New Essay from Emily Rapp on Slate!

Check out the latest from Taos Instructor Emily Rapp: she's got a new essay on Slate that responds to Rick Santorum's comments about prenatal testing and abortion.

As usual, it's an incredibly powerful piece. Not to mention beautiful.

Emily is teaching a Weekend Workshop in Memoir at this year's Conference--you can read about her class, and register for it here.

Congratulations, Emily. Sending love to you and Ronan from the Taos Conference.

News For Valerie Martinez: a Performance, and a Workshop!

Can't wait til July to begin working with Taos Instructor Valerie Martinez?

You need not! Valerie is offering a workshop in Memoir, both poetry and prose, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center here in Albuquerque starting next month. The workshop begins March 7th, and meets for five sequential Wednesday nights. Click here for more info.

The workshop is currently being offered at a reduced rate in honor of Women and Creativity Month--you can look at the schedule for all affiliated events here.

Valerie also has a performance coming up at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, on March 8th. She'll be participating in an encore performance of Four Poets Respond, "And I Find Her"--poetry that responds to art by six New Mexico artists: Lauren Camp, Becky Holtzman, Stephanie Lerma, Marie Moya, Carol Sanchez and Jennifer Zona. The event is at 7 pm.

You can click here to read about the Weekend Workshop that Valerie is teaching in Taos--we can't wait to welcome her back to the conference!

The Taos AWP Cheat Sheet!

Headed to the AWP conference next week in Chicago? Overwhelmed by the eight million panels going on every hour?

Us too. Good luck. But as you investigate all the goings-on, be sure to check out the panels that feature members of this year's Taos faculty!

Click on their names to link to their Taos course descriptions. And for the full list of AWP panels, click here. Enjoy!

THURSDAY MARCH 1

9:00-10:15 Priscilla Long at R113. New Media for New (and Old) Authors and Writers
(Priscilla Long, Matt Briggs, Waverly Fitzgerald, Rebecca Agiewich, Cynthia Hartwig) 

Private Dining Room 2, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor

12:00-1:15  AntonyaNelson at R153.  Writing the American West
(D. Seth Horton, Antonya Nelson, Toni Jensen, K. L. Cook, Claire Vaye Watkins)
Continental B, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level

 3:00-4:15 Antonya Nelson at R212. There Will Be Blood: Writing Violence in Fiction
(Alexi Zentner, Antonya Nelson, Benjamin Percy, Alan Heathcock)  

Waldorf, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor

FRIDAY, MARCH 2

10:30-11:45 Summer Wood at F129. Honoring the Heartland: Midwestern Poets Celebrate Richness of Place 

(Renny Golden, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Patricia Clark, Patricia Monaghan, Summer Wood) 

Continental C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level

12:00-1:15 Hilda Raz at F161. Generation, Inheritance, and Collaboration: Parent/Child Writers (Nicole Cooley, Ann Fisher-Wirth, Jessica Fisher, Aaron Raz Link, Hilda Raz)
Private Dining Room 2, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor

3:00-415 ValerieMartinez at F208. Will Write for Food: Writers Working Outside Academia 

 (Chloe Miller, Alison Hicks, Patricia Lewis, Valerie Martinez) 

Lake Michigan, Hilton Chicago, 8th Floor

SATURDAY, MARCH 3

9:00-10:15 Robert Boswell at S119. Character Matter
(Peter Turchi, Robert Boswell, Susan Neville, Caitlin Horrocks)
Grand Ballroom, Palmer House Hilton, 4th Floor

1:30-2:45 Hilda Raz at S178. Every Day I Live, I Live Forever: The Poetry of Robert Dana
(Rick Campbell, Hilda Raz, Donald Morrill, David Hamilton, Rick Ryan) 

Lake Erie, Hilton Chicago, 8th Floor

1:30-2:45 Carole DeSanti AND Alice Elliot Dark (how cool!) at S190. Unrequited Love: Renewing Your Vows to the Troublesome Novel 

(Elizabeth Brundage, Stewart O’Nan, Jenna Blum, Alice Elliot Dark, Carole DeSanti) 

Honoré Ballroom, Palmer House Hilton, Lobby Level

More Book News! Upcoming Releases from Taos 2012 Instructors Mark Sundeen and Carole DeSanti

Book news abounds!

On March 6th, at long last, Penguin will release Mark Sundeen's book "The Man Who Quit Money"--which we've had the pleasure of hearing him read at past years' Taos Conferences.

You can read an excerpt here, and you can already pre-order the book from Powells, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound.

And, in the spirit of the whole money-less living theme, Penguin is inviting reading groups to submit event ideas in exchange for free copies of the book! If you've got a group and a pitch (and fast fingers: the deadline is tomorrow, February 17!) send an email to Caitlin.Mulrooney-Lyski@us.penguingroup.com.

And of course, after you buy the book, go ahead and register for Mark's class at this summer's Taos Conference: he'll be teaching a Weeklong Workshop in Travel Writing.

Carole DeSanti is attending this year's conference in her dual roles as fiction writer and hyper accomplished editor at Penguin. You can read  here about her weekend workshop in Fiction. Carole will also be available for Publishing Consultations.

Her debut novel, "The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R.," comes out March 27 from Houghton Harcourt.

Carole's upcoming book was recently featured in Publishers' Weekly's "First Fiction" column. You can read an excerpt on her website, at this link. And find links to pre-order the book here.

Congratulations, Carole and Mark!

Check Out Rob Wilder's New "Daddy Needs A Drink" Column! (And: Register for His Master Class!)

Rob, conferencing with a participant at 2011 Conference

 Thinking about registering for Rob Wilder's master class in memoir? You should be.

We've always known that Rob--whose returned to the Taos Conference for many years now, there would probably be a riot if he didn't--is an extremely talented teacher.

We've always known he's a very gifted writer as well. But in case you needed more proof, here's the latest: the most recent entry in his "Daddy Needs a Drink" column for the Santa Fe Reporter.

It's called "The Same Road Twice," and it's about teaching his teenage daughter to drive. But, of course, it's really about a lot more. Dare you not to tear up.

Nice work, Rob! Can't wait to see you (and Poppy, we hope!) this summer.