Though many in Patzcuaro have met and befriended Mexican-American poet Mayela Angelina Padilla, I am honoured to introduce her to those of you who are not in our area, and who enjoy poetry. Mayela and her husband Paul Manasjan are the current CEO's of Casa Werma Buddhist Meditation Centre in Patzcuaro, which is a community-inclusive Shambala property with a magical garden and lovely guests houses. Eclectic, intelligent, highly educated and continually positive, I wasn't surprised to learn that not only was Mayela an environmental scientist and climate activist, but also a wonderfully skilled artist and poet.
Mayela's newest collection of poems, Orange Line to Tennessee, is as lovely to read, as it is moving and powerful to observe. I was fortunate to attend her first poetry reading at Casa Werma in the fall, and enjoyed the crowd-participation aspect of her performance. As the book opens:
2:02 AM
Welcome to the insomnia theatre.
Where I write the script
and
You have the starring role.
- Mayela Angelina Padilla
Mayela Angelina Padilla was born in San Luis Obispo, California. She is the daughter of Yolanda Luera, a Mexican published poet and author, and Dr. Ernest Padilla, a retired English and Mathematics College Professor, and founder of Lalo Press, a publishing company dedicated to promoting Mexican-American authors.
Although Mayela has dedicated her career to environmental science and sustainability, she is also passionate about writing, photography, traveling, meditation, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Since her initial book launch on November 25th, 2022 at Casa Werma in Patzcuaro, Mayela has since performed poetry readings at La Jacaranda Cultural Centre in Patzcuaro (Dec 14, 2022), at Poetry Pop-up, Cardiff by the Sea California (January 25, 2023) and as an Indie Author at the Tucson Festival of Books, Arizona (March 4, 2023). With only 75 copies left of her First Edition of 300, we expect a second printing will be due soon!
To book a Poetry Reading, purchase Orange Line to Tennessee, or learn more about Mayela's musings and future events, please visit www.Mayelapadilla.com
'In these lines there are travels to ephemeral sites, evaporating lovers, a collection of letters to an intimate partner and yet, "you disappear back into yourself." We arrive at the core of all things, the "dot." That is, the ever receding and the ever expanding point of "becoming." Bodies and lips, "interstellar forces," the "good," the "gratitude," the mirrored photographs, the relaxed flow of lines and terms follow the furious Tibetan "Wind Horse." The horse painted, given form by Mayela's voice, an explosive imagination, it gallops soaked in the Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. The questions become: Suffering or Ecstacy? Meditation? The Shout of Desire? Applaud Mayela Padilla in this most gifted, daring book of quiet, flaming adventure and lines of enlightenment.' - Juan Felipe Herrera - Poet Laureate of the United States, Emeritus
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