Berlin – C.M. Mayo's Book Notes & Convos

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: