For the Press
Our press kit includes fonts, images, color values, and guidance for using our logos. The kit is a 20.5 MB zip file, and can be downloaded here: https://swwordfiesta.org/downloads/SWFestivalPresskit.zip Thank you for your interest! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!
Press Releases
September 18, 2013: “It’s time to launch the first Southwest Festival of the Written Word! The JW Art Gallery at 99 Cortez Ave. Hurley, NM, presents the Kick-off Event for the Southwest Festival of the Written Word on Thursday, September 26, from 6:00- 9:00pm. The celebration is open to the public at no charge. Refreshments will be served…”
Download in Word format: News release 18 September 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 18 September 2013
September 2, 2013: “Sharman Apt Russell lives and writes in Silver City NM and says of herself, “I am pleased to be considered in the book world as a nature/science writer. At the same time, I have relied on Joseph Campbell’s advice to follow my bliss.” At the Southwest Festival of the Written Word in downtown Silver City, September 27-29, Sharman will relate where this journey has taken her in her life and her writing…”
Download in Word format: News release 2 September 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 2 September 2013
August 27, 2013: “Joining the more than 50 southwest writers and publishing experts gathering in 30 sessions at the Southwest Festival of the Written Word, September 27-29 in Silver City NM are Ann Lane Hedlund and Michael P. Berman. They are two writers who create notable works of art as they fashion their intriguing and well-researched non-fiction books–most recently, Gloria F. Ross and Modern Tapestry, by Hedlund, and Gila: Radical Visions, the Enduring Silence by Berman…”
Download in Word format: News release 27 August 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 27 August 2013
August 15, 2013: “On September 28, 2013, Ana Castillo, award winning novelist, poet, essayist and playwright, will offer a Memoir Writing Workshop at the Southwest Festival of the Written Word in Silver City NM. Castillo teaches memoir writing at Northwestern University and at workshops around the country, most recently in Taos, NM. Her Silver City course will be held at Bear Mountain Lodge. The cost is $125 and enrollment is limited…”
Download in Word format: News release 15 August 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 15 August 2013
August 7, 2013: “The Southwest Festival of the Written Word, September 27-29 in downtown Silver City NM, is the place to learn about the agonies and ecstasies of writing in just about any literary genre. On September 29th, Jim Kelly, Ron Hamm, and Elan Head will discuss their writing lives and experiences at the Festival panel, ‘Winging it or swinging it: How to survive as a freelancer.’ ”
Download in Word format: News release 7 August 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 7 August 2013
August 5, 2013: “Mark Lee Gardner and M.H. Dutch Salmon…are well-known, multi-faceted authors of southwestern history and non-fiction who will participate in separate Festival events on Sept 27, 2013– Gardner on the panel, ‘Making history: The art of historical writing’; Salmon on the panel ‘Books, Nooks, and Hooks: How the publishing industry is changing.’ ”
Download in Word format: News release 5 August 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 5 August 2013
July 29, 2013, Travel Writers: “The Southwest Festival of the Written Word invites you to pull up a chair at the Festival on Saturday, September 28, and listen while three intrepid southwestern traveler-writers discuss the art of Travel Writing. Richard Mahler, Esther Melvin, and Elan Head, each with their own style of authoring, bring stories of adventure and writing practice to Silver City New Mexico’s first literary festival…”
Download in Word format: News release 29 July 2013-Travel
Download in PDF format: News release 29 July 2013-Travel
July 29, 2013: “The New Mexico Humanities Council has announced financial support for the Southwest Festival of the Written Word, downtown Silver City’s first literary festival, September 27-29. The Council, which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, is underwriting five festival sessions that are woven together by the theme ‘To Write – Defining a Region’… ”
Download in Word format: News release 29 July 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 29 July 2013
July 22, 2013: “Three prolific and entertaining Southwest mystery writers-Steve Havill, Susan Cummins Miller, and Jonathan Miller-will come together at the Southwest Festival of the Written Word on Saturday, September 28 in Silver City, New Mexico to discuss the craft of writing mystery series…”
Download in Word format: News release 22 July 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 22 July 2013
July 15, 2013: “Ana Castillo, an award winning poet, novelist, essayist, editor, playwright and translator, will teach a Memoir Writing workshop, at the Southwest Festival of the Written Word in Silver City NM on Saturday, September 28th…”
Download in Word format: News release 15 July 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 15 July 2013
July 8, 2013: Call for Vendors
Download in Word format: News release 08 July 2013-Vendors
Download in PDF format: News release 08 July 2013-Vendors
July 8, 2013: “The Southwest Festival of the Written Word, downtown Silver City NM’s first literary festival, will take place Friday September 27-Sunday September 29. The theme of the Festival is “Textures y Sabores”, reports Jeannie Miller, public information chair of the Festival…”
Download in Word format: News release 08 July 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 08 July 2013
May 21, 2013: “Western New Mexico University has become a major sponsor of Silver City’s first literary festival…”
Download in Word format:News release 21 May 2013
Download in PDF format: News release 21 May 2013
In the News
“The Mimbres Region Arts Council, in conjunction with the Southwest Festival of the Written Word, and in partnership with Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL) and WNMU, is pleased to feature Mark Medoff in the first lecture of the 2013-2014 Artist Lecture Series at 10 a.m. on Sept. 28 at the Silco Theatre…”
“Make way, Blues and Clay! Silver City’s got a new festival coming to town. Several years in the planning and making, the Southwest Festival of the Written Word will bring together all the elements that Southwest New Mexico locals have come to look for in a downtown special event — fanfare, food and music, for sure. But those will just be the ‘side men,’ so to speak, rounding out the new festival’s focus on the written word…”
Desert Exposure, September 2013
“Western New Mexico University has become the major sponsor of Silver City’s first literary festival, scheduled for Sept. 27-29. A pre-festival performance of the one-man play ‘Tuck,’ followed by a reception, will take place Sept. 26 at Hurley’s JW Art Gallery. Fifty authors or other publishing professionals have agreed to speak in 30 sessions….”
