News

As sure as the rain
As Sure As The Rain won a silver laurel from the Independent Film Awards in Los Angeles. I co-wrote the script and co-edited this feature-length essay film by artist and filmmaker Nick Stewart.
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This is the review I wrote for Berfrois, of Sarah Lightman’s Graphic Details: Jewish Women’s Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews. Edited by Sarah Lightman, McFarland, 316 pp. Please read here.
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I was included in the book The Inking Woman ‘a groundbreaking picture-led celebration of the work of over 100 named British artists.’ Published by Myriad Editions (2017).
Screen Shot 2018-03-12 at 09.04.49–I will be signing books at the Salon Du Livre Paris, with my publisher Presque Lune Editions.
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Happy to hear that this radio station in France spoke about my book Lulu la sensationnelle along with amazing books like Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home (Denoël), and Lola Lafon’s La Petite Communiste Qui Ne Souriait Jamais (Actes Sud).  The review starts at 1:24:00 min. Listen here  For my french-speaking friends, this seems a beautiful programme about graphic novels! The full programme here.
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My first graphic novel will be published in French by Presque Lune Éditions.
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In-Dialogue is an international symposium that interrogates how artists and researchers use dialogue in practice. I will be delivering with artist Hester Reeve, a talk about our experience in implementing Bohmian Dialogue in the art school. http://indialogue2014.wordpress.com/presenters-2014/
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I will be a guest at 10:30am speaking about my practice as a writer and artist.
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Next Tuesday 13th May at 10:30 am I will be part of the panel, sharing my viewpoint as Mexican, in some Amnesty International issues.
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Next Saturday 31 st September, if you are tuned in, I will be a guest at 10:30 am In Paulette Edwards programme.
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Angouleme
I will be five days in Angouleme, France, in the International Bande Dessinée Festival.
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Interview by Carmen Sanjulián, at Instituto Cervantes Dublin (11 min. In Spanish)
http://youtu.be/W3669AwoWq8
Language is the most powerful mechanism ever created by man. But what happens when you experience your mother tongue from the distance? I spoke about ‘Our Language Garden’, one of my writing for radio projects.
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Talk Sweden
In Bastad, Sweden. Talk for Tynet 50+, a project by the European Commission.
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Sheffield talkI will be talking about the role of the writer  as a foreigner.
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I will be the Chair of tomorrow’s opening – ‘The Boom’ in Latin American literature by Professor Phil Swanson (Head of Latin American studies Sheffield University). Thanks and congratulations to the committee for a fantastic job!
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Octopus night at Riverside
Because I also use ink to escape, I will be reading one of my short stories in this amazing event! The Riverside/ 20th March. Sheffield, UK.
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Shu Fest
Stretching the Micro Story: Once Upon a Time Latin America. I will be giving this talk and workshop part of  SHU Fest, at Sheffield Hallam University.o
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Lujuria
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–My short story Africa is part of the short story anthology  Lujuria (Lust) from the series Pecados capitales (The Seven Deadly Sins). The book will be presented this 11th of January at 18:30 hrs in Librerías Porrúa by Bosque de Chapultepec, in Mexico City.
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One of my political cartoons was featured in Art Monthly in Michael Corris article The Economy of Art. You can see it here: http://www.artmonthly.co.uk/magazine/site/issue/june-2009
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As part of the four days Day of the Dead celebration, at Cantor Building- Sheffield Hallam University, I’ll will be reading some of my Obscure Short Stories.
Throughout September, Radio UNAM is broadcasting the vignettes that contain Our Language Garden – El Jardín de Nuestra Lengua; there will be a new one each day, repeated twice daily. Carlos García de Alba, Mexican ambassador in Ireland, will be featuring as a special guest. For this production, we had the vital support of Radio UNAM producers, Arfaxad Ortiz and Emiliano López Rascón, research input from philosopher Paniel Reyes Cárdenas, and the inspired musicalisation of Xanic Galvan Nieto. After ten months of production, the project hits the airwaves!
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I participated with my short story No te vayas sin darme un beso Supermán (Do Not Leave Without a Kiss Superman) in the anthology of short stories La otra historia clínica (The Other Medical Story) by Palabras y Plumas Editores. The second book presentation of this anthology will be held in the assembly hall of FFYL (Literature and Philosophy Faculty) at UNAM, National Autonomous University of Mexico. Comments will be held by Dr. Eduardo Casar, Dr. Herlinda Dabbah Mustri, Dr. María del Carmen Trueba and Dr. Alberto Lifshitz.
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The Economist wrote a review of the book Nosobiografias published by Palabras y Plumas Editores. Helen participated in this anthology with her story No te vayas sin darme un beso Supermán (Do not Leave Without a Kiss Superman).
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The publishers said that the anthology Invierno (Winter) from their series Estaciones (Stations) has just been released from the printers. I participated there with my short story La Condesa, Tercera llamada (La Condesa, Third Call). o o
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This morning at the BBC as a member of the panel on the Paulette Edwards show.
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 Our Language Garden

