Southwest Word Fiesta is proud to be a sponsor of WNMU’s Distinguished Speaker Event: “A Conversation between Michael McGarrity and Valerie Plame.” The event will be held on Thursday, April 6, at Light Hall, from 7-9 pm
Michael McGarrity is a New Mexican author and former law enforcement officer. As deputy sheriff of Santa Fe County he founded their sex crimes unit. In addition to law enforcement work, he has been an investigator and caseworker for the New Mexico Public Defender’s Office. He has taught at several colleges and universities as well, as the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy.
McGarrity’s crime novels take place in modern New Mexico, with law enforcement officer Kevin Kerney as the protagonist. The settings are vividly evoked and range from the Tularosa Basin and Lincoln County to Hermit’s Peak, although many take place in Santa Fe. Hard Country, Backlands, and The Last Ranch form a sweeping trilogy, tracing the Kerney family’s history in New Mexico from 1875 through the end of the Vietnam War. A groundbreaking prequel trilogy, all three books are set on the Tularosa Basin of south central New Mexico.
With the publication of Residue and Head Wounds, McGarrity concluded his Kevin Kerney crime novels. His newest outing, The Long Ago, is a spinoff to the series set in the mid-twentieth century. A standalone crime noir novel will follow.
In 2004 he received the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts — Literature. McGarrity has been nominated three times for the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Western Novel, as well as the Anthony Award for his debut novel, Tularosa.