Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Weekend Conference (Santa Fe-Taos-Santa Fe)

If a weekend attendee is in need of a ride from Santa Fe to Taos, you are welcome to ride shotgun with me. I'll be driving up Friday afternoon (July 17th) and returning Sunday afternoon (July 19th).

Tom Claffey

Ed Sandoval Event Friday July 17, 2009


There are a lot of special literary events going on at the 2009 Taos Summer Writers' Conference, from faculty readings, and book signings to open mics, but don't forget about the art!

Taos artist Ed Sandoval has graciously offered digital images of his art for us to use in the conference materials, and he's allowed us to use his images for our special t-shirts, posters, and book bags as well.

We'll be hosting a Meet & Greet at 5:30 p.m. Friday, July 17 and hope you'll be joining us.

Ed will showcase some of his original art and will be available to chat about his art.

Bring your poster to have it signed!

This is a super oppportunity to meet a living Taos treasure.

Although Ed's art is distinctly southwestern, his signature viejos (old ones) his expressive use of color and bold strokes of paint, elicit emotion that is universal.

Get a quick preview of Ed's art on the Taos conference website, and here:



Monday, June 29, 2009

Robert Boswell Review

2009 Taos Summer Writers' Conference faculty member Robert Boswell's book The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastard was reviewed in the New York Time's Sunday Book Review this week. Read the review at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/books/review/Schillinger-t.html?_r=1&ref=books .

Monday, June 22, 2009

An Invitation

The Taos Conference would like to invite any 2009 participants to post on this blog. Before the Conference you can post seeking a roommate or someone to carpool with. During and after the Conference you can post about your experiences at the Conference. If you want an invitation to be a blog author just send a note to taosconf@unm.edu.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Two Faculty Members Featured in O Magazine

The July 2009 issue of O Magazine features not one but two 2009 Taos Summer Writers' Conference Faculty members!

The magazine reviews Robert Boswell's book The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards. You can see a copy of this review online: http://www.oprah.com/slidepopup/omagazine/200907-omag-summer-reading-list/19 .

The magazine also includes an interview of Toni Morrison conducted by Pam Houston. The introduction to the interview states that "Pam Houston considers her ongoing talks about writing with Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison to be among the great joys of her life. Recently she and Morrison discussed those times a writer lives for, when she is able to enter that fluid space of inspiration where one good line keeps following another."

Friday, June 12, 2009

2009 Scholarship Winners

We have announced our scholarship winners!


D. H. Lawrence Fellow: Merrill Feitell
Hispanic Writer Award: Cathy Arellano
Native Writer Award: Maurus Chino
Taos Resident Award: Paula Marafino Bernett
Leo Love Merit Scholarship in Poetry: R. Flowers Rivera
Leo Love Merit Scholarship in Fiction: Candice Carnes

You can read more about them here: http://www.unm.edu/~taosconf/News/scholarship_recipients.htm

Monday, June 08, 2009

A New Agent is Coming to Taos

This year the Taos Summer Writers' Conference is pleased to welcome agents Alexis Hurley and Kimberley Witherspoon to Taos. Both Alexis and Kimberly are Conference veterans and it is always a pleasure to have them with us.

In addition, this year we are welcoming a new agent to the Conference, Patricia Moosbrugger. Patricia Moosbrugger is an independent literary agent who relocated to Albuquerque two years ago after eighteen years in the New York publishing world. She represents both fiction and narrative nonfiction authors with several national bestsellers. Upcoming nonfiction titles on her list include Sultana (Harper), a civil war story and Brave Vessel (Viking), the true story behind the shipwreck that inspired Shakespeare's The Tempest. Upcoming fiction titles include The Girl From Junchow (Berkley) by bestselling author Kate Furnivali, The Glass Blower (St. Martin's), a historical novel set in Venice, and A Rule for Murder (Minotaur) by award-winning mystery writer, Louise Penny.

All three agents will be participating in publishing consultations with Conference participants. If you want to know more about publishing consultations, go to http://www.unm.edu/~taosconf/Workshops/consultations.htm