Literary Events (Page 145)

August Literary Sala Presents Innovators in

Math, Business, and Storytelling

By Carole Schor

What’s new?  In August at the Literary Sala you can find out what’s new and innovative in mathematics and storytelling, as well as business, from our two distinguished readers – Lucina Kathmann and Mitch Ditkoff.

Lucina Kathmann

Lucina Kathmann is the author of A Forest of Mathematics, a fun and new way for 7^th and 8^th graders to learn about math.  Kids might not like math or may have a hard time understanding it, but when they take a walk through the forest with Playshapes and the Bear, they’ll love the characters and be so delighted with the stories that they’ll want to solve the problems to see how the story goes.

Lucina is not only a mathematics teacher and writer; she’s a well-known figure in San Miguel, having lived here for almost forty years.  Born in the United States and educated at Harvard and Northwestern Universities, she is an International Vice President of PEN International and Secretary of the PEN International Women Writers Committee.  Her previous works, mostly bilingual, have been about femicide here in Mexico, as well as her travels through the world in support of women writers in their various situations: cultural, religious and political.

Lucina calls herself “an inveterate writer of anything and everything.”  “There seems to be some sort of incubation period at the beginning of my writing process. I don’t necessarily start right away. Then some key concepts and phrases and ideas come to me and I get to the computer and write out whatever I have in good shape. Then I look to see how it relates to my intention, what is missing, what is incoherent.  After I have a draft, I always reread it and send it to friends before I send it out. There are usually quite a few changes. If not, I might well have to live with terrible regrets!”

Mitch Ditkoff

Mitch Ditkoff divides his time between San Miguel and Woodstock, NY, both centers of innovation and creativity.  He is the co-founder and President of Idea Champions, a highly acclaimed management consulting and training company that specializes in helping forward thinking organizations go beyond business as usual and establish dynamic, sustainable cultures of innovation.

When he’s not creating leadership programs or writing his popular blog, The Heart of Innovation, voted the #1 innovation blog in the world, Mitch contributes regularly to Huffington Post and is the author of the recently published Storytelling At Work: How Moments of Truth Reveal the Real Business of Life. At the Literary Sala event, Mitch will be reading from Storytelling at Work as well as from his book of poetry, Full Moon at Sunrise, and making the connection between storytelling and poetry.

Mitch feels everyone knows how to tell a story and “everyone in the world has wisdom inside, not just the experts and great teachers. Everyone.” He believes that storytelling is at the heart of evolution, the main tool that creates culture. Stories enable people to truly know each other meaningfully.  “When people tell their stories to each other and are heard, magic happens. People bond. Barriers dissolve. Connections are made. Trust increases. Knowledge is transmitted. Wisdom is shared.”

Join us for this interesting and innovative Literary Sala on August 11 at 5 PM at the Hotel La Aldea on the Ancha.  Admission is 50 pesos for members and 100 pesos for non-members, including a wine and snack reception.  Membership in the Literary Sala supports ­not only the literary life of San Miguel including scholarships for teens and reading projects for children in the campo, it also offers attractive benefits like reading groups, discounts at the monthly author readings, as well as discounts and priority seating at the Annual Writers’ Conference.  A Membership Table will be available at the Sala event.