Our Artists, Writers, and Musicians
We are so proud of the creatives that choose to spend their precious time with us at Lake Chapala for a 360 XQMX residency. As you will read, we are thrilled to welcome writers, musicians and artists from every medium. Our sub-tropical climate, the generous Mexican people, the vibrant culture and time-honored traditions are the magical elements that makes this place so special. Every month our family of artists grows and the individuals you will read about return here time and time again … because it feels like home to them. We are confident you will discover the charms of Mexico while exploring what comes next for you during a residency in Ajijic.
John Clinock
Influenced by the ‘Beat’ poets of the 1950s and ’60s, Clinock left home in the UK to travel the highways of North America. Enroute, he fell in love with Canada’s west coast and remains there today. He failed high school art in England and didn’t even consider studying or practising visual art until 1977 in Victoria, BC. Since retiring, he has continued his art studies and practice and has used my experience to teach and help others discover and explore their own creativity and find healing and joy in the act of art.
Justine Myth
Justine Myth is a writer currently residing in the outer reaches of Los Angeles County, California, USA. She earned an MFA in creative writing from California State University at Long Beach, where she was nonfiction editor of the campus literary journal, RipRap. She has a BA in film and television from the University of California at Los Angeles with a concentration in screenwriting. Her short fiction can be described as fabulist or quietly fantastical, whimsy with a case of the blues, or whack-a-doodle with a chaser of harsh reality. But her short-form creative nonfiction is too candid for such adjectival theatrics. Her work can be found in the archives of a few lesser-known presses. She earns a living by noodling financial content while moonlighting as a pet sitter.
Kara McMullen
Kara McMullen is a writer and research scientist currently based in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has been featured in Diagram, Quarterly West, and elsewhere, and has been nominated for Best American Short Stories and Best of the Net.
Kristina Ryan Tate
Kristina Ryan Tate is an Arizona-born creative writer and artist. As the third of nine children, writing for Tate has become not just a mode of expression, but a voice that cuts through the noise. Most of her work sits in the realm of autofiction, a liminal space between what is real and what is made up. She writes into the facts—and the lies memory tells her—to find the story that didn’t happen within the one that did, a Truth that resonates above everything else.
