Mark interviews Patricio X. Maya, who writes in both English and Spanish. They talk about his writing, his essays, his first novel, Reggaetón Cruise, which has been called "a techno-beat The Great Gatsby" about cultural exile, multiculturalism, and so much more.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares a personal update, thanks Patreon supporters and shares a word from this episode's sponsor.

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- What drew Patricia to writing in the first place, and those early teenage poems written in Spanish
Being inspired by Columbian writer Gabriel García Márquez
Patricio's move to the United States when he was 13 and his introduction to the English world
Writing prose in English and poetry in Spanish
Patricios's first book, a collection of essays and philosophies
The theme of cultural exile in Patricio's second book
Cherished early memories and defining half of his life from the age of 13
The origin of the poem "80 Miles Per Hour"
The stylized American circus that's a part of Patricio's novel
The Reggaetón Cruise and how it explores the contemporary moment of American culture where horror and entertainment marry and fuse
Patricio's publishing partnership with Grady Miller Books that allows mutual growth together
The media manager that Patricio works with for promotional appearances
Thoughts about multiculturalism and super-multiculturalism in the US, Canada, the UK and other places
What is the cost of becoming cosmopolitan?
And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things the conversation made him think about.

Links of Interest:

Patricio X. Maya was born in Quito, Ecuador, and moved to California at age 12. He writes in English and Spanish. His first book, Walking Around with Fante and Bukowski, is made up of 21 essays grouped into sections about art, politics, and autobiography. His second book, 80 MPH, is a collection of eighty powerful poems written in Spanish.

His first novel, Reggaetón Cruise, has been called "a techno-beat The Great Gatsby." Some of the novel's themes are globalization, viral fame, and hyper-reality. The narrative plot is complex and the characters from all over the world. Though the novel touches upon immigration, terrorism, exile, and murder, parts of it are humorous, while others have been called thought-provoking, and even unnerving.

Too Much Sweetie, his second novel, is about René, a young Ecuadoran artist trapped between a moneyed upbringing and his current down-and-out North American reality. René's tense world view collapses when he falls for Meaw-Meaw, an ambitious Thai masseuse who loves him for all that he wants to leave behind. Too Much Sweetie, that strangest of things -a sensual novel of ideas- is set to be published later this year under the Hollywood publisher Grady Miller Books, which has also published the writer's previous books.

Along Miller, Maya has gathered the collected poems of Aldo Tambellini for publication. He has also acted as editor-in-chief of 80 MPH Anthology, which showcases the work of various Hispanic and American writers. Maya holds an M.A. in Arts Journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and a B.A. in English from CSULA. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the CalArts' Aesthetics and Politics program and a poetry lecturer at the Los Angeles Public Library Summer Lecture Series.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0