose
their experience at ourconference.
If you're a writer and you wantit all, you choose the works
package.
You'll have seven workshops,six hours of intensives, all the
main stage events with thekeynotes and the panels and all
the parties.
(36:53):
So it's really the full-onexperience and it's wonderful.
If you're mostly a reader andyou really are excited about the
keynotes, just do the corepackage.
Come do the core package, youget all those main stage events
with the keynotes and the panelsand the parties, and then you
could add on the seven seriespleasures of reading series to
(37:18):
the experience and you get toalso experience all the free
conference things that I'vementioned throughout this.
If you're a person that likes tochoose your own adventure and
really wants to hear twokeynotes and maybe do three
workshops and do two agentpitches, something like that, we
have an individual ticketbutton that you can click
(37:41):
through and you can sign up andreally create your own
conference experience.
You want to spend two days onexcursions and two days, three
days, at the conference.
You know you can do that too.
So there's many different ways.
We have different discounts.
Right now is our early birdspecial.
That ends September 1st, so Iencourage people for our
(38:03):
packages.
That works for our packages,not individual tickets, so I
encourage people to do that.
Also, our workshops fill upfast.
So if you are really seriousabout writing and honing your
skills, sign up for that workspackage or the workshops of your
choosing.
If you know, we have greatcustomer service, so any help
(38:28):
that you need, contact us andwe'll get right back to you.
When you go through ourregistration platform, you can
also go into the schedule.
It says schedule and if youfilter, you can filter by
faculty, by genre, by experienceand sort of, because we offer a
lot.
It can be overwhelming tonavigate our website.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
But I will say this your website is really clear,
which is very helpful, and Ithink it would be great if you
spoke a little aboutaccommodations helpful and I
think it would be great if youspoke a little about
accommodations.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
You can book right through us to Real de Minas
Hotel, which is where theconference is, so we have a link
to book.
You know.
You can book your accommodation.
You can also book the shuttleservice through Angelica Tours
that Susan mentioned through us,and also excursions.
You can book and we'll connectyou to a local place that does
excursions.
San Miguel also has beautifulboutique hotels very close
(39:29):
walking distance.
Yeah, gorgeous.
There's so many I can't namethem all.
There's Airbnbs.
There's something foreverybody's budget.
You want like high, high end.
Go to the Rosewood.
You want something close andcozy where you can cook for
yourself?
Get an Airbnb.
It's a city that you know.
(39:50):
You walk around it in 1520minutes, so it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Oh, I just thought of something else which sounds
wonderful to do while you're inSan Miguel.
Oh, I just thought of somethingelse which sounds wonderful to
do while you're in San Miguel.
Jennifer Clement told me aboutLa Gruta, and I think you can
just get a taxi from San Miguelto La Gruta, but why don't you
explain what it is?
Speaker 3 (40:09):
So it's right.
It's in Etotanilco, nearGalleria Etotanilco, which is
where you know Susan runs that.
It's an incredible gallery offolk art that Susan can talk
more about, but there's alsonatural hot springs all around
that area, and the town ofAtocha Nilco is incredible as
(40:31):
well.
That's a wonderful day trip,susan.
Do you want to add to that?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Well, one of the things that we offer on the
website and after you've comehere is what we call excursions,
and there are many of them,from horseback riding to
exploring the archaeologicalsites.
One of them is a day trip tothis charming little old,
historic town called Atotonilco.
(40:58):
There's a church there that isa World Heritage site because
they call it the Sistine ofMexico, because it's completely
the walls and ceilingscompletely painted over with
18th century paintings of Biblestories.
It's a remarkable visualexperience and historic
experience.
Right near Atonilco are thesemagical hot springs called La
(41:22):
Gruta.
There's also the finestcollection of Mexican folk art
for sale in all of Mexico.
It's a collection of the finest, most authentic and beautiful
Mexican folk art that's right inTotonilco as well, right near,
and folk art that's right in aTotonilco as well, right near.
(41:43):
And you know, when we weretalking about ways to register,
I wanted to add a couple ofthings.
Number one we didn't mentionthe website, which is
sanmiguelwritersconferenceorgall spelled out
sanmiguelwritersconferenceorg.
And there's another option forregistering that I just want to
run past people, which is thatyou can become a patron.
(42:03):
The lowest amount you can payto become a patron is $2,000.
And it greatly enriches yourexperience of the conference.
You get upfront VIP seating andVIP treatment during the
ballroom events.
It's a huge ballroom, sositting up front is a big
special deal.
You get the use of the patronhospitality lounge all week,
(42:26):
which is its own littlecommunity.
There's a lavish, lavish patrondinner or this year I think
it's going to be a comida in theafternoon on Saturday, a lavish
dinner where you have theopportunity to be seated with a
keynote speaker at a small table, and so on.
There are other benefits, soanyone who can consider becoming
(42:49):
a patron should also considerthat option, and that patron is
right there on the website aswell.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Susan and Jodi, thank you so much for coming on the
Bookshop podcast and sharing thefantastic lineup you have for
the San Miguel WritersConference for 2026.
Once again, the dates areFebruary 11th through February
15th 2026.
Register now so you have timeto make your accommodation
(43:16):
arrangements.
Thank you so much for bothbeing here.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
Thank you so much for the invitation.
It's a pleasure to be here,Mandy.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
Thank you, it's been a real pleasure.
It's going to be a wonderfulaffair.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
You've been listening to my conversation with Susan
Page, founder and president ofthe San Miguel Writers
Conference, and Jodi Pincus, theexecutive director.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
(43:48):
podcast.
To find out more about theBookshop Podcast, go to
thebookshoppodcastcom and makesure to subscribe and leave a
review wherever you listen tothe show.
You can also follow me at MandyJackson Beverly on Instagram
and Facebook and on YouTube atthe Bookshop Podcast.
If you have a favorite indiebookshop that you'd like to
(44:10):
suggest we have on the podcast,I'd love to hear from you via
the contact form atthebookshoppodcastcom.
The Bookshop Podcast is writtenand produced by me, mandy
Jackson-Beverly, theme musicprovided by Brian Beverly, and
my executive assistant andgraphic designer is Adrian
Ottahan.
Thanks for listening and I'llsee you next time.
(44:31):
Thank you.
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