Poetry Workshops ~ Mérida, Yucatán, México

January 2 - 9, 2010

With our 2nd annual event, we continue to bring contemporary American and Mexican poets to the colonial city of Mérida. 
Poetry workshops are the main focus of our program.  We also offer nightly poetry readings by all faculty and visiting Mexican poets, which are free to the public.  Program optionals include daily Spanish lessons and culturally informative day trips. 

Our workshop faculty for January, 2010 includes Anne Waldman, Mark Doty (Winner of the 2008 National Book Award for Poetry),
Martín Espada, Cassandra Tribe and Pedro Serrano. The contemporary Mexican poets whose readings will be featured, are José Vicente Anaya (born in Villa Coronado, Chihuahua-will conduct an Optional 2-hour workshop), Pura López Colomé (born in Mexico City-will conduct an Optional 2-hour workshop), and Briceida Cuevas Cob, a Maya language poet (born in Tepakan, Calkiní, Campeche).

Our first annual Mérida Fellowship Award will be judged by poet Tony Towle, and awarded to one American poet (includes workshops, a reading on the same night as one of our faculty members, Spanish lessons, day trips and lodging). Annually, we award up to five Poetas Yucatecas scholarships (workshops only) to writer residents of Yucatán to participate in our program.  Our journal, Pyramid, publishes selected poems by all participants.

We offer day trips each year to sacred/archaeological sites and to ecological reserves/places of natural beauty, or to discover Maya culture.  In January, 2010 we will do all of the aforementioned!  The Sunday day trip consists of a visit to Chichen Itza and a visit to nearby Ik Kil Eco-Archaeological Park, to swim in their divine cenote (above - a magical place where Maya kings and courtesans took relief from the heat); on Wednesday afternoon, we will visit Dzibilchaltún, an archaeological site and ecological reserve and the former site of one of the largest Mesoamerican cities, c. 500BC, and swim in their sacred cenote, X'lacah (where over 6,000 sacred offerings have been found), and finally, on Thursday we will visit Hacienda Sotuta de Peón, a working henequén plantation where one can view the cultivation and processing of this amazing natural fiber (and swim in yet more subterranean bodies of water!). 

Our yearly workshops will coincide with Mérida's annual City Festival.  The festival opening ceremonies will begin on the night of Wednesday, January 6, 2010.  During the month of January, Mérida will be alive with nightly performances of music, literary events, art exhibitions, dance, theater and film, celebrating their 468th Anniversary.