The radio project El Jardín de nuestra lengua (Our Language Garden) has inspired one hour of Rony Robinson’s show on BBC Radio in Sheffield, England. A series of Mexican and British guests brought one word and a personal story linked to that word. For the entire show, Mexican and English people were part of our garden… Our Language Garden. o

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La primaria y las rayas que no pisé (The Primary or Stepping on Cracks) is my short story, part of the anthology Otoño (Autumn), from the serial Estaciones (Stations). This book was presented in La Casa del Tiempo. o o

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 By Jo Davison

Published on Wednesday 1 February 2012 09:20
Down Mexico way, they’ll be celebrating tomorrow.
It’s Candelaria Day, a religious occasion that calls for traditional cooking, says Helen Blejerman, one of only 80 Mexicans living in Sheffield.
Helen arrived in 2006 to study art at Hallam University and is now one of its Fine Art associate lecturers. She is also a writer – her short stories have been published in art magazines in Mexico and the UK – and is hoping to break into cookery writing.
She is keen to pass on her homeland’s traditional dishes to Sheffielders. “People think they know Mexican food but I think most restaurants here lack authenticity. The only place that gets it just right is the Street Food Chef on Pinstone Street,” she says.
Helen is often served great Mexican fare at home, though – her Sheffield partner Dave Saxton has discovered a knack for turning out recipes from Helen’s grandmother in Mexico City.
“He does them better than me,” she says, explaining that Día de la Candelaria takes place 40 days after Christmas to honour the day the Virgin Mary presented baby Jesus to the church.
“We buy a baby Jesus doll, sometimes the size of a real baby, dress it in robes and take it to church to be blessed. It is an honour to be asked by a friend to take care of a Baby Jesus throughout the year,” she says.
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The room was full and I read for the audience my published story De donde vuelan los pájaros (On where the Birds Fly). The anthology Primavera (Spring) was presented in a beautiful room of La Casa del Tiempo, in Mexico City.
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Invited to the Rony Robinson Show, I spoke about turning points in my life: my father’s death, the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, how I got to chose art over death, and the secret writings of my Russian grandmother. o
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De dolores moridos y otras delicias (From Pain, the Dead and Other Delicacies) was a two hour radio special in English and Spanish about the celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico. This was transmitted by Radio Sheffield Live 93.2 FM in the city of Sheffield, England. The short stories were written by José Montini, Pilar Flores del Valle, Luciana Silveyra, and my self; the anthropological essay was written by philosopher Paniel Reyes Cárdenas. It was a good experience to produce it. o o
Proyecto Calavera was a literary, gastronomic, and cultural project – collaboration between Radio Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM. and The Institute for Lifelong Learning from Sheffield University. With philosopher Paniel Reyes Cárdenas we broadcast over the radio the cultural explanation of the one hundred Mexican satirical poems that I finally finished writing for the commission. All the project was a celebration for the Mexican Day of the Dead. o o
The short story Entre cuerdos y recuerdos (Amongst Marbles and Memories) was translated into English and then published by the art and culture English publication Now Then Magazine. o o
 
Art magazine Revista Migala online wrote a review of my work Numbers that was exhibited in New York. They also published the short story De donde vuelan los pájaros (On Where the Birds Fly).