A Writer’s Life in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Oh, goodness. Where to start? Since Thursday evening, January 2, I have participated in a women’s creative writing workshop retreat in the Oaxaca village of Teotitlan del Valle. I have produced this workshop (or something like it) for the past fourteen years (minus the last two, when we took a break). We end on Wednesday […]
Follow-Up: A Day Without Women in Mexico
Yesterday’s blog post provoked a lot of discussion about women’s lives in Mexico, especially those living in poverty and struggling in remote villages. Some of our discussion was here. Some of it was via my Facebook page where I also share what I write. I want to follow-up with some observations and impressions. Women are […]
In Mexico, A Day Without Women — March 9
Women are responsible for about 1/2 of the compensated economic activity in Mexico, and relied on in disproportionate numbers for the work done in the home. This represents about 15% of the GDP of the country. Yet women’s rights are largely ignored and mostly violated. Men still have the right to decide the fate of […]
Into the Villages on the Oaxaca Coast: Women Who Weave
For me, the most emotional part of our visits to the remote Oaxaca villages along the coast of Oaxaca is to meet the women who weave and hear their stories. Our Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour takes us north out of Puerto Escondido along Mexico Highway 200. This region is called the Costa Chica and […]
Women of Chiapas Photo Essay
International Women’s Day was Thursday, March 8, 2018. It’s days later and I now find time to acknowledge, honor, recognize, applaud some of the women we met along the way during our two back-to-back Chiapas Textile Study Tours in February and March this year. I don’t know all their names. Their hands, feet and faces […]
Women’s Creative Writing and Gentle Yoga Retreat, June 22-29, 2018, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico
Lifting Your Creative Voice Writing and Yoga Retreat When: Arrive Friday, June 22 and Depart Friday, June 29 Where: Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico This is our 8th year for the Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing Retreat. We welcome new, inexperienced writers and those who are more seasoned and want to go to the next level. […]
Lower Price, Return to Teotitlan del Valle: 2018 Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing Retreat with Gentle Yoga
2018 Writing Workshop is Cancelled We are moving the retreat back to the quiet of Teotitlan del Valle from Oaxaca City and lowering the price to make it more affordable for you to attend! This is our 8th year for the Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing Retreat. We welcome neophyte women writers and those of us […]
Details, Another View of Frida Kahlo at Casa Azul
In the last three years, I’ve probably visited Casa Azul, where Frida Kahlo was born and lived with Diego Rivera, over ten times. I come because I organize the art history study tour, Looking for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Can you get to Mexico City next weekend? On this latest visit last Friday with […]
Being a Oaxaca Host: Lessons for People and Nations
My friend Debbie from North Carolina came to visit me in Oaxaca this week. It was a fast three nights and two-and-a-half days. We packed a lot in as the news of the world was (and continues to) unfolding, raging, tangling itself up around us. I wanted to show her my world here. Archeological sites. […]
Gossip and Morning Refreshment: Following the Abuelitas
This morning I arrive at the daily market early, by 9 a.m. I had chicken soup on my mind and want to make some, so I first stop at a stall where I know that cooking teacher Reyna Mendoza buys her pollo. Criollo, advises the woman standing next to me in the aisle as she […]
Pop-Up Sale: Oaxaca Quechquemitl, Mexico Stylish Scarf/Poncho
This pop-up clothing sale features the indigenous Mexico short poncho or triangular bodice cover-up called a quechquemitl in the Nahuatl language, used by pre-Hispanic women throughout the country. It’s my favorite accessory and that’s why I have too many of them! Slip one over your head, and your shoulders and bodice are covered beautifully, even […]
Humble Apron Elevates to Fashion Statement and Identity in Oaxaca, Mexico
Here in the Tlacolula Valley, and most villages surrounding the city of Oaxaca, the apron is more than a utilitarian article of clothing used to protect the wearer’s garment from getting soiled. It is a statement of identity, style, and social class. Walk around the Tlacolula Market on Sunday, or any day for that matter, […]
Women Weavers’ Cooperative Vida Nueva, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: Part Two
This post continues the narrative about women weavers in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. See Part One for my introduction. Honoring Mother’s Day: For all women who gave and received life! *** Vida Nueva (“New Life”) Cooperative at the International Folk Art Market Twenty years ago, Vida Nueva cooperative was founded by six single women from […]
Women Weavers in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: Part One
Recently, I spent the day with a University of Michigan, public policy and economic development researcher, who asked me to introduce her to the Zapotec weaving culture of Teotitlan del Valle. Her expertise is India. Now, she is exploring how India and Mexico intersect and diverge in their support of artisans, particularly weavers. During our […]
