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From the Santa Fe International Literary Festival founders

Welcome to the Santa Fe International Literary Festival

Co-founders, Santa Fe International Literary Festival

The power of story. These four words are the inspiration behind this oneof-a-kind weekend in Santa Fe. They reflect our festival’s mission to connect writers, readers, and thinkers in the celebration of words and story. They are your invitation to join us in welcoming an impressive list of literary luminaries from around the world and close to home.

This year we are honored to present more than 30 festival events over three days at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, in Santa Fe’s beautiful historic downtown. We are also extremely proud to have N. Scott Momaday, the preeminent Kiowa poet and Pulitzer Prize–winning author, serve as the festival’s honorary chair. This designation recognizes Momaday’s legacy as an author, storyteller, and educator who has dedicated his life to literature.

Together, the voices of the festival’s guest authors represent the vast diversity of the local and global literary community. Their conversations on the craft of writing, the power of language, and the possibilities of imagination inspire and remind us that words have no borders. Their exploration of a range of issues — in politics, social and racial justice, the environment, and much more — feels like a light in the dark amid these times of extraordinary change.

The festival kicks off Friday evening with Colum McCann, the celebrated Irish author of the National Book Award–winning Let the Great World Spin and the global bestseller Apeirogon. The weekend continues with Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Candy House; John Irving, legendary author of The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules; Santa Fe’s own Michael McGarrity, author of the New York Times bestselling Kevin Kerney crime novels; and renowned journalist Beth Macy, author of Dopesick and Raising Lazarus.

Other featured literary powerhouses include Ed Yong, Laila Lalami, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Namwali Serpell, and Manuel Muñoz. And acclaimed author Luis Alberto Urrea joins fronteriza writer and activist Denise Chávez, of Las Cruces, in a tribute to the late Rudolfo Anaya, the godfather of Chicano literature.

The festival also celebrates our state’s rich literary history with New Mexico voices of today and tomorrow. It features world-class authors who call New Mexico home — such as Sally Denton, Stanley Crawford, Lucy Lippard, and Don Usner — while the festival’s free community stage puts the spotlight on emerging poets and storytellers. Additionally, our pilot program Young Writers and Readers partners with local libraries, schools, and nonprofits to connect our community’s youngest writers with authors and to encourage them to tell their stories.

As co-founders, our passion for literature — particularly its power to illuminate our shared humanity — fuels this festival. Our participating authors, donors, partners, and volunteers bring it to life. But it’s you, the festivalgoer, for whom we are most grateful. Your desire to greet your literary heroes and discover new voices inspires us. Your love of story makes this a weekend to remember.

Read boundlessly and enjoy the festival! Clare Hertel, Carmella Padilla, and Mark Bryant

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2023-05-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://enewmexican.com/article/281505050557559

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