C.M. Mayo is founding editor of Tameme, a bilingual (Spanish / English) nonprofit chapbook publisher that promotes the art of literary translation and new writing from North America--- Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. She is the author of Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Milkweed Editions), and Sky Over El Nido (University of Georgia Press), a collection of short stories that won the Flannery O'Connor Award. She is also editor of Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Whereabouts Press), an anthology of fiction and literary prose by 24 Mexican writers. A long-time resident of Mexico City, she divides her time between Mexico City and Washington DC. Her website is www.cmmayo.com.Publication Questions:
1) What projects are you currently on?
For Tameme, the big project right now is our second bilingual chapbook, "Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles," a collection of poems by Mexican Jorge Fernandez Granados, beautifully translated by John Oliver Simon. Pub date is January 2008, so we'll have copies at the AWP bookfair in New York City. We will also have T-shirts! If you're in NYC, come on by!
2) What has been your biggest challenge as a poetry publisher/editor?
For literary work, and literary translation especially, supply and demand, though both are ample, do not always come together in a market solution. Why is this? I sometimes think selling literary work to the general market is akin to trying to sell couture at Wal-Mart. Or, say, foie gras at Burger King. But then, look at what Oprah did, taking literary novels, some of them several years old and mid-list obscure, and, abracadabra, mega-best-sellers! So, who knows how a work will find its readers? It's a fascinating question. At least, fortunately, I remain fascinated. I might add: over the past few years I have developed a healthy respect for publicists.
3) Do you regret any paths you have followed as a publisher/editor?
I wish I'd launched Tameme's chapbook series earlier. Tameme began as a literary journal--- a 225 page anthology really--- it was so much work, so expensive, and I found that, well, my experience in this regard was in no way unusual. So, I had closed the journal, and was about to close down the foundation as well, but then--- voila--- I got the idea to do the chapbooks. The Tameme chapbooks are the same format as the journal was--- English/ Spanish side-by-side--- but instead of featuring, say, 25 writers and another 25 translators, each chapbook has but one writer and one translator. So they are infinitely easier to edit and produce, far less expensive, and more appealing for readers as well.
4) Name one poet who has not appeared in your publication which you would love to have included and why.
C.M. Mayo, c'est moi. It's terribly tempting to publish one's own work, but so far, whether out of wisdom or some other concatenation of reasonings, I have resisted the urge. I have included my translations of Mexican poets Marianne Toussaint and Tedi Lopez Mills, and of Mexican writers Agustin Cadena and Juan Villoro, however.
5) Who is the designer of your web site and how much input do you have in the design of the web site and the other design elements including covers for books, etc.?
I designed and manage the website with the help, occasionally, of my dad (who, bless his heart, put together the first version back in 1999) and an assistant. As for the covers of Tameme (the journal) and the chapbooks, from the beginning, we've used a professional graphic designer. This is expensive, but well worth the money. Kathleen Fetner did the first one and she's doing another book that's in the pipeline; most of our titles, including the first chapbook, have been done by Ines Hilde. The four-color covers of Tameme the journal and the chapbooks all feature original artwork. These have included works by Francisco Miranda, DeLoss McGraw, Derek Bucker and Edgar Soberon. The cover of the new chapbook will feature--- I hope the permission will come through soon (one must always get permission!)--- a work by Mexican artist Elena Climent. How much input do I have in the design? Well, I am the customer, so I have final say, but I try to stand back and respect the work the designer can do that I can't--- because if I could, then I would be a designer!
6) What recognitions have you received as a publisher/editor?
One of the nicest was the recent review poet Rigoberto Gonzalez wrote about the new chapbooks series for the El Paso Times. We've also gotten reviews for the chapbook in The Bloomsbury Review, mentions in Inside Mexico, and blogs galore, including The Quarterly Conversation, Chez Robert Giron, Daniel Olivas's widely read column in La Bloga, and Leslie Pietrzyk's Work-in-Progress. The blogs--- this is rich territory for any publisher, and especially for a chapbook series.
7) Where do you see your publication/editing in 5 years?
I'd like to have an array of beautiful chapbooks, all messages towards convincing more people that literary translation is an art; that there is a Magic Mountain of untranslated literature out there--- especially in Mexico (its literature has been grossly under-translated); that there are these many writers and poets well worth reading. (For more about Mexican literature, click here.)
8) What are some of your other interests?
My own writing and my own translating. My forthcoming novel is The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire and my latest translations appear in the anthology I edited, Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion. As a poet, I have a collection titled "Meteor" that's making the rounds. And I teach creative and travel writing via Dancing Chiva in Mexico City and at the Writers Center outside of Washington DC. I blog as Madam Mayo. I read a lot about neuroscience. Right now I'm especially interested in learning more about Iceland.
9) What is your favorite poem as of today and why?
Charles Simic's "Fork." It's so visciously vivid.
10) Recommend a poetry book, blog or web site to our audience (not from one of your press) and why.
Beltway--- it not only publishes a cornucopia of excellent new work, but its resources pages are a treasure.
11) What is the most exciting aspect of being a poetry publisher/editor?
To play a part in creating and sharing beauty--- this is always exciting. And it's been a joy to meet many of the writers, poets and translators--- and fellow editors and publishers.
12) Leave us with a recipe for poetry.
Keep your pen on the paper. When you are finished, lift your pen. If you are not finished, remember: keep your pen on the paper.
