For the last 3 editions, the Local Guide team has regularly attended the San Miguel Writers Festival, which has the distinction of not only being a space to hone writing tools, but also a Literature Festival that features world-class authors.

Among them, we had the pleasure last year of listening to Guillermo Arriaga's lecture, where he defended the film script as a literary genre, as well as witnessing the path that actress Molly Ringwald has taken in her role as a writer.

This edition, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary, has gone all out and will feature speakers who have redefined the literary art, as well as one of the members of Local Guide giving an enriching workshop.

It all started in 2004 when Susan Page moved to San Miguel de Allende after learning of its reputation as a mecca for writers. She was even more surprised to discover that there was no community as such where authors could meet or a place where they could make their writings known.

So he published a small advertisement in a local newspaper calling on all these authors eager to create a community. He was even more surprised when the call brought together 28 authors, thus starting the first edition of the festival. 

With speakers mostly from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, this tricultural festival breaks geographical borders to unite attendees in the magical literary world and show how it has its own rules that are there to be captured and blurred in ink or on a typewriter.

The calendar indicates that from today until February 16, such a celebration will take place at its well-known official headquarters, the Hotel Real de Minas, which combines elements of yesteryear such as a bullring and a well from the times of independence, with a modern interior design, thus generating a boiling point in terms of literary inspiration.

The speakers selected for this year are the legendary John Irving, who has an Oscar to his credit for the adaptation of his own novel “The Cider House Rules.” Percival Everett will also be present, who has a peculiar sense of humor, as evidenced by his novel “James,” in which he narrates, through Jim’s point of view, how the adventures on the Mississippi River take place in Mark Twain’s great classic work.

It is worth mentioning that although Percival will not be able to attend physically, he will have a live Q&A session which will be emphasized by the presence of the great Margaret Atwood, author of the famous “The Handmaid's Tale” so those attending that talk will have the honor of witnessing two prominent figures of the literary world in action.

Finally, as we mentioned, the Conference will feature an interesting workshop with our collaborator Pamela Fink, who stands out in the world of writing and scriptwriting with her particular “How to Write Interesting Scenes” where he will teach part of the creative process of telling stories that transfer memorable emotions to the big screen.

Be part of the largest Writers Festival and get your ticket ticket as well as the possibility of attending the workshop.

It's time to sharpen those pencils!