Dear Festival Friends,

Santa Fe’s eastern horizon is glowing as the forests that blanket our mountains turn to brilliant yellows, golds, and reds. Like an aspen grove gathering strength to prepare for the months ahead, our team has been busy drawing together a phenomenal lineup of authors for our 2027 Festival.

We’ve designed a rich and inspiring experience for next May, with a network of writers hailing from Tombstone and Tasmania, Iceland and the Navajo Nation, London and New York and Jamaica.

We hope you’ll be as excited about our 2027 author lineup as we are!

2027 AUTHOR LINEUP

In May we announced that Billy Collins, Hernan Diaz, Roxane Gay, Stephen Graham Jones, Lily King, and Min Jin Lee will be appearing at next year’s Festival. Now please join us in welcoming:

Joyce Carol Oates, National Book Award–winning author and recipient of the National Humanities Medal

Ben Rhodes, writer, political commentator, and national security analyst, who will be in conversation with Mara Liasson, NPR political correspondent

Patti Smith, singer, songwriter, poet, author, visual artist, and the Godmother of Punk

Ana Castillo and Jennifer Givhan, iconic, award-winning writers who have defined and continue to redefine Chicana literature

Richard Flanagan, the only living writer to have won both the Booker Prize for fiction and the Baillie Gifford for nonfiction

Marlon James, winner of the Booker Prize in 2014 and short-listed for the 2026 Booker for The Disappearers, in conversation with curator and author Ekow Eshun

Andri Snær Magnason, Icelandic poet and filmmaker, in conversation with New Mexico journalist Alicia Inez Guzmán

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan and Lee Chia-Ying with unique insights on contemporary Asian fiction

CORMAC McCARTHY PANEL
featuring Laurence Gonzales, Sebastian Junger, Stacey Peebles, and Dianne Luce

NEW MEXICO ARTISTS PANEL
featuring Nancy Foley, Elizabeth Barr Bryant, Lesley Poling-Kempes, and Carmella Padilla

NUCLEAR NUEVO MEXICO PANEL
featuring Myrriah Gomez, Tina Cordova, and Clayton Dalton

SHORT STORY PANEL
featuring Lori Ostlund, Jared Lemus, and Andrew Porter

WITTER BYNNER FOUNDATION FOR POETRY PANEL
featuring Logan Phillips, Sherwin Bitsui, and Paisley Rekdal

And that’s not all! Please see our website for complete author and moderator bios.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, October 23, 7:00 p.m.: If you’ll be in New York, don’t miss the special weeklong theatrical run of the film First We Bombed New Mexico: The Aftermath, playing through Saturday, October 31, at the Village East by Angelika. The documentary follows Festival panelist Tina Cordova’s advocacy for New Mexico Downwinders, with this new release capturing their recent fight to secure federal recognition and compensation. Tickets are available here. 181-189 2nd Ave, New York

Friday, October 30, 12:00 noon–1:00 p.m.: We are proud to partner with NMRLI and Moise Memorial Library, in Santa Rosa, for a celebration of the life and legacy of Rudolfo Anaya, author of Bless Me, Ultima. The event will feature readings of Anaya’s work and SFILF’s donation of more than 100 Anaya books to the library and NMRLI. A longtime patron of the Moise Memorial Library, which displays his desk and typewriter, Anaya said that a library is “a place where love begins.” 208 S. Fifth St., Santa Rosa

Wednesday, November 11, 4:00 p.m.: Join us for a virtual event with author Liz Moore! All donors of $100 or more will be invited to attend this special talk with Moore and editor Kyle Tibbs Jones.

2026 ANNUAL REPORT

As we prepare for our next Festival, we’re still celebrating the unforgettable times we shared last spring. Read our 2026 Annual Report for a look back at the highlights.

SAVE THE DATE

Sunday, November 15: The full 2027 Santa Fe International Literary Festival Schedule will be released!

Monday, January 25, 7:00 a.m. MST: Tickets go on sale! This is your chance to grab tickets for the 2027 Festival—we’ve retired early-bird access this year to give our entire community equal opportunity to attend.

Board of Directors
Edward Gale, Chair

Janet Bailey | Hakim Bellamy
Juliet Erickson | Andrea Fellows Fineberg
Jenny Kimball | James McGrath Morris

Carmella Padilla | Jenna Skinner Scanlan

Mary Sloane | Deborah Jackson Taffa

Maria Gale, Ex Officio

Founders
Clare Hertel | Carmella Padilla | Mark Bryant