Dear Festival Friends,

Happy new year! We wish you a healthy and peaceful 2026, filled with lots of great books—and at least one literary festival.

To that end, we’re delighted to announce that Early Bird tickets for our May 15–17 event go on sale Tuesday, January 20, at 7:00 a.m. MST. If you’ve donated $100 or more to the Festival (😘), you will receive an email on January 19 with instructions on how to purchase these tickets.

Tickets go on sale to the general public Monday, January 26, at 7:00 a.m. MST. To help you plan, please check out our Festival schedule.

More News from the Festival Universe

Congratulations to our 2026 Festival authors who landed on multiple best-of-2025 lists. If you haven’t yet read these amazing books, this is your friendly reminder to get on it.

Spent, by Alison Bechdel (The New Yorker, Kirkus Reviews, Chicago Public Library)

They Poisoned the World, by Mariah Blake (The Washington Post, Scientific American)

Murderland, by Caroline Fraser (The New Yorker, NPR, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York, Kirkus Reviews, LitHub)

Startlement, by Ada Limón (The New York Times, BookRiot)

The Emperor of Gladness, by Ocean Vuong (The New Yorker, NPR, Time, The Christian Science Monitor, Kirkus Reviews, People, USA Today, Chicago Public Library)

It’s not too early to think about Valentine’s Day! Please join Festival authors Roshi Joan Halifax and Henry Shukman for “Sitting with Original Love,” an exploration of how love can inform even the most ordinary moments, February 13–15 at Santa Fe’s Upaya Zen Center. If you can’t make it in person, you can tune in remotely.

Earlier this month, Festival author and National Book Award finalist Deborah Jackson Taffa interviewed fellow Festival author Julian Brave NoiseCat at an event we co-hosted with Santa Fe’s Collected Works Bookstore. They discussed NoiseCat’s acclaimed new memoir, We Survived the Night, his Oscar-nominated documentary, Sugarcane, Taffa’s upcoming sequel to her memoir Whiskey Tender, and more. Click here for their conversation.

Check out this interview with 2026 Festival author Kirk Ellis, whose new book, They Kill People: Bonnie and Clyde, a Hollywood Revolution, and America’s Obsession with Guns and Outlaws, comes out February 3.  

Tickets are still available for “A Word with Writers,” featuring Erik Larson in conversation with Santa Fe’s own Hampton Sides, on March 26 at the historic KiMo Theatre at 423 Central Ave. NW in Albuquerque. This event, sponsored by Bookworks and the Albuquerque Public Library Foundation, in partnership with the Festival, celebrates the paperback release of Larson’s book The Demon of Unrest and is presented in collaboration with AMP Concerts. Admission includes a paperback copy of The Demon of Unrest and a donation to the Albuquerque Public Library Foundation. Click here for information.

Calling all teachers! Applications are now being accepted for National Book Foundation Teacher Fellowships, which support teachers in grades 6–12 who use innovative ways to encourage their students to read. Click here to learn more and to apply.

FESTIVAL TICKET INFO

Tuesday, January 20, 7:00 a.m.
EARLY BIRD TICKETS GO ON SALE

Monday, January 26, 7:00 a.m.
GENERAL PUBLIC TICKETS GO ON SALE

There are various types of tickets and codes which are being issued at the time of writing, including Pre-Sales, Donor Benefits, Early Birds, and Free Community Tickets; these will be processed before public tickets go on sale. If you fall into any of the ticketed categories below, you will be receiving (or may have already received) automatic emails as noted below.

Here are all the details:

1. Pre-Sale Weekend Bundle Holders
(Tickets purchased at the Festival in May 2025)
You should have received an email from:

2026 Santa Fe International Literary Festival <noreply@redziaevents.com>

• If you have not received your confirmation, please email tickets@sfinternationallitfest.org

2. Donor Benefit Tickets
(All donors of $1000 or more) 

You will receive 2 emails from:

2026 Santa Fe International Literary Festival <noreply@redziaevents.com>

• #1 - Subject: Order Confirmation: 2026 Santa Fe International Literary Festival - with a link to Self-Service Ticket Management; please register for your concurrent sessions there or call us if you need assistance.

• #2 - Subject: Tickets: 2026 Santa Fe International Literary Festival.

3. Early Birds
(All donors of $100 or more)
You will receive an email on January 19 with instructions on how to access and purchase tickets starting January 20 at 7 a.m. MST, before they go on sale to the general public.

4. Free Community Tickets
(Librarians, Students, Teachers, and New Mexico Residents Facing Financial Hardship)
If you have already registered, you will receive your ticket(s) automatically. If you would like to be added to a waitlist, please head to our Free Ticket Request Form and let us know your preferences.

Any questions? Please email tickets@sfinternationallitfest.org or call us on (505) 575-6777.

THANK YOU!

Board of Directors
Edward Gale, Chair

Janet Bailey | Jenny Kimball

James McGrath Morris | Carmella Padilla

Jenna Scanlan | Mary Sloane

Maria Gale, Ex Officio

Founders
Clare Hertel | Carmella Padilla | Mark Bryant