2017 Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing + Yoga Retreat: Lifting Your Creative Voice
For the 7th year, women will gather in retreat for a week of creative writing, daily yoga, meditation and exploration in Oaxaca, Mexico. Our workshop is limited to 10 people. Will you be one of them? Some of us are novices. Others are published poets and writers. All are welcome and encouraged. If this is […]
Chicken at the Tlacolula Market: The Gift
A group of 12 women are immersed this week in our sixth annual Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat. All except two have never been here before. Two came all the way from Melbourne, Australia. Going to the Tlacolula market is a highlight for any visitor, especially for those who have a gift list. […]
News: Two Spaces Open for Women’s March Writing Retreat
We have been SOLD OUT for months, but today I received two cancellations for the 2015 Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat that starts March 6, 2015. That means we have TWO SPACES OPEN now. If you have been thinking about expressing your creative self and escaping winter, this could be the workshop you […]
Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing Retreat Gives Voice to Lee Schwartz
Minerva Rising Literary Journal just published a piece written by Lee Schwartz on their blog that I want to share with you. Her voice is stunning, real, painful and alliterative. I love listening to her descriptions and following her words on the page. What she writes about has universal truth and especially resonates for me. Lee […]
One Day in Capulalpam de Mendez: Oaxaca’s Pueblo Magico
High in Oaxaca’s Sierra Juarez, the mountain range to the east of Oaxaca city that borders the state of Veracruz, nestles Capulalpam de Mendez, one of Mexico’s Pueblo Magicos. The village is terraced into the mountainside and the views are breathtaking. Indeed, the altitude can take your breath away at almost 8,000 feet (2,350 meters, […]
Update: Vintage Gold Jewelry Sale and Helping a Family of Women Home Improvement Project
Just want to tell you that yesterday I sold three pairs of earrings in response to the 10k Gold Vintage Oaxaca Jewelry Sale. Plus, we raised $785 in cash gifts! Thank you so much. This amount of money goes a long way in Oaxaca where the average daily wage is 100 pesos or about $8 USD […]
Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat 2015: Lifting Your Creative Voice
Announcing the 5th Annual Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat. Arrive Friday, March 6, depart Saturday, March 14, 2015–8 nights, 9 days with market tour, plus options for traditional Oaxaca cooking class, and temescal* sweat lodge. SOLD OUT! JOIN THE JULY 28-AUGUST 6, 2015 SESSION. You are a woman with something to say. You keep […]
How safe is Mexico City for a single female traveler?
This question just came in: How safe is Mexico City for a single female traveler? This is my experience. I have been flying from the USA directly to Mexico City for the last several years. I do this to know Mexico better. Usually I travel solo, alone, single, without a companion. The Mexico City airport […]
Literary Journal Publishes Women’s Writing Retreat Essay
Minerva Rising Literary Journal co-editor and poet Dulcie Witman invited me to write a guest essay for their blog. My essay, Women Who Have Something to Say, reflects the women’s creative writing and yoga workshop/retreat experience. Minerva Rising Literary Journal celebrates the creativity and wisdom in every woman. Their blog invites guest writers to contribute essays, […]
Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat 2014: Lifting Your Creative Voice
4th Annual Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat. Arrive Friday, February 28, leave Saturday, March 8, 2014–8 nights, 9 days. We are women who have something to say. We keep journals, notes, drafts of unpublished material. Or, we dream of writing and never have. Ideas percolate and we want to develop them. Perhaps we have […]
Tribute to International Women’s Day Through Poetry
Who knew there would be a full moon illuminating the courtyard at Las Granadas Bed and Breakfast last night, March 8, when Professor Robin Greene and I planned our Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat a year ago? And, who knew that it would coincide with International Women’s Day? Who knew that nine magnifient women […]
Oaxaca Essay Conveys Women’s Writing Retreat Experience
Sue Spirit, a participant in our Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat 2011, had this essay about her experience published in “All About Women,” a High Country of North Carolina magazine. It beautifully expresses our week together and I want to share it with you. Published here with Sue’s permission! Oaxaca: Bright Riches on My […]
Book Review: Weaving, Culture and Economic Development in Miramar, Oaxaca, Mexico
Book: Weaving Yarn, Weaving Culture, Weaving Lives: A Circle of Women in Miramar, Oaxaca, Mexico; published by Almadia, 2010; photography by Tom Feher, text by Judith Lockhart-Radtke; ISBN: 978-607-411-059-3 Book Review by Norma Hawthorne Stunning photographs and intimate personal interviews of indigenous Mixtec women weavers accentuate what it means to keep culture, community, and weaving […]