From the B. Traven Conferences in Berlin / Plus Cyberflanerie

Back in May of this year I posted on the historic conferences in Berlin about the work and the true identity of the naturalized Mexican novelist B. Traven. Traven was the author of a long list of best-selling novels, best known among them, The Death Ship and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is one of B. Traven’s best-known novels. It was made into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart.

The postcard from the B. Traven conference in the Mexican Embassy in Berlin. My translation: “It is not I who am important, but my work.”

Reverse side of the postcard with schedule and participants.

Herewith, a few more photos:

Susana Garduño, director of the Mexican Cultural Institute in Germany, interviews B. Traven’s stepdaughter, Malú Montes de Oca de Heyman.

Tim Heyman, co-director with his wife Malú Montes de Oca de Heyman of the B. Traven Estate, delivers his keynote speech about B. Traven’s origins.

Third from left is Adriana Haro-Luviano de Rall, UNAM-Alemania; second from right is Andreas Rosenfelder, Chief Cultural Editor, *Welt.*

The following day another conference was held in Brecht-Haus (the former home of Berthold Brecht) in East Berlin.

As I was leaving Berlin, a friend gave me a copy of this beautiful and unusual and highly detailed German language graphic biography of B. Traven, Portrait eines Beruhmten Unbekannten (Portrait of a Famous Unknown):

UPDATE October 19, 2020: You can now read the English original of this essay as a guest blog post: “Traven’s Triumph” by Timothy Heyman.

Plus…

CYBERFLANERIE

Something I happened upon a ways south of Berlin thereafter. My translati0n: “Reality is for those who cannot abide their dreams.”

My esteemed amigo Bruce Berger’s A Desert Harvest, just out from Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, is sublime– and wickedly funny. Stay tuned for a Q & A.

Highly recommended also by my writing assistant. He claims this book tastes cactusy.

The brilliant Patricia Dubrava has translated the also brilliant Agustín Cadena’s flash fiction “Black Magic” in Lunch Ticket.

The Kindle edition of Mikel Miller’s mind-boogie anthology of English-language writing about Mexico (which includes something of mine), Mexico: Sunlight and Shadows, is on-sale for a ridiculous 99 cents.

Writerly Tools Nerd Alert: Moose Designs is Kickstarting their second iteration of the private workstation bag. If you have to work on your laptop on a crowded plane or train, this is a sanity-saver. (I have no relationship with Moose Designs; I am simply a delighted customer– I have their first version of the workstation bag. More about writerly tools here and here and here.)

(How did I miss this?) Cal Newport on Sunday ritual.

Grace Cavalieri included my book Meteor in her review of poetry for Washington Independent Books: July 2019 Exemplars.

“Especially memorable in this candid energetic book is a sequence of poems (Section ll) ‘Davy & Me.’ They capture the mysterious rapture of comradeship that’s seldom been described better.”

Fave German Lesson, German with Jenny and Snoopy and Minou:

“What Happened to the Dog?” A Story About a Typewriter, Actually, Typed on a 1967 Hermes 3000

Cymru & Comanche: Cyberflanerie

Podcast: A Conversation with Edward Swift

Tip Jar? Not Exactly… But you can buy my books!

Patreon and PayPal are oftentimes used by bloggers and podcasters as a “tip jar,” however, for reasons too lengthy to go into here, I do not use either of these services for Madam Mayo blog or my podcasts.

I write Madam Mayo blog and podcast for whomever might happen to find it of interest, whether they be long-time readers, my workshop students, friends, family, or chance visitors. (For more about the idea of creative work as gift, see Lewis Hyde’s The Gift.)

And of course, I hope the writing and podcasts here may entice you to also read my books. You can always buy my books here. If you buy the book new, I earn royalties. If the book is in-print and you buy a used copy, however, Krampus will fart on you. Either way, if you encounter me in meatspace and ask nicely, I shall be delighted to inscribe it for you!

By the way, you can now also find some of my longform essays not-yet-in-print on Kindle, among them: “Dispatch from the Sister Republic or, Papelito Habla” and “From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion.”

On a tight budget? It is also possible that you can find some of my books in your local or university library. If not, don’t be shy, ask the librarian to consider ordering it for the library. Guess what, sometimes they do!

Official disclosure: Madam Mayo blog is an affiliate seller for amazon.com, which means that if you click on a given link and then purchase that book on amazon, I receive a sliver-thin commission. Dear writerly reader, know that these modest sums go not towards additional polar bear fur upholstery for the narwahl-tusk armchairs in the mahogany-paneled library of my trans-Arctic yacht (where all naughty children may slurp hot chocolate whilst fingering the first editions) but rather, towards covering the costs of this blog and the podcasts.

Any links to amazon.com are for books I sincerely recommend and/or by request of many of the authors who appear here in the monthly by-invitation-only Q & As. (That is to say, many of the authors I interview specifically request that I provide a link to buy their book on amazon.com; as a courtesy to them, I do so.)

I am well aware of the problematic nature of Amazon’s outsize market power. If you wish to make your book purchases directly from independent bookstores and small publishers, I would celebrate your doing so by your going to their webpages, which links I provide on occasion, and when not, dear writerly reader, Google or duckduckgo and ye shall find.