Observations and Insights on the Nature of Things This monthly column features brief essays, poems, poetic micro essays and photography by Eve West Bessier, Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County, New Mexico. Look for a new post on the first of the month. Hope is Audacious Hope is a choicemade in a […]
Philip Connors has made not one career but two from “looking out.” Since 2002, Connors has spent five months of the year as a fire lookout in the Gila Wilderness, living in a 7 x 7 glass and steel cube fifty feet in the sky. In this occupation, his main task is to watch for the telltale string of smoke winding up the sky that signifies a forest fire. But his acute observations—his other “looking out”—have also powered his writing career. The possessor of an exquisite eye for detail, as […]
Christina Nealson was recognized by Mayor Simon Wheaton-Smith on May 26 as the new Poet Laureate of Silver City and Grant County. She is the latest honoree in a long line of distinguished poets beginning in 2012. Christina will serve from 2026-2028, and has exciting ideas to bring poetry into the community. Nealson is the author of five books and photographer of four. Her career in photojournalism has taken her to Africa, Central America, and throughout the west from Alaska to the tip of Baja. She has received numerous honors […]
Riders gather in Silver City to compete on steep climbs, high desert roads, and historic mountain routes.
SWWFSCID
Each spring, Silver City becomes the center of one of the most demanding cycling races in North America. The Tour of the Gila brings riders from across the United States and from around the world to compete on the roads of Grant County in southwest New Mexico, where mountains, high desert, and winding canyons create a course known for both its beauty and its difficulty. First held in 1987, the Tour of the Gila has grown into a major stage race on the American cycling calendar. Professional and amateur cyclists […]
by SWWFClose to home
Rolling coal is becoming a crisis in Silver City, but nobody’s talking about the permanent solution. At a recent town council meeting, three citizens from among the many who regularly protest at Silver Heights Boulevard and Swan Street complained that coal-rollers try to disrupt their events by emitting black clouds of sooty smoke from their diesel trucks. We’re all familiar with teenagers and young adults acting rebellious to upset the old fogeys. This case is unusual in that the old people are rebelling against the government, and the young people […]
ONE TRUE PODCAST
One True Podcast is back with a look at another Hemingway short story, an under-discussed gem from Winner Take Nothing. One of the weirdest works in his career, “Homage to Switzerland” is a Modernist experiment that tells a similar story three times, each one set in a different Swiss train station.
To walk us through this bizarre tale, we call on excellent Hemingway scholar and actual citizen of Switzerland, Boris Vejdovksy, professor at the University of Lausanne. Vejdovksy explains the story’s structure, its setting, its Modernist qualities, the way the iceberg principle functions in the story, and even its “Swiss-ness.”
Join us as we explore this fascinating triptych!
Christina Nealson was recognized by Mayor Simon Wheaton-Smith on May 26 as the new Poet Laureate of Silver City and Grant County. She is the latest honoree in a long line of distinguished poets beginning in 2012. Christina will serve from 2026-2028, and has exciting ideas to bring poetry into the community. Nealson is the author of five books and photographer of four. Her career in photojournalism has taken her to Africa, Central America, and throughout the west from Alaska to the tip of Baja. She has received numerous honors […]
Each spring, Silver City becomes the center of one of the most demanding cycling races in North America. The Tour of the Gila brings riders from across the United States and from around the world to compete on the roads of Grant County in southwest New Mexico, where mountains, high desert, and winding canyons create a course known for both its beauty and its difficulty. First held in 1987, the Tour of the Gila has grown into a major stage race on the American cycling calendar. Professional and amateur cyclists […]
Observations and Insights on the Nature of Things This monthly column features brief essays, poems, poetic micro essays and photography by Eve West Bessier, Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County, New Mexico. Look for a new post on the first of the month. Hope is Audacious Hope is a choicemade in a dark momentto open the blindsso that possibilitiesare made visible. Hope is not wishful thinking,or whimsy or self-indulgence. It is a blueprint for the futurethat requires […]
Rolling coal is becoming a crisis in Silver City, but nobody’s talking about the permanent solution. At a recent town council meeting, three citizens from among the many who regularly protest at Silver Heights Boulevard and Swan Street complained that coal-rollers try to disrupt their events by emitting black clouds of sooty smoke from their diesel trucks. We’re all familiar with teenagers and young adults acting rebellious to upset the old fogeys. This case is unusual in that the old […]
She began as a young woman who preferred mud to classrooms and notebooks to lectures. In 1960 she reached Gombe, a patch of Tanzanian forest above a long, silver lake, and sat almost motionless until wild chimpanzees stopped seeing her as a threat. Then came the observation that moved a line in human thought. She watched a chimp strip a twig and use it to fish termites from a mound. If a chimp could make a tool, she argued, the definition of “human” would need revision. In time she recorded […]
SWWF Bookshelf Spotlight
Award-winning author Charmayne Samuelson joins the SWWF Bookshelf with Poetry of the Clay: Poesía del Barro, a bilingual tribute to the master potters of Mata Ortiz. Winner of two major 2025 book awards!
