Dear Festival Friends,

Hello from Santa Fe, where crisp autumn mornings have officially arrived. We hope this finds you well, wherever you call home, and that you spent the dog days reading the stack of books by your bedside or queued on your tablet, savoring the longer hours of the season to indulge in those novels, essay collections, or poetry chapbooks.

2027 AUTHOR LINEUP

Just when you thought you had reached the bottom of your pile, our team is thrilled to share some of the authors from around the world who will be in conversation at the 2027 Santa Fe International Literary Festival, taking place May 14–16. We’re assembling a whole new cache of books for you to read. Build your stack to include these bestselling and critically acclaimed SFILF 2027 authors:

• Billy Collins, U.S. poet laureate from 2001 to 2003 and author of twenty books including Dog Show (2025), Questions About Angels (1991), and The Apple That Astonished Paris (1988).

• Hernan Diaz, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Trust (2022) and author of In the Distance (2017) and the futuristic thriller Ply, which goes on sale today.

• Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, Hunger, and Difficult Women and editor of The Portable Feminist Reader (2025).

• Stephen Graham Jones, author of horror novels including The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (2025), My Heart Is a Chainsaw (2021), The Only Good Indians (2020), and its highly anticipated sequel, Off the Reservation (October 2026).

• Lily King, acclaimed author of the instant New York Times bestseller Heart the Lover (2025) and the bestselling novels Euphoria (2014) and Writers & Lovers (2020).

• Min Jin Lee, author of Free Food for Millionaires (2007), Pachinko (2017), and the third novel in her Korean quartet, American Hagwon, also hitting bookstores today.

TICKETS GO ON SALE JANUARY 25

As the evenings get chillier, snuggle in and prepare to be transported, inspired, and informed by the amazing works from our 2027 authors. From place-based biographies to political speeches, historical nonfiction to poetry and experimental horror fiction, there really are “never enough books.” We’ve got something for all of you in this incredible selection of award-winning authors who will join the Festival in May, together celebrating the power of story to connect us. We’re excited to share more Festival authors with you soon, when we announce the entire lineup in mid-October.

FESTIVAL TEAM NEWS

Adiós and gracias to Laura Hohnhold, an integral member of the Festival since its inception, who is now moving on to other projects. “Laura’s signature wisdom and vision played a critical role in the Festival’s rapid growth and early success,” says SFILF Executive Director Megan Mulry. “We are deeply grateful for her contributions and will miss her collaboration as well as the wit she brought to the Festival newsletter.”

Bienvenidas to two new members of our Festival family, Adelma Aurora Hnasko and Georgina Godwin, who join the team as author consultants. They will work with the Festival’s leadership to assemble distinctive author lineups, drawing from celebrated literary talent in New Mexico and around the world. 

Hnasko, who lives in Santa Fe, will also write the Festival’s email newsletter. An educational anthropologist, educator, and writer, she focuses her work on youth, creativity, and community-based learning, collaborating with schools, nonprofits, and arts organizations. Hnasko founded and co-directed Resolana Farms, a creative retreat space. Her first book, Resolana: A New Mexico Family’s Memoir of Place, will be published by the University of New Mexico Press in February.

Godwin, who is based in London, is a broadcast journalist and host of the in-depth author interview program Meet the Writers and the award-winning current affairs show The Globalist, both on Monocle Radio. She chairs literary events worldwide and has been a judge for several prestigious writing prizes. She was a founding member of Zimbabwe’s first independent radio station before being declared an “enemy of the state” and exiled from her home. Godwin is on the board of English PEN and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

As you may have spotted in a recent edition of the Santa Fe New Mexican, there’s a new Fab 4 in town: SFILF has four incredible new board members, including authors, educators, and community builders: Hakim Bellamy, Deborah Jackson Taffa, Juliet Erickson, and Andrea Fellows Fineberg.

Finally, SFILF was featured in this touching article by Charley Burlock in Oprah Daily. 

SAVE THE DATES

There are a lot of great events coming up that revolve around books, writers, and our community:

Saturday and Sunday, October 3–4, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.: We look forward to celebrating Banned Books Week this weekend with St. John’s College. SJC is inviting every high school student in the Santa Fe area to choose a classic paperback to take home for free during Santa Fe Reads, a community celebration of books, ideas, and intellectual curiosity taking place at the BookMark, on the SJC campus. The weekend will also place special emphasis on one of New Mexico’s most celebrated—and frequently challenged—works of literature: Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. On October 3 at 4:00 p.m., SJC will host a community tribute to Anaya and his landmark novel, featuring SJC President J. Walter Sterling; author, editor, and SFILF co-founder Carmella Padilla, who wrote the afterword to the latest edition of Bless Me, Ultima; broadcast journalist and content creator Jeremy Jojola; and New Mexico elected officials and community leaders. 1160 Camino de Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe 

Saturday, October 3, 7:30 p.m.: Join us at the Lensic Performing Arts Center for An Evening with Hampton Sides, presented in association with Collected Works, as we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the publication of his Kit Carson historical epic Blood and Thunder. 211 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe

Wednesday, October 14, 4:30 p.m.: Join us for a free community reception at TOKo Santa Fe, where we will announce the full 2027 lineup before it is released to the press. We will also answer any questions you might have about the 2027 Festival. 101 W. Marcy St., Santa Fe

Friday, October 16, 7:00 p.m.: Join us at the New Mexico Museum of Art’s St. Francis Auditorium for a community book event with author and peace builder Aziz Abu Sarah—moderated by Ambassador Deborah Jones—about his critically acclaimed book The Future Is Peace, which explores how shared grief can become a foundation for dialogue and healing rather than hatred. Presented by Tomorrow’s Women, in partnership with Collected Works Bookstore, Global Santa Fe, and the Santa Fe Public Library. 107 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe

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