The “book” festival friends didn’t want a book festival, although in conversation every one of us says “book” festival because “word” festival sounds kind of snooty. Some of us have visited the Tucson Book Festival, a major event in which major publishers and major authors take up major space. The Border Festival of Mesilla, however, inspired us to think about community. Border’s guest authors spend time visiting schools and rubbing elbows with local folks as well as reading on stage. Denise Chavez, the mainspring of the Border Festival, keeps the emphasis on all the borders that great literature crosses. We want to do the same, and by stressing the power of words–spoken or read, on paper or in performance — we hope to make Silver City’s festival a unique addition to what has become an industrial cliche in other places.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Southwest Word Fiesta™ or its steering committee.
Enriching Life Through Learning in Community
We respectfully acknowledge that the entirety of southwestern New Mexico is the traditional territory, since time immemorial, of the Chis-Nde, also known as the people of the Chiricahua Apache Nation. The Chiricahua Apache Nation is recognized as a sovereign Native Nation by the United States in the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Friendship of 1 July 1852 (10 Stat. 979) (Treaty of Santa Fe ratified 23 March 1853 and proclaimed by President Franklin Pierce 25 March 1853).
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Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University is a traditional academic press that welcomes agented and unagented submissions in the following genres: literary fiction, creative non-fiction, essays, memoir, poetry, children’s books, historical fiction, and academic books. We are particularly interested in academic work and commercial work with a strong social message, including but not limited to works of history, reportage, biography, anthropology, culture, human rights, and the natural world. We will also consider selective works of national and global significance.