Carlos Martin Briceño

Martín Briceño was born in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico in 1966.[1][2] He still lives here as he hates the cold and prefers the lifestyle.[3]

Despite being known as a writer, Martin is a long time businessman, known in southern Mexico. He majored in business administration in college, although he wanted to study literature.[3][4] Despite the dark tones of his writing, his appearance is generally businesslike. He has been quoted saying that he considers having had two children in such a dark world to be a brave thing.[3]

Martín does not find his work in business and literature to be particularly compatible. However, he admits he has no desire to die hungry as a writer. While he does earn money as a writer, it is not enough.[4]

Martin wanted to study literature when he went to college, but at that time such majors were not available in his region. One had to go to Mexico City. While it did delay having a writing career until the very late 20th century, the author believes it never would have prevented it completely.[4]

He believes his origins as a writer began as a reader, and he began reading from a very young age. While he discovered earlier that he liked to tell stories as well as read them, what cemented the idea of becoming a writer was attending a storytelling workshop with writer Agustin Monsreal.[4] Martin credits this teacher, along with Mexican writer Rafael Ramirez Heredia with giving him support in his very early career.[5]

While he regularly gives workshops in Mérida, he states that to be a writer one needs three things: to read much, to learn technique and a lot of hard work and talent. Despite a heavy business schedule, he still tried to dedicate a couple of hours per day to writing and reads a couple of books per week.[4]

In addition to writing and publishing his own works, he is also involved in the compilation of others’ work, especially writers from the Yucatán Peninsula. He is a member of the Centro Yucateco de Escritores and the editorial board of the Navegaciones Zur literary magazine.[1]

Martin’s awards and other recognitions include an honorary mention at the Carmen Baez National Short Story Competition in Morelia (1999), the Beatriz Espejo National Short Story Prize (2003), the Yucatán Autonomous University National Prize (short story category, 2004) and an honorary mention at the San Luis Potosí National Short Story Competition (2008, for Caída Libre).[1] His highest honor so far is the 2012 Max Aub International Short Story Prize (Spain) for Montezuma’s Revenge, which he presented at the Mérida Fest.[3][6][4]

Two of his publications, Caída Libre and Montezuma’s Revenge were republished by the Reforma newspaper in Mexico City as part of its lists of best books in Mexico for 2010 and 2012.[2][7]

Martin Briceño specializes in short stories and short novels. Common themes in his work include eroticism, life as part of a couple and the need for humans to have company. In many of his works, his protagonists’ main driving force is to avoid being alone.[4] Influences on his work includes that of Beatriz Espejo, Gonzalo Rojas and John Banville.[3] Authors that he also admires include Thomas Mann, Paul Auster, John Cheever, Hemingway, and Juan Rulfo but considers his style closer to that of Raymond Carver, Enrique Serna and Agustin Monsreal.[4]

Author Rafael Ramirez Heredia wrote that Martin is a writer who does not appeal to conscience but rather profiles men and women and their passions, pain, loves and losses, leaning to humanity’s darker side.[8] He does not try to give any spiritual solace to readers, which leads segments of the reading public to reject his work.[4][3] In fact, some of his own relatives do not come to his literary events because his work is so dark. For example, Montezuma’s Revenge is a bloody and erotic story set in Mérida, Playa del Carmen and Holbox[3] The following work, Montezuma’s Revenge y otras deleites is a story of a Mexican man and foreign woman, studying mostly the dark aspects of Mexicans’ attitudes towards those from other countries.[4]

Martin’s work regularly appears in various types of publications and has been included in more than a dozen national and foreign anthologies.[1][7]

Publications include: