Santa Fe International Literary Festival News:

SANTA FE —The Santa Fe International Literary Festival will take place May 19–21, 2023, bringing together world-renowned authors, thinkers, and passionate readers to celebrate the power of story.

The three-day festival features big-stage presentations and intimate conversations with literary heroes from near and far, including New Mexico. In all, more than 30 different festival events will take place over the three-day weekend at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center in Santa Fe’s historic downtown. Rich in cultural diversity and creativity, including a centuries-long literary history, Santa Fe is a perfect place for authors to discuss the power of words and language at a time of extraordinary change.

As they explore pressing issues—in politics, race, immigration, the environment, sustainability, and more—as well as offer good old-fashioned storytelling, festivalgoers will experience the camaraderie of books
and reading. All will go back into the world inspired.

Colum McCann, the celebrated Irish author of Let the Great World Spin, winner of the National Book Award, and the global bestseller Apeirogon, kicks off the festival Friday evening, May 19. Also featured during the long weekend of programming will be Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Candy House; John Irving, legendary author of The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules; Santa Fe’s own Michael McGarrity, author of the New York Times bestselling Kevin Kerney crime novels; Beth Macy, renowned journalist and author of Dopesick and Raising Lazarus; Denise Chávez, of Las Cruces, a fronteriza writer, activist, and author of The King and Queen of Comezón and Loving Pedro Infante; and others. The festival recently added “International” to its name, representing a desire to reflect the vast diversity of the world’s literary community.

The 2023 festival thus hosts an impressive list of international luminaries. In addition to McCann, they include:

• The Mexico-born Luis Alberto Urrea, acclaimed author of The Devil’s Highway
  and the soon-to-be-released Good Night, Irene.
• Moroccan author Laila Lalami, whose 2015 book, The Moor’s Account was a
  finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
• Bogotá, Colombia’s Ingrid Rojas Contreras, author of The Man Who Could Move
  Clouds, a 2022 National Book Award finalist.
• Zambian American writer Namwali Serpell, Harvard University professor and
  author of the award-winning books The Old Drift and The Furrows.
• Ed Yong, born in Malaysia, a Pulitzer Prize–winning science writer and author
  of I Contain Multitudes and An Immense World.

Other festival weekend highlights include these unique activities for New Mexico residents and visitors of all ages:

Community Stage and Lunch: During the Saturday and Sunday lunch hours, some of New Mexico’s most talented up-and-coming writers will perform on the festival’s Community Stage. Visitors can expect powerful slam poetry, music, riveting readings, and more. Food trucks will be on-site, and box lunches can be ordered in advance.

Remembering Rudolfo Anaya: At 2 p.m. Sunday, May 21, acclaimed authors Denise Chávez and Luis Alberto Urrea present “Recuerdos y Respeto: Homage to Rudolfo Anaya,”a tribute to the legacy of the late New Mexico author Rudolfo Anaya, the celebrated godfather of Chicano literature and recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Chávez and Urrea, whose writings and perspectives are deeply influenced by
Anaya, will share personal reminiscences of their friendship with the author, insights on his literary legacy, and select readings of his works.

For more information and for the full 2023 Santa Fe International Literary Festival program, go to www.SFinternationallitfest.org.

SFILF’s fiscal sponsor is the 501(c)(3) Fractured Atlas. The founding sponsor is the Gale Family Foundation. Other partners include the City of Santa Fe, The Santa Fe New Mexican, Collected Works Bookstore, and the Santa Fe Public Library.