The Santa Fe International Literary Festival will take place May 17–19, 2024, bringing together world-renowned authors, thinkers, and passionate readers to celebrate the power of story in a city known throughout the world for its beauty, history, and artistic inspiration.
The three-day festival features big-stage presentations, intimate conversations, and walking tours with literary heroes from near and far. In all, more than thirty Festival events will take place over the weekend at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, in Santa Fe’s historic downtown.
Opening the Festival on Friday evening, May 17, will be Jesmyn Ward, MacArthur “genius” grant recipient, two-time National Book Award winner, and author of Let Us Descend, an Oprah’s Book Club pick. Also featured during the long weekend of programming will be the legendary Julia Alvarez, recipient of the National Medal of Arts; the beloved Anne Lamott; literary superstar Anthony Doerr, a Pulitzer Prize winner for All the Light We Cannot See, which was made into a miniseries this year; Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer of Robert Oppenheimer; Javier Zamora, author of the harrowing memoir Solito; celebrated author David Grann, whose Killers of the Flower Moon was made into an acclaimed Martin Scorsese film last year; Pulitzer finalist Tommy Orange; and Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Tracy K. Smith, to name just a few.
Rich in cultural diversity and creativity, including a literary tradition that stretches back centuries, the beautiful, maverick city of Santa Fe is a perfect host for the Festival. At a time of extraordinary change, when the world seems so convulsed by conflict and intolerance, authors and readers from around the world and close to home come together for three remarkable days to explore a range of issues—in politics, social and racial justice, race, the environment, and much more. We believe the Santa Fe International Literary Festival is an important light against the dark, where words, ideas, and stories capture the experience of being alive in the world, where our sense of community is strengthened, and where our shared humanity is recognized and celebrated.
Walk-and-Talks and Spirit Tastings: Small groups of festivalgoers, along with celebrated authors, stretch their legs and their minds during morning meditations, walking tours, and other literary-themed activities. This year, these will include a Spirit Tasting at Los Poblanos’ Farm Shop Norte with James Beard Award winner Cheryl Alters Jamison to explore botanical spirits. A group will visit Kakawa Chocolate House to taste and discuss artisanal chocolate and some of the original Mesoamerican, European, and colonial chocolate traditions. A visit to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum to tour the museum and hear about the artist’s extensive library and regular salons with famous writers will sell out quickly. Other Walk-and-Talks will give guests a peek into what makes Santa Fe so special.
Community Events and Literary Day Trips: On the Wednesday and Thursday before the Festival and the Monday after, enjoy numerous book signings and literary events around town. Festivalgoers will also have a chance to experience northern New Mexico during small-group full- and half-day excursions with authors exploring their favorite topics while touring cultural treasures and spectacular landscapes. The full schedule is listed on the Festival website.
SFILF Young Writers & Readers: The Santa Fe International Literary Festival’s pilot program partners with local schools and nonprofit organizations to inspire our community’s youngest writers tell their stories. We are also collaborating with local literacy nonprofits that provide free tutoring for adults in reading, writing, and speaking English. Their experience tells us that 46 percent of New Mexicans read at or below a seventh-grade level, severely impacting opportunities for employment and other areas of life. We want to help change that by spotlighting the power of story at the Festival.
