Write On! San Miguel Poetry & Prose Cafés Launches 10th Season

hace 2 días
3 min de lectura

By Catherine Marenghi

Of all the rich literary traditions of San Miguel, the San Miguel Poetry and Prose Cafés (P&PC) is among the most popular and enduring. Often playing to capacity crowds, this rich tradition continues with the announcement of the 2026-2027 season.

Rosaleen Bertolino, a San Miguel writer and author of The Paper Demon and Other Stories, chairs the board of directors for the P&PC. She and her team recently completed their lineup for September 2026 through March 2027. All readings take place the second Thursday of the month at Café Rama on Calle Nemesio Díez 7, with doors opening at 4:00 p.m. and readings beginning at 4:30 p.m. A 100 mxn donation is suggested.

This year introduced a new event that is outside the normal September to April season: the August 27, 2026 “Community Showcase.” This one-time event featured 10 readers presenting 5-minute readings in a variety of genres. The readers were Richard Kammen, Lena Bartula, Danielle Brooks, Erick Altamiri, Marcia Wolff, Cyn Posner, Vail Suarez, Ramona Miller, Frank Thoms, and Ellen Akerman.

“We experimented with this showcase of short readings because of the overwhelming number of qualified applicants this year,” said Bertolino.

Another new feature in recent years is the bilingual event in April. Now in its third year, the bilingual program features Spanish-language writers followed by English translations. “These are excellent local authors and poets that many of our English-speaking fans might not otherwise be exposed to,” Bertolino commented.

The Poetry and Prose Cafés series has morphed over the years. It began as the San Miguel Poetry Café, founded by the late Maia Williams in January 2016. In live readings at the Sala Literaria in the Ignacio Ramírez Cultural Center, also known as Bellas Artes, the series included open mics, local poet readings, and special guest poets like Richard Blanco, Cecilia Woloch, and Judyth Hill.

Rosaleen Bertolino had arrived in San Miguel in 2017, previously living in the San Francisco Bay area. She enjoyed the structure of the Poetry Café and wanted to partner with Maia Williams to establish a prose series. In March 2019, Williams and Bertolino founded the San Miguel Prose Café. This new series hosted local prose writers in the same Bellas Artes location. Both programs enjoyed the support of the San Miguel Literary Sala, which also sponsored the San Miguel Writers’ Conference and other programs.

With the advent of Covid, all San Miguel public readings ceased in March 2020, and the poetry and prose readings shifted to online Zoom presentations. When public events resumed, initially at Café Murmullo, the two programs ultimately merged to form the San Miguel Poetry and Prose Cafés.

Bertolino appreciated the shift to a café location. Attendees can mingle, order food and drink, and peruse the authors’ books for sale, all in a warm, intimate setting.

“It’s really delicious,” she said, “and the 4:00 p.m. start time accommodates any evening plans our attendees may have.”

“For a community of our size, San Miguel is home to an extraordinary number of talented writers. I particularly enjoy introducing new writers to our audiences. This year we are pleased to introduce 24 writers who have never read for a P&PC before. That’s up from 12 first-timers last year. Of course, we always welcome returnees; we only ask that writers skip a year before re-applying.”

While the upcoming season is fully booked, Bertolino encourages writers to apply for the following year. Typically, the application period opens in June. For more information, please write to rosaleenbertolino@gmail.com or follow the San Miguel Poetry & Prose Cafés on Facebook.