Going Deeper: Deep POV for Writers
A Free Writing Workshop with E.J. Randolph
Join local author E.J. Randolph for a hands-on workshop on Deep POV—a powerful way to draw readers into your characters’ worlds. Saturday, June 7, 1:30–3 PM, Silver City.
Southwest Word Fiesta celebrates our Poet Laureate, Heather Frankland, featured twice in the September issue of Desert Exposure. We’re proud of Heather and grateful for the ongoing spotlight on poetry in Silver City and Grant County. Read and share the September issue. Your support keeps community arts thriving.
When the Swedish Academy announced that the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature would go to László Krasznahorkai, readers around the world nodded in recognition. For decades his name has carried the quiet gravity of a secret shared among those who love literature’s darker miracles. To read him is to step into sentences that stretch beyond reason, to feel the pulse of thought as it wrestles with chaos. The world has finally caught up to the man whose prose has long […]
ONE TRUE PODCAST
One True Podcast is back with a look at another Hemingway short story, an under-discussed gem from Winner Take Nothing. One of the weirdest works in his career, “Homage to Switzerland” is a Modernist experiment that tells a similar story three times, each one set in a different Swiss train station.
To walk us through this bizarre tale, we call on excellent Hemingway scholar and actual citizen of Switzerland, Boris Vejdovksy, professor at the University of Lausanne. Vejdovksy explains the story’s structure, its setting, its Modernist qualities, the way the iceberg principle functions in the story, and even its “Swiss-ness.”
Join us as we explore this fascinating triptych!
Philip Connors has made not one career but two from “looking out.” Since 2002, Connors has spent five months of the year as a fire lookout in the Gila Wilderness, living in a 7 x 7 glass and steel cube fifty feet in the sky. In this occupation, his main task is to watch for […]
When the Swedish Academy announced that the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature would go to László Krasznahorkai, readers around the world nodded in recognition. For decades his name has carried the quiet gravity of a secret shared among those who love literature’s darker miracles. To read him is to step into sentences that stretch beyond reason, to feel the pulse […]
ONE TRUE SENTENCE #32 WITH TIM O’BRIEN
Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried, Dad’s Maybe Book, and America Fantastica, shares his one true sentence from The Sun Also Rises. Toward the end of the episode, we also reflect on Tim’s riveting speech at Dominican University during the 2016 Hemingway Society conference in Oak Park, Illinois.
Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry, consisting of three lines with a syllable count of 5-7-5 and inspired by nature. Fill out the submission form with your name, email, and text of the poem, making sure it is well-written and formatted. Your haiku will be reviewed and, if accepted, added to the Haiku section of the website for all to enjoy.
