Madam Mayo Blog Update

Update: It's turning out to be quite a project to migrate the posts over to the new self-hosted Wordpress blog, www.madam-mayo.com, but I'm working on it. In the meantime, I hope you will visit the archives of this blog, and also the posts tagged #Mexico at www.madam-mayo.com .

Tulpa Max or, The Afterlife of a Resurrection (On the 150th Anniversary of the Execution of Maximilian)

Over on my main blog, Madam Mayo, I just posted about a new essay in Catamaran Literary Reader and (in Spanish) in Letras Libres, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Maximilian's execution.

Letras Libres, one of Mexico's finest magazines, has a special section in this month's issue which includes, I am delighted to report, my own essay on Maximilian von Habsbug, "Tulpa Max. La vida después de una resurrección".  ("Tulpa Max or, The Afterlife of a Resurrection.") 

It's a riff on writing historical fiction-- and my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books, 2009), which was beautifully translated by Mexican writer Agustín Cadena as El último principe del Imperio mexicano (Random House Mondadori-Grijalbo, 2010).... [CONTINUE READING]

El Cerro de las Campanas

The Cerro de las Campanas (Hill of the Bells) was where Maximilian was executed in June of 1867-- 45 years ago. Pictured left, as I snapped it in the local museum, is the coffin used to transport his body from there to the embalmer's.

>>Mexican writer Araceli Ardón, who lives in Querétaro, posted the essay, "Cerro de las Campanas," on her blog.

>>Click here for a few photos of the Cerro de las Campanas and the chapel to Maximilian's memory.

>>A translation from the Hungarian about the fiasco of the embalming is here.

>>Lots more about Maximilian on the dedicated webpage here.

>>"From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion," my award-winning essay about a visit to Maximilian's (yes) Italian castle, originally published in the Massachusetts Review, is available here.

I aim to post more regularly on the coming weeks. Several interesting items are awaiting...