Another Novel Addition! Master Class With Les Standiford

For those of you excited about the Novel and who already have a full draft, we're excited to announce the addition of a new Master Class at this summer's Conference, with novelist Les Standiford!

Titled "The Art and Craft of the Novel," the class will focus on shaping the manuscripts for the intended audience.

Les Standiford has published over twenty novels, including "The Man Who Invented Christmas"--a New York Times Editor's Pick in 2008.

That's just one among a zillion other impressive credentials in Les's bio, which you can check out here.

And click here to register for the class!

Announcing An Addition to the Taos 2012 Lineup: A Novel Workshop with Jesse Lee Kercheval!

Well, if Conference workshop registrations are any indicator, this year, everybody is writing novels!

We think that's great! And, to aid in the process, we've added an additional Novel Weeklong Workshop to our lineup, with the much-beloved Taos teacher Jesse Lee Kercheval!

Jesse Lee's workshop is called "Novel: Start to Finish" and will be an afternoon class open to all levels, designed for anyone at any stage of the novel-writing process.  Each participant will have the opportunity to workshop at least one chapter from their work-in-progress.

You can read the full course description here, along with a full bio of the prolific Jesse Lee.

And here is the link to register!

Publications for Antonya Nelson and Emily Rapp!

Antonya Nelson

Pretty cool publication news to report this week!

You may have heard of a little publication called The New Yorker? Check out the most recent copy, the "Style" issue from March 26th: in it you'll find a story by Taos Instructor Antonya Nelson! Called "Chapter Two," the story centers around an eccentric character called Bergeron Love--but Love's story is told by the narrator, her neighbor.

To access the story itself online you need a subscription, but you can read a Q and A with Antonya here.

Emily Rapp

Meanwhile, Emily Rapp had a new essay published a few days ago on the Huffington Post about the nature of authentic beauty, called "Beauty: What Does It Like?" The essay explores Emily's experience as a mom of a Tay Sachs child, a woman with a disability, and--perhaps most significantly--a woman with a newfound and happy addiction to eyelash extensions!

Congratulations, Emily and Antonya! Everyone else: check 'em out!

John Nichols to Present Roundtable at Conference!

At the very first Taos Summer Writers' Conference, fourteen years ago this July, New Mexico writing legend John Nichols delivered the Keynote Address.

We're so excited to announce that, for the first time since then, John Nichols will be returning to the Conference to present a Roundtable!

The roundtable will take place at one pm on Friday, July 20th at the Sagebrush Conference Center, and John will give a short reading followed by a question and answer session about his newest novel.

Nichols is best known for his New Mexico Trilogy, which includes The Milagro Beanfield War, The Magic Journey, and The Nirvana Blues. He has also written seven non-fiction memoirs and/or environmental essays, and has scripted over a dozen screenplays, among them “Missing” for Costa-Gavras and “The Milagro Beanfield War” for Robert Redford. 

John has lived in Taos since 1969. His twelfth novel, On Top of Spoon Mountain, will be published by the University of New Mexico Press in the autumn of 2012. 

Announcing the 2012 Taos Conference Keynote: Dani Shapiro!

We could not be more thrilled to welcome acclaimed author Dani Shapiro as this year's Keynote Speaker!

Check out her bio below, and visit her website for more information. While you're there, be sure to check out her blog, Moments of Being, which is full of wonderfully insightful essays on the writing process.

Dani Shapiro is the bestselling author of the memoirs Devotion and Slow Motion, and five novels including Black & White and Family History. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, One Story, Elle, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, and has been widely anthologized. She has taught in the writing programs at Columbia, NYU, The New School and Wesleyan University, and she is co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. She is a contributing editor at Travel + Leisure. She lives with her family in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Her new book, Still Writing, will be out in 2013.

Dani will deliver her Keynote remarks at 8 pm on Sunday, July 15th, to kick off this year's 14th annual Conference. We can't think of a better way to get started!

Pam Houston Touring For New Book!

If you haven't caught up with Pam Houston yet on tour for her new, already acclaimed novel, Contents May Have Shifted, it's not too late!

Pam's been reading excerpts from the novel for several summers at the Taos Conference: if you've been fortunate to hear her read from it already, you won't be surprised by the incredible reception the book is getting--she got a wonderful review on NPR, and from lots of other media outlets.

