Finally! The Santa Fe Literary Festival
May 20—From summer art fairs to fall and winter film festivals, such celebrations of the arts mark Santa Fe as an art-and-culture mecca. But a literary festival? Until now, it's never left the wanting-it stage.
And so, the inaugural Santa Fe Literary Festival, which runs from Friday, May 20, through Monday, May 23, honors the authors, local and not, whose works have shaped Santa Fe into a center for the literary arts because a rich literary community is a community that reads.
Ten years ago, local publicist and festival co-founder Clare Hertel was doing public relations work and promoting prominent food author Julia Platt Leonard's first novel, Cold Case (Aladdin, 288 pages, 2012). Talks between Hertel, Platt Leonard, who was a part-time Santa Fe resident, and local publisher Mark Bryant centered on how to bring the city's vibrant literary community together and merge it with the national and international scenes.
"The thought was to bring in people that this incredible writing community would like to see and also showcase some of our wonderful talent for people coming in," Hertel says.
And it would have come together sooner if the pandemic hadn't intervened. But the postponement provided the three co-founders with an opportunity to mold the festival into something unforgettable.
"We realized, at a certain point, that between two years of the pandemic and counting, and so much else now, that we've come to feel like we're living in this era of permanent crisis," Bryant says. "So many things are testing us individually and testing the social fabric. We saw the festival as a great way to come together in person and celebrate our shared humanity and values and explore where we're headed."
Pull Quote
The festival features more than 35 local, regional, national, and international authors and four days of author events. It launches with a 5 p.m. author meet and greet on Friday, May 20, at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center (201 W. Marcy St.), home base for the festival. Then, at 6 p.m., two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad, Harlem Shuffle) appears on stage in conversation with Albuquerque-based author Sherri Burr, regents professor emerita at the University of New Mexico School of Law.
In addition to author-led conversations, the festival offers walking tours, lunches with celebrated chefs and cookbook authors, and a youth poetry slam sponsored by the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry.
Most onstage author events include readings by authors from their own work with opportunities for audience interaction. Local writers include journalist and historian Carmella Padilla (The Chile Chronicles: Tales of a New Mexico Harvest, El Rancho de las Golondrinas: Living History in New Mexico's La Cienega Valley); Lynn Cline (Literary Pilgrims: The Santa Fe and Taos Writers' Colonies, 1917-1950); and journalist and historian Hampton Sides (On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle).
But the festival also features out-of-state authors who are in the top tier of their respective genres, such as John Grisham, author of the best-selling legal thriller A Time to Kill (Wynwood Press, 672 pages, 1989); non-fiction writer John Krakauer (Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven); and Margaret Atwood, perhaps best known for her book The Handmaid's Tale (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 311 pages, 1985).
"We planned our festival around a mix of important authors and across a range of issues: politics, racial, income inequality, immigration, health, climate change, sustainability — all of it delivered by way of great storytelling across a range of genres," Bryant says.
"When we look at what tickets people are purchasing, it's quite eclectic," adds Platt Leonard. "It kind of points to people having an interest in different areas. That's the lovely thing about this. People who are buying individual tickets or day passes can kind of create their own schedule, follow their passion for the weekend, and see their heroes. To see an author with whom you've had a personal one-on-one relationship as a reader, hear them live, and ask them questions, that's a pretty amazing opportunity."
Platt Leonard curated a selection of chef and cookbook authors to bring food writing into the mix.
"We live in an age where you can get any recipe you want from the web," she says. "In 30 seconds, you can have it. What you don't get is the story behind it, and that's really where food writing comes in. It's 'What's the context? Who made it? Why does it matter? What are the connections, maybe, with a dish that's similar to what I had growing up?' So, in looking at the four, very diverse events that we're having around food, we're really hoping to showcase that good food writing is simply great writing."
Among the food-related events, the festival is bringing in James Beard Award-winning writer Bryant Terry, author of Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora (4 Color Books, 305 pages, 2021). At 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, Terry discusses the topic of food justice. The event includes a two-course lunch and attendees receive a copy of Black Food.
A literary festival isn't quite literary if there's nothing to read. Events include complimentary copies (with ticket purchase) of featured books by the notable authors, which are available at their respective events. For a complete listing of events, visit sfliteraryfestival.org. Tickets, including all-access passes, individual events (with or without book), literary day trips, and community events are available at sfliteraryfestival.org/buy-tickets. All events are at the Community Convention Center unless stated otherwise.
Pasatiempo wants you to read these authors too. That's why, as part of our coverage of the first Santa Fe Literary Festival, we're providing another way for you to get lit: a selection of excerpts from featured books by attending authors, to give readers a taste of the power of words.
