I just finished the 3rd annual Santa Fe International Literary Festival and it was off-the-map! Lots of well-known authors and lots of fun! Here’s how I ended up there!
In December, I got a Christmas newsletter from a friend and in a blurb at the bottom, she referenced she organized the volunteers and tickets for the Santa Fe International Literary Festival. I had never heard of it, but immediately I emailed her and volunteered.
So, I’ve been anticipating this event for months. I left it up to her for my volunteer shift times. She said, “How about 7:30 am-12:30 pm both Saturday and Sunday?” Sounded good to me.
As I planned and prepared for this weekend, Lin had a garden event at the Randall Davey Audubon Center in Santa Fe Saturday morning, so he joined me in our hotel Friday night—what a nice treat.
The Friday night welcome began with a poem from the renowned Lucy Tapahonso, spoken in Navajo and English. Then I saw Jesmyn Ward, author of Let Us Descend, interviewed by Tracy K. Smith. What a great opening night.
Now I have to confess that I didn’t know the names of all the authors, but because of working the morning shifts while I worked, I saw the following:
Saturday morning
- Roshi Joan Halifax started the morning with meditation. I have heard her speak before but never meditated with her. I did see her and help get the people in the room, but I didn’t get to meditate with her because I also was room manager in the Sweeney ballroom. Maybe next year!
- David Gunn, who wrote Killers of the Flower Moon, interviewed by Santa Fe’s own Hampton Sides. David talked of how the book became a best-selling movie and promoted his new book, The Wager. His personality shone through.
- Lynsey Addario, a photojournalist, who has photographed all major wars in the 21st century. Her presentation stunned me, so I had to buy her memoir, It’s What I Do.
The morning’s duties exhausted me because I did a lot of standing, yet I had bought tickets to four more events Saturday afternoon. Because I didn’t have enough time to grab lunch quickly, I decided not to rush off to the first afternoon session for me.
Saturday afternoon
- Poet, Arthur Sze, interviewed by poet, Wang Jiaxin. I love poetry but I had trouble understanding these two, so I left early to regroup for the rest of the day.
- Tracy K. Smith, poet, interviewed, by Hakim Bellamy, entertained me with her strong shares about poetry writing.
- Anthony Doerr, author of All The Light We Cannot See, interviewed by Bryan Curtis. Anthony was one of my favorites with a high energy, fun-filled talk.
Saturday evening, I saw Julia Alvarez, Dominican Latina author of The Cemetery of Untold Stories. I had heard of Julia for years but never read any of her books. So, a month or so ago, I started reading her first book, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and fell in love with her writing. She was interviewed by Manuel Munoz who identified her as his idol.
So, when the day ended, I went to bed at 10:00 pm (early for me) super-exhausted but so satisfied. Lin went home so I was on my own.
Sunday morning, I worked the same shift I worked on Saturday and again saw some super stars in the literary world
Sunday morning
- Natalie Goldberg, a longtime mentor of mine, led the morning meditation with writing practice (see Writing Down the Bone if you are not familiar with that term). I stayed with her until she assigned the first writing prompt, but I had to go the Sweeney ballroom to prepare for the author’s presentation there.
- Kai Bird, co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer and other biographies, interviewed James McGrath Morris, shared his experience of co-writing a biography. He waited 19 years to have this book produced as a movie! The story tells more than just about the bomb—the tragic trial and accusations were horrible.
- Patrick Radden Keefe, investigative journalist for the The New Yorker, shared chilling stories about his work reporting on the opioid crisis and El Chapo Guzman and the Sinaloa Cartel.
I learned from Saturday to take a break for lunch so I did, missing one session. Then I jumped on it for the rest of the day:
Sunday afternoon
- Javier Zamora, author of Solito, interviewed by Demetria Martinez, told his story of coming illegally to the USA as a 9-year-old, let by a “Coyote” who left him. What a compelling story! His commitment to standing up for the Latino world touched my heart.
- Hampton Sides, author of The Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, interviewed by Mark Bryant, highlighted the process of writing this book and a look at his successful career of writing biographers.
The evening program began with Hakim Bellamy reciting a poem he just wrote to reflect the weekend experience—a powerful statement!
Then the evening and the conference ended with one of my mentors, Anne Lamott, author of Somehow: Thoughts on Love, interviewed by Ellen McGirt. I had waited with anticipation for this talk and she didn’t disappoint me. I have followed her work for years, starting with Bird by Bird, a book that directed my teaching of writing to my students.
Her entertaining, humorous exchange with Ellen and the crowd sent me home celebrating the whole experience.
Finally, I bought lots of books and got most of them signed by the authors. I talked to a lot of like-minded readers and authors, and I can hardly wait for next year. Being a volunteer gave me an inside view of the mechanism of a super-successful event.
And two asides:
- The New Mexico Book Association had a display of New Mexico authors in one room and I had two books there: Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better and Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir.
- When I got paperwork Friday night, I saw that Natalie Goldberg and Katie Arnold are offering a hike with walking meditation and writing at the Randall Davey Audubon Center Monday, May 20 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, so I’m going! What a way to end this fantastic experience!
~ Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir available in audiobook format at the following places:
Enjoy my interview on the podcast, The Writing Table