Silver City Sun-News Community Notices, September 5, 2013
“Brook Forest Voices (BFV) audiobook producer and publisher will be exhibiting at the Southwest Festival of the Written Word in Silver City, NM August 27-29. As part of their participation BFV will present ‘Audiobooks and Enhanced eBooks’ for authors interested in learning about digital technology, focusing on audiobook production and publishing…”
“Early September Events Announced for Southwest Festival of the Written Word”
“Two Silver City events each received grant funding from the New Mexico Humanities Council. The Southwest Festival of the Written Word, a first year event to be held in September, and the longtime festival, the 9th Annual Gila River Festival, each received $2,000 in mini-grants from the Council. ‘To Write-Defining a Region,’ the Southwest Festival of the Written Word, will be held September 27 to 29 in historic downtown Silver City. Five panels will explore Southern New Mexico’s literary heritage…”
“Ted Pressler gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Southwest Festival of the Written Word, slated for Sept. 27-29. ‘We have a lot of successful festivals here. This will be the first literary/book festival.’
“He said the vision of the board of director is based on five words: power, celebrate, beauty, rich diversity and culture. The event will be dedicated to Gene Simon, a journalist from the East, who lived in the Mimbres for many years.
“Pressler said the event would include readings, music, dancers, journalists, bloggers, fun and games, and interaction. The board members hope to have 1,200 visitors.
” ‘We want to promote the Silver City literary heritage, promote reading for everyone and promote local writers,’ Pressler said. ‘We hope to have children’s workshops. Venues will be throughout the downtown up to the university. We have invited 50 authors and we will have panels for three days, as well as workshops.’ ”
“In the Reports portion of the Town Council Meeting prior to the Audit Report, Ted Pressler presented the Council with plans for the Southwest Festival of the Written Word. The festival is to take place in Silver City from Sept. 27 through Sept. 29, 2013, and will be the first literary festival in the area, celebrating the power and beauty of the written word. The group is collaborating with the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL), Western New Mexico University (WNMU), Silver City’s Arts and Cultural District, the Silver City Museum and the Silver City Public Library. Their intent is to promote the literary heritage of Silver City and to attract visitors to Silver City’s historic downtown.”
“A dedicated group of local people has been working hard for nearly three years to bring recognition to the writing talent of the Southwest in general and Silver City in particular. Their plans will come to fruition in September with a three-day festival.
“The Southwest Festival of the Written Word will run from Sept 27-29, with more than 50 published writers participating in panels, presentations, workshops and readings, according to Tom Hester, who is chairing the group that is organizing the event…”
Silver City Sun-News, 2/1/2013
“Southwestern New Mexicans can participate in a day-long workshop with one of New Mexico’s best writers, Steve Havill, according to Jeannie Miller, workshop coordinator for the Southwest Festival of the Written Word, sponsor of the Havill event.
“The workshop, a fundraiser for Silver City’s book festival slated for the last weekend in September, will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Bear Mountain Lodge…”
“The Southwest Festival of the Written Word is hosting a hands-on writing workshop for all types and levels of writers at the Bear Mountain Lodge. Steve Havill has very generously donated his time to teach writing and support the Southwest Festival of the Written Word.”
Silver City Public Library blog, 1/15/2013
“Apparently a lot of people in the Silver City area take their writing to heart in a big way. A growing number of organized writing groups, each with its own purpose and its own direction, are meeting regularly in schools, homes and coffee shops…
“[Ted] Presler has been involved in a number of writing groups, including WILL writing course groups. He’s also on the steering committee for the Southwest Festival of the Written Word (SWFWW), which has been working to bring writing-related events to Silver City.
” ‘We’re all really excited about this Feb. 8 workshop being jointly sponsored by WILL and SWFWW,’ he says. ‘It’s called “Fruitful Questions: Generating writing,” and is being conducted by Sharman Apt Russell, an award-winning author and creative writing prof at Western.’ (See Southwest Storylines, August 2008.)…”
Desert Exposure, “Put It In Writing,” February 2012
“Jim Kelley [sic] of the Southwest Festival for the Written Word said Silver City was known throughout the great southwest and beyond as a city where arts and culture were encouraged and supported. He and other supporters requested the Council to endorse the establishment and endorsement of the post of Silver City’s Poet Laureate. He further requested that they endorse the efforts of the steering committee for the Southwest Festival of the Written Word to establish the selection process for and the duties of the Poet Laureate post…Councilor Bettison made a motion to endorse the Southwest Festival for the Written Word’s creation of a Poet Laureate position for the Town of Silver City with the understanding that the steering committee would work with the Town to ensure that it would be an open and transparent process. Councilor Thomson seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.”
Minutes of Silver City Town Council Meeting, September 23, 2011