Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Cristina Garcia's New Novel Just Released!


Cristina Garcia's 5th novel, The Lady Matador's Hotel, was released last week. All who attended Cristina's keynote address at the 2010 Taos Summer Writers' Conference will remember the book's stunning opening. Congratulations, Cristina!


Cristina let us know about some of her upcoming readings and events, which we'll pass along:


Sept. 16: Collected Works/ Santa Fe

Sept. 27: Book People/ Austin

Oct. 16-17: Texas Book Festival/ Austin

Nov. 20-22: Miami Book Festival


More information may be found at http://www.cristinagarcianovelist.com/.


Friday, July 09, 2010

Bring a Jacket!

Weather looks good for next week's conference... mostly sunny, 80s and low 90s, scattered thunderstorms (and hopefully with some magnificent lightening)
but it may be chilly (low 50s) in the evenings!

Looking forward to the conference!

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Debra Monroe in this Week's People

Taos Summer Writer's Conference faculty member Debra Monroe's new memoir appears in this week's People magaize. Be sure to pick up the issue that feature's Sandra Bullock's "quickie divorce" on the cover. Congratulations, Debra!

For more on Debra Monroe and her new memoir, On the Outskirts of Normal, visit her website: http://debramonroe.net.

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Minrose Gwin Reading in Albuquerque July 8

Greetings Taos Conference Attendees & Local Supporters:

Faculty member Minrose Gwin will be reading from her acclaimed new novel, The Queen of Palmyra, at Bookworks in Albuquerque at 7pm, Thursday July 8th.

As followers may recall, The Queen of Palmyra tells the story of a young girl in Civil Rights era Mississippi and the horrors she wintnesses one summer. The book has been favorably compared to the classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

This reading is a wonderful warm up to this year's Conference!

When: 7pm, July 8th (Thursday)
Where: Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande NW, Albuquerque, NM (Flying Star Plaza)
Questions: 505.344.8139

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Getting to Taos from Albuquerque

Hi,
I'm flying into Albuquerque for a weekend workshop on Thursday, July 15. It looks like the New MexiTour Shuttle only runs on weekends. Anyone know the best (cheapest) way to get to Taos on a Thursday; or, even better, anyone also traveling from Albuquerque to Taos on the 15th?

Thanks,

Richard Parisio
845-705-0640 (cell phone)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

More Wonderful News for Debra Monroe

Debra Monroe's new book, On the Outskirts of Normal, has been receiving excellent reviews and tremendous attention. The book will be featured in "The Reading Room" section of Oprah's magazine, O the Oprah Magazine, this August. The memoir is also the cover story on the new Barnes & Noble Review: http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Reviews-Essays/On-the-Outskirts-of-Normal/ba-p/2719; Salon.com also has fantastic things to say:
http://www.salon.com/books/our_picks/index.html?story=/books/feature/2010/06/11/outskirts_of_normal_debra_monroe

Debra Monroe's workshop at this year's Conference - The Search for an Orderly Story in the Disorderly Tangle of Memory: Memoir - has a few openings remaining!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Returning - but with sadness in my heart

As I get ready for another conference in Taos I can't help but remember the week I spent getting to know Barbara Robinette Moss last year. I was a member of Barbara's last class. Her husband Duane has asked us each to write about Barbara, about the impressions she left on us. I haven't done it yet. My impressions of that week are still being formed. One of the sharpest images is Barbara sitting across from me playing with the sausage biscuit Duane had brought her. "He's trying to fatten me up. He wants me to hit 100 pounds." We began the week as strangers and by the end of the week we were family. Barbara didn't hold anything back. We followed her lead and poured our hearts out to each other. There was some first class teaching done in that workshop and she pulled writing out of me that I hadn't known was there. I'm sure that was true of all of us. I have continued working on the memoir I began that week. It has taken me in directions I didn't expect - directions I didn't like - but when I've felt lost or discouraged Barbara's voice has pulled me back. Next month I will bring the almost finished memoir back to Taos and I'll continue working on it in Dorothy Allison's workshop. My fondest wish would be to walk into the workshop and find myself with Melanie, Sheila, Robin, Jenna, Lucy, Andrea, Joelle, Briarly, Nan and Quentin. I know Barbara will be there.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Good News for Michelle Zive

Long time Taos Conference participant, Michelle Zive's book Holding On and Letting Go: A Mother's Story, has been awarded Best Unpublished Memoir by the San Diego Book Awards!

Michelle workshopped this manuscript last year in Rob Wilder's Master Class for Memoir.

Michelle will be attending again this year, so if you see her, give her a high five!

Monday, May 31, 2010

lodging to share 2010

Sagebrush---double room---female roommate wanted for entire week.

