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I am C.M. Mayo, literary journalist and novelist, author of several books on Mexico, host of the podcast series Marfa Mondays, and the long-standing lit-blog, Madam Mayo. On occasion, I also write poetry and translate Mexican fiction and poetry. Through my works, I bring readers avid to learn more about Mexico and the world to richer levels of understanding and an awakened sense of wonder and curiosity. I invite you to visit my website, www.cmmayo.com
In Conversations with Other Writers, I interview other writers I am curious to learn more about, and whose work I admire and celebrate. And I hope, dear writerly listener, that you might share my delight and enthusiasm.
Podcasts ranging from 20 minutes to a little over an hour. Basically, it’s an audio file you can listen to / download online. All my podcasts are free. That may change, but probably not.
Whenever the literary spirits move me and the planets align. When can you listen in? Anytime! For updates, I invite you to subscribe to my free newsletter which includes not only new podcasts but workshop news, news about my books, best from the blogs, and more.
(I plan to resume this series once the Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project concludes in 2020.)
On the Conversations with Other Writers homepage. The hosting service is podomatic.com. An RSS feed goes to iTunes, to which you can subscribe for free.
As for the interviews themselves, some take place via Skype, connecting us wherever we happen to be (Mexico City? Alexandria, Virginia?) while others are recorded in person. The interview with Edward Swift was recorded in his studio in San Miguel de Allende, for example, and another, with Michael K. Schuessler, was recorded in a Mexico City bookstore. In sum, it varies.
Nutshell answer: Because it’s fun.
Medium answer: Journalists interviewing authors about their new books is a conventional form; I want to do something different: talk to literary writers as a fellow artist about their works, whether new or old, and explore their lives and their process.
Yadda yadda answer: I believe that through narrative we become more human; truth is beauty; exploration is infinite. When you listen in to one of my podcasts, you’re coming along for the ride. These podcasts, like all art, to some degree, are a gift,* in this case, from me to you, just as the writers I interview are giving me—and through me to you— the gift of their perceptions, stories, and advice. It is my hope that in this way our community— the community of those who care passionately about good writing— be enriched.
*Read more about this idea in Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World.
I record the conversation using an ecamm Skype recorderon my MacBookPro or, if recording in person, the dictation app on my iPhone. I then load the mp3 file of the interview onto Apple’s Garage Band program, and edit from there. Music is royalty free clips from Garage Band or purchased from sites such as www.uniquetracks.com and www.musicbakery.com, and the voiceovers are from various vendors on www.fiverr.com. When the whole enchilada is out of the oven, I upload it to the hosting service, podomatic.com.
