Home 9 Wordsmiths 9 Author Spotlight-María García Esperón
Author Spotlight-María García Esperón

Written by Rebecca

September 5, 2021

 María García Esperón is a researcher, historian, and writer of ancient Greek mythology. Her inspiration for history also comes from her research and visits to the ancient city of Teotihuacan. As a young woman, she discovered stories about her ancestors by her nanita, grandmother. Her nanita orally told her about the way that her people lived and is a writer because of the stories that her grandmother told. Esperón shared that many people in Mexico tell their history through oral traditions.

Esperón described that she is, “an expert in Aztec art and also in the ancient culture of Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan is like the Egyptian Pyramid-a complete city. The name means where men are formed into gods.” For Mexico, Teotihuacan is important because it has preserved landforms of how the people lived before the Spanish arrival.

In her newest book, Esperón wrote stories about the experiences of native people from the Americas. Each story was orally told and is found in, The Sea-Ring World, Sacred Stories of the Americas are oral mythological stories told from ancient people and tribes. It is a mythological book for children. It was first published and written in Spanish, in 2017 but published in English in 2020.

My books are raising the mystery. It is the story of our road, pilgrimage.

Esperón is a steward of literature and knows that through stories you can discover stories of humanity, “Travel back in time through literature.”-María Esperón

Her work started when she met a Spanish poet-Aurelio Gonzalez Ovies -Latin professor in Asturias. They became close friends because they both share a love for Greek and Roman literature. María explained that, “We were in Spain presenting one of my books, Dido for Aeneas (Female character). Once we said our goodbyes, he said, “Why don’t we write a book of Greek & Roman myths books for children?”

The book that she wrote with Ovies was a success called Dictionary of Classical Myths.

Years later, on a beautiful day in September 2017, Esperón was writing a poem. Her friend, Aurelio Gonzalez Ovies, emailed her proposing to write another book with her. She pressed “SEND” agreeing to the message, minutes later her floor shook, and she was thrown back into her chair. “Ahh,” she screamed. This was the 2017 Mexico City earthquake. This was not the first earthquake that  Esperón lived through. “I lived the earthquake of 1985 as well. For the first time, I realized the earth was alive. I thought it was concrete. I heard the earth, and I changed.”

She connected her life-altering experience to the myths of the Aztecs. Her studies of the Aztecs who inhabited Tenochtitlan and the people that lived in Teotihuacan shared prophecies of the world. She knew that these earthquakes and myths were predicted on the Aztec calendar.

“Coming here in 2017, when I felt the earthquake I felt that I must write a book of myths that define our America.”-Esperón

3 months later, after the 2017 earthquake, Esperón started writing the book. Her colleague designed the poems, and Esperón added additional flair to the text. In Spanish, this book is called “Dictionary of Myths in America.”

“This is the book of ethnicities, different people, and different cultures. The English title is due to the translator. He is a man who speaks nahuatl, the original Aztec language.”-Esperón

We have the power of our roots to speak aloud and become one. We are the same. The great spirit is mentioned in the book.

María’s work with the collaboration of Amanda Mijangos (illustrator) and David Bowles (translator) created a body of work that shares stories about the ways of life and beliefs of people who lived in the Americas. There are many ways to read. Esperón shared that, “Use the book and retell it in your own way, your own tradition, your own way of being.”

It is a book to play with. It was originally organized alphabetically in Spanish. You can learn about people from Andes, Guarani, Nahua, K’iche, Maya, Mexica and so much more.

In the English version, she suggests that you can read other myths in a different order, find connections. One can use this book to retell, perform, and to build on other stories. María García Esperón has lived through many experiences and has a joy for taking her readers into the past. María’s desire to write about ancient people comes from her lived experiences and from reading and hearing their stories. Discover stories about our ancestor’s belief, thoughts, and way of life in her book, The Sea-Ring World, Sacred Stories of the Americas.

 

 

 

 

Pennez means to think so we can empower children to think as they read. We exist because 65% of all students in the U.S. struggle to read by fourth grade, and among African American and Latino children, the figure rises to 80%. We aim to fix this problem with our helpful reading software for children.

Click here to learn more.

Related Articles

Start to Read, 60 Easy Tips & Lessons

Start to Read, 60 Easy Tips & Lessons

Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels   Help my child read fluently Help my child read Help my child read and write Looking for ways to teach your child to read, below are 60 different tips. A list of suggestions to help your child read fluently, to encourage them...

Booklist-Fiction & Nonfiction Books with LGBTQIA characters and authors

Booklist-Fiction & Nonfiction Books with LGBTQIA characters and authors

Photo by Michael Burrows from Pexels  YA books with LGBTQ authors. Fiction and nonfiction booklist A booklist with modern-day stories that discuss gender and sexuality for teens and young adults.  8-12, MIDDLE GRADE READERS NON FICTION 1. The Gender Wheel by Maya...

Booklist-Fiction & Nonfiction Books with Asian youth

Booklist-Fiction & Nonfiction Books with Asian youth

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels YA & Children's books with Asian characters Books with Asian main characters Asian writers books Below is a list to recognize the stories about Asian lives and Asian...