Thank you, Donna Lee Brown (cell no. 512-657-7630)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Debra Monroe's Memoir "Required Reading"-- Vanity Fair Magazine

Debra Monroe's forthcoming memoir (June 2010) entitled On the Outskirts of Normal: Forging a Family Against the Grain is about "being a white mother raising a black daugther" in a small, rural Texas town. The book has received rave reviews from Kirkus, a trade review journal for the publishing industry, and has been added to Vanity Fair magazine's "Required Reading" list.
As many of you already know, Debra will be an instructor at this year's Taos Summer Writers' Conference. Her workshop is called "The Search for an Orderly Story in the Disorderly Tangle of Memory." Only a few spots remain.


Wonderful news, Debra! On the Outskirts of Normal is only one of the author's acclaimed books. Her works of fiction include: The Source of Trouble, A Wild, Cold State, Newfangled, and Shambles. For more about the author, visit her website: http://debramonroe.net/.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Kercheval's Award-Winning Novella, Brazil, Released



Taos Instructor Jesse Lee Kercheval's novella, Brazil, was just released. Brazil won the 2008 Ruthanne Wiley Memorial Novella Contest, which was judged by Josip Novakovich. This is Kercheval's 11th book.

Here is an excerpt from Brazil:

"It was my birthday, my nineteenth birthday, and I was in the bar of one of the Art Deco hotels on the beach when I met her. They were always using this hotel on Miami Vice, although they were careful to take tight shots of the pink front and not show the bums and junkies down the street, not until later in the episode, so it seemed like they were miles away, in another Miami."

Kercheval's novella promises to be an excellent summer read. The cover alone is intriguing!


Brazil is available through amazon.com and other retailers.

A Whole Host of Updates from Conference Attendees

In the last few months, we've received updates from several folks who've come to the Taos Summer Writers' Conference in the past and want to share their success stories...

Fred Andresen, who took John Dufresne's master class in 2006 emailed to let us know his historical novel Dos Gringos, was just released and is available on amazon.com. It tells the true story of Andresen's immigrant Norwegian father's escapades in the Mexican Revolution. More information is available at http://www.andersen.com/.

Theresa Layton's short story, "The Other Side," recentently won the Perilous Adventures Short Story Competition in her native Australia. Theresa took Dan Mueller's fiction workshop last summer. Congratulations!

Kate Buckley's young adult novel, Choices, was a 2009 finalist in the New Mexico Book Awards. It also received a 2009 Gold Mom's Choice award in the Young Adult category. Read an excellent review of the book at MomsChoiceAwards.com or through the author's website: http://www.katebuckleybooks.com/. Kate participated in the Taos Summer Writers' Conference in '08 and '09. Excellent news, Kate!

If you've had some recent writing success, send us an email letting us know. Great work, writers!

Rob Wilder Reading In Albuquerque May 16 @ 3pm

Greetings Taos Summer Writers' Conference Participants & Followers--

Rob Wilder will be reading with Diana Joseph on their Bada$$ Motherfather Tour of New Mexico in Albuquerque this Sunday evening. The reading will take place 3pm May 16th at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande NW.

Wilder will read an essay from the newly published anthology, What I Would Tell Her: 28 Devoted Dads on Bringing Up, Holding Onto, and Letting Go Of Their Daughters.

We hope to see you there!

Monday, April 26, 2010

North by Northwestern is On the NYT Bestseller List!

Congratulations to Mark Sundeen, who is teaching two workshops at the Taos Summer Writers' Conference this year! His new book, North by Northwestern, co-written with Sig Hansen, is now #33 on the New York Times Bestseller List: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/books/bestseller/besthardnonfiction.html?ref=bestseller.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

WRECKER -- Updates from Summer Wood

Summer Wood's new novel, WRECKER, due out in winter 2011, will be published by Bloomsbury here in the U.S. and in the U.K. Excellent news, Summer!

Also, for those of you attending the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) in Denver, a group of Taos-based Writers - including Summer - will be reading at the Mercury Cafe from 6-7:30pm TONIGHT (Wednesday).

Summer's weeklong workshop at this year's Conference, "Writing the Where of It," has only 2 spaces left!

Read Mark Sundeen's North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters

Mark Sundeen's new book with the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch star, Sig Hansen, promises to be a gripping story about enduring and thriving in the harshest conditions. Sundeen is returning to this year's Taos Summer Writers' Conference to teach two workshops: "The New Nonfiction: What Everyone is Reading and No One is Teaching" (weeklong) and "Mapping Memory: Finding Your Story" (weekend). As you might imagine, only a handful of spaces remain.

North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters

Congratulations, Mark!

"To be a successful fisherman, you need to be a mechanic, navigator, welder, painter, carpenter, and sometimes, a firefighter. To be a successful fisherman year after year, you need to be a survivor.

This is the story of a family of survivors; part memoir and part adventure tale, North By Northwestern brings readers on deck, into the dockside bars and into the history of a family with a common destiny. Built around a gripping tale of a deadly shipwreck like The Perfect Storm, North By Northwestern is the multi-generational tale of the Hansen family, a clan of tough Norwegian-American fishermen who, through the popularity of The Deadliest Catch, have become modern folk-heroes."