News from Light Art Space
Observations and Insights on the Nature of Things This monthly column features brief essays, poems, poetic micro essays and photography by Eve West Bessier, Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County, New Mexico. Look for a new post every first Friday. Freshwater – Past – Continuity There’s a freshwater lakebeneathWhite […]
Observations and Insights on the Nature of Things This monthly column features brief essays, poems, poetic micro essays and photography by Eve West Bessier, Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County, New Mexico. Look for a new post every first Friday. Language Moves Through My Life Like a Dance Inspired […]
by SWWF
John Enright, a poet and participant in the 2023 Southwest Word Fiesta, passed away on Tuesday after a long illness. He will be missed by our community. What follows is an obituary John wrote for himself, likely many years ago. It is shared here as written, in his own voice. One of […]
by SWWF
Join the Silver City Public Library, Bayard Public Library, and Grant County Poet Laureate Heather Frankland for a winter poetry challenge. Pick up a poetry bingo card, attend free workshops, and enter prize drawings while exploring poetry inspired by art, love, and friendship.
Observations and Insights on the Nature of Things This monthly column features brief essays, poems, poetic micro essays and photography by Eve West Bessier, Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County, New Mexico. Look for a new post every first Friday. A poem in the lapsing twelve days of Christmas […]
by JJ
Philip Connors has made not one career but two from “looking out.” Since 2002, Connors has spent five months of the year as a fire lookout in the Gila Wilderness, living in a 7 x 7 glass and steel cube fifty feet in the sky. In this occupation, his main task is […]
Upright once again
Petaled burden dropped to earth
Fertile ground beneath
Marilyn Alcorn
Evacuation
a time for hurried leaving
beats alternatives
T. A. nIles
My footsteps defile
the creamy-white sand, so smooth,
like new-fallen snow.
Joni Kay Rose
Cat feet my foot! Slow,
but relentless, the fog comes
like a steamroller.
Joni Kay Rose
(July 21,1899- July 2, 1961)
A literary lion, some say, others portray him as an author who had an understated style perhaps too economical. But we admit he had a strong impact on the writers of fiction of the last century and even today.. He was probably best known for his seven works of fiction: The Sun […]
John Enright, a poet and participant in the 2023 Southwest Word Fiesta, passed away on Tuesday after a long illness. He will be missed by our community. What follows is an obituary John wrote for himself, likely many years ago. It is shared here as written, in his own voice. One of […]
Every day I drive the same highway to get into town. I have driven this route thousands of times and is my daily commute. I am lucky, I live in a small rural Southwest community nestled in the foothills of the Gila Wilderness. My commute is a beautiful drive through wild country […]
Words in a Wire
Words on a Wire is a radio show about fiction, poetry, the writing community, and whatever other issues concern literary writers and readers of books. Hosted by Daniel Chacón and Tim Z. Hernandez. Originally broadcasted on www.ktep.org Write to us
Poetry Centered Podcast
Poetry Centered features curated selections from Voca, the University of Arizona Poetry Center’s online audiovisual archive.
Mysteries to Die For
Hey, check it out – the newest episode of the “Mysteries to Die For” podcast is available! Ed Teja’s Mystery story, “The Death That Jack Died,” is in the spotlight. Don’t wait, tune in now.
Southwest Word Fiesta celebrates our Poet Laureate, Heather Frankland, featured twice in the September issue of Desert Exposure. We’re proud of Heather and grateful for the ongoing spotlight on poetry in Silver City and Grant County. Read and share the September issue. Your support keeps community arts thriving.
Poetry Centered Podcast
Poetry Centered features curated selections from Voca, the University of Arizona Poetry Center’s online audiovisual archive.
up in the gray sky
a raindrop prepares to be
part of the parade
Beate Sigriddaughter
Hibiscus flower
takes me south of the border
for a day or two
Cheryl Howard
Dharma hummingbirds
Alight on ponderosa
Resting on the way
Nicholas Varner
We love to relax
with a fine book we love now
and enjoy a cup
Ted Presler
(July 21,1899- July 2, 1961)
A literary lion, some say, others portray him as an author who had an understated style perhaps too economical. But we admit he had a strong impact on the writers of fiction of the last century and even today.. He was probably best known for his seven works of fiction: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, To Have […]
Mysteries to Die For
Hey, check it out – the newest episode of the “Mysteries to Die For” podcast is available! Ed Teja’s mystery story, “The Death That Jack Died,” is in the spotlight. Don’t wait, tune in now
Words in a Wire
A literary radio show hosted by Daniel Chacón and Tim Z. Hernandez covering fiction, poetry, the writing community and more.