Hola! I am back from Mexico City and am happy to report that it was a fabulous experience. If you missed my earlier blog post, I was invited to participate in the literature track of the 25th annual Festival de Mexico en El Centro Historico. Six writers were invited, all associated with speculative fiction. We were asked to give a presentation on our personal relationship with science fiction, and to participate in a round table discussion with a moderator.

My husband accompanied me, and from our arrival on Sunday afternoon, to our departure on Friday, we enjoyed the company of gracious hosts and attentive audiences, while also having some time on our own to do a little exploring.

First, I have to say that prior to leaving I reached a point where I stopped telling people where I was going, because the common reaction was “Oh, but what about the crime?” with some concern also for the terrible conditions, the pollution. Well, I can happily report that the pollution was no worse than Los Angeles, and that I did not see criminal gangs waiting at the airport to assault tourists. Mexico City is of course a vast metropolis, and like any big city I’m sure there are parts anyone would want to avoid. But the historic district and the neighborhoods we visited along Avenue Reforma were lovely, and we did lots of walking.

I suppose in Europe it’s a common experience to see new buildings standing next to those that are hundreds of years old, but that’s not the case in much of the USA and certainly not in Hawaii, so I was continuously impressed by the cathedrals and other structures; by the sheer evidence of history that was everywhere.

This is also a city where people read. On the “block of bookstores” there was one bookstore after another, and there were magazine stands every couple of blocks along the sidewalks.

Attendance at our literary presentations was a little slim on the first day, but after that the audiences were impressive, and very attentive to what we had to say. All the writers spoke in English (we were Americans or Brits) but there was a translator relaying our words in Spanish. Questions were taken from the audience, and we were able to hear an immediate translation via headphones. Of course many members of the audience asked their questions in English.

The other writers were Christopher Priest, M. John Harrison, Chris Nakashima-Brown and Mark Dery, with Bruce Sterling joining us on Wednesday and Thursday. All were extremely pleasant to talk with, and we enjoyed several nights of conversation in the hotel bar, joined at times by Mexican writers such as Pepe Rojo, Bernardo Fernandez Bef, and our host Mauricio Montiel.

A few pictures:

Christopher Priest, M. John Harrison, Linda Nagata, Chris Nakashima-Brown, Mark Dery

Lunch on Thursday at Los Girasoles: Bernardo Fernandez, Mark Dery, M. John Harrison, Linda Nagata, Pepe Rojo, Chris Nakashima-Brown, Christopher Priest, Mauricio Montiel

A roundtable session with Bruce Sterling and Linda Nagata; Pepe Rojo is moderating.

The ruins at Tlatelolco, right next door to the hall where the literature sessions were held.

These are some glimpses of Mexico City…

Our excellent hotel, the Melia Reforma

Driving takes on a whole new definition in Mexico City, but somehow it seems to work. This is along Reforma, with a statue of the Aztec Cuitlahuac

The Zocalo Plaza and historic cathedral. That flag was large enough to inspire awe.

The ruins at Tenochtitlan, just beyond the Zocalo.

A view along Calle Donceles. Shops are clustered by type along this fascinating street, so there is a section of bookstores, of camera shops, etc.

One of the many magazine stands, this one along Reforma.

Another part of Mexico City: This neighborhood was glimpsed from the freeway as our tour van made its way to Teotihuacan...on which I will post more tomorrow.

Posted on: Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Categories: Writing.