-- For more on North by Northwestern, visit http://www.fvnorthwestern.com/stores/north-by-northwestern/ and to order via Amazon.com, visit: http://www.amazon.com/North-Northwestern-Seafaring-Family-Alaskan/dp/0312591144/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270666749&sr=8-1




Monday, March 08, 2010

Excitment Building for Gwin's The Queen of Palmyra

Check out the gorgeous cover art for Minrose Gwin's forthcoming novel, The Queen of Palmyra! As we mentioned on a previous post, the novel has been selected by Barnes & Noble to be included in the "Discover Great New Writers" series. Minrose Gwin is teaching the "Advanced Memoir: Challenges and Struggles" workshop at this year's Taos Summer Writers' Conference. We are delighted to have Minrose back to Taos.

Copies of the book, due out in April, may be preordered at http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Queen-of-Palmyra/Minrose-Gwin/e/9780061840326/?itm=3.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Priscilla Long's Essay Featured in American Scholar

"My Brain on My Mind" by Priscilla Long is the lead essay in the current issue (Winter 2010) of American Scholar. The essay explores what we know about the human brain and its relationship to memory and writing. Long has made her discussion of brain science and the mind accessible through the structure of the essay itself (there is a section for each letter of the alphabet) and through her exquisite prose. Long is truly a writer's writer, and we are delighted she is a returning Taos Summer Writers' Conference faculty member!

Long's workshop is called "The Art of the Sentence, the Art of the Paragraph" and is open to all levels. To read this lovely prose piece crafted by a master, visit http://www.theamericanscholar.org/my-brain-on-my-mind/.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Pam Houston Spotted on the Feb 2010 Cover of the Writer's Chronicle

Check out the February 2010 edition of The Writer's Chronicle for a terrific interview with Taos Summer Writers' Conference fiction instructor, Pam Houston (Houston is leading an Advanced Short Fiction weeklong workshop, and a weekend workshop called "Into the Deep End: Getting a Piece of Writing Off to A Running Start").

The interview, which covers topics ranging from Houston's forthcoming book to her love of travel (including, even, rides on the Hertz bus), reveals her thoughtfulness and sense of humor. In one of my favorite quotes, Houston says, "Sometimes I think I'm writing the same story, over and over again, which is: smart woman in love with the physical world tries to make relationship work, fails repeatedly, loves dogs." Ah yes -- but with what richness, depth, and humor!

Houston's books include Cowboys Are My Weakness, Waltzing the Cat, A Little More About Me, and Sight Hound. We are so delighted to have Pam Houston back again this year at the Conference!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

John Dufresne Featured in Jan/Feb 2010 Poets & Writers

Longtime and much admired Taos Summer Writers' Conference instructor, John Dufresne, addresses the question "Where do you begin writing a novel?" in the current issue of Poets & Writers. In the article, Dufresne discusses the origins of his excellent novel, Louisiana Power & Light, and offers "Nine Ways To Begin Writing" for writers struggling with the daunting task of getting started. The essay is smart and funny, just like the author himself.

Dufresne's new book, Is Life Like This? A Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months, promises lots of sage advice from a writing master, who also happens to be one instructor of this year's Master Class in the Novel (Jonis Agee is leading the other section of our Master Class in the Novel). The book may be preordered at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Life-Like-This-Writing-Months/dp/0393065413/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264623085&sr=1-1. For Louisiana Power & Light, visit: http://www.amazon.com/Louisiana-Power-Light-John-Dufresne/dp/0393330524/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264623085&sr=1-6.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Minrose Gwin's New Novel Selected as Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers" Book!

Taos Summer Writers' Conference returning workshop instructor, Minrose Gwin, has fabulous news! Barnes & Noble has chosen The Queen of Palmyra, Gwin's forthcoming novel, as a "Discover Great New Writers" selection. From the back of the book:

"Florence Irene Forrest lives in Millwood, a segregated town like any other in the South in 1963. Florence's father is a burial insurance salesman with dark secrets. Her mother is stuck in a marriage far from her educated, liberal upbringing and makes secret trips to the local bootlegger. This leaves Florence with her grandparents' longtime maid, Zenie, named for Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. As Florence spends time in Zenie's home, she sees how race truly divides her town, but nothing prepares her for what happens with the arrival of Zenie's niece, the vibrant college student Eva Greene. Soon Florence, who has moved fluidly between two families, between two races, finds herself stuck in the middle, a witness to the brutality and the truth of her times, in Minrose Gwin's astonishing and moving novel."

The book, due to come out this April, may be pre-ordered at Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Queen-of-Palmyra/Minrose-Gwin/e/9780061840326/?itm=3&usri=Minrose+Gwin and Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Queen-Palmyra-Novel-P-S/dp/0061840327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264449936&sr=1-1