Check out Pam's site for a list of her tour dates.

And if you haven't already, go get the book! It's a funny, moving, and totally engaging read.

(Note: after teaching at the Taos Conference each of it's 13 years, Pam unfortunately won't be joining us this July due to a scheduling conflict. However, we look forward to welcoming her back in 2013!)

New Book of Stories Out from Darlin' Neal!

 Great news from last year's Taos Conference D.H. Lawrence Fellow, Darlin' Neal!

She's got a new collection of stories out, called Elegant Punk. The book was released by Press 53, and you can order a copy from Amazon here or directly from the publisher here.

Darlin' told us that the book coincided with ANOTHER piece of good news: a new grandchild! Congrats on both accomplishments Darlin'!

(P.S. Darlin' gives the Taos Conference a shout-out in the acknowldgments! Thanks!)

Librotraficante event - March 15 at 7 pm - NHCC Albuquerque

Librotraficante Press Conference and Reading, March 15, 7pm, National Hispanic Cultural Center

by West End Press on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 1:58pm ·

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Amanda Sutton
Albuquerque Cultural Conference
505-400-3898
amanda@westendpress.org

ALBUQUERQUE—On March 15, a caravan of self-proclaimed “book smugglers,” calling themselves “Librotraficante,” stops in Albuquerque en route to Tucson, in protest of the recent ban on Mexican-American literature by the Tucson Unified School District.

Houston writers Tony Diaz and Liana Lopez, hosts of the radio show “Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say,” have teamed up with other concerned writers to plan the caravan route, which stops in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Las Cruces, and Albuquerque before staging events in Tucson over St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

In each city on the route, Librotraficante is working with local organizers to set up “underground libraries,” which will house copies of each banned book on the TUSD Mexican-American Studies reading list. In Albuquerque, Los Jardines Institute will house the underground library. Attendees to the March 15 event at the National Hispanic Cultural Center are encouraged to bring books to donate or to buy books onsite to be donated.

The Librotraficante caravan includes Dagoberto Gilb, Jimmy Santiago Baca, and a host of local writers who will join in for a press conference and reading 7pm, March 15, at the NHCC. Media are invited to attend both the press conference and the reading. Librotraficante has already been featured on Democracy Now!, New York Daily News, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, and dozens of other regional newspapers and radio shows.

Readers for the March 15 NHCC event are: Dagoberto Gilb, Tony Diaz, Zelene Suchilt, Gabriel Carmona, Liana Lopez, Bryan Parras, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Levi Romero, Margaret Randall, Andrea Serrano, Mary Oishi, Tanaya Winder, Hakim Bellamy, Richard Vargas, Gary Brower, Tony Mares, Cathy Arellano, and Bill Nevins.

NOTE FOR MEDIA: Albuquerque media are invited to join in the press conference at the NHCC, 1701 4th Street. Please convene by 6:30 in the NHCC library. For details, contact Amanda Sutton via phone or email: 505-400-3898 or amanda@westendpress.org.

more info: www.librotraficante.com

"The Man Who Quit Money" Out This Week!

 Lots of exciting news this week, for the release of Taos Instructor Mark Sundeen's new book "The Man Who Quit Money"!

He's been on all kinds of radio shows and podcasts. Gotten some great reviews. The Atlantic monthly posted an excerpt. Pretty exciting stuff.

If you want to see Mark in person, check out the dates for his book tour, listed below:

March 7 Missoula

March 12 San Francisco

March 14 Salt Lake City

March 17 Durango

March 19 Moab

March 21 Los Angeles

March 22 Manhattan Beach

You can keep up with these and other book-related events at the Man Who Quit Money's Facebook page. 

And you can click here to check out the description for Mark's class in Travel Memoir at this year's Taos Conference. We're thrilled to welcome him back. 

 Congratulations, Mark!

New "Daddy Needs A Drink" Column From Rob Wilder

If you've spent any time in Taos, than you've probably got a good sense of the New Age-y vibe that Santa Fe's got, too.

And if you haven't, well, Robert Wilder's newest column in the Santa Fe Reporter captures it as well (and with as much humor and charm) as anything we've ever read.

Check it out. And then, check out Rob's Master Class in Memoir at this summer's Taos Conference! You can read about it and register here.