The write stuff
As museum’s Author Festival grows, so do its benefits
Visitors to the Albuquerque Museum’s third annual Author Festival will able to meet twice as many writers this year. An estimated 50 New Mexico authors will attend the Saturday, Nov. 3, event at the museum. That’s more than double the number at last year’s event.
“We’re happy the museum has the room.
If we can find a way to do it, space-wise, we’ll grow next year,” said Joseph Badal, a festival steering committee member and a participating author.
On Saturday, the public can meet the authors and buy copies of their books. Part of the proceeds of the sales go to the museum’s educational programs.
On the same day, a number of the authors will give hourlong talks:
■ 10 a.m. Ana Pacheco will give a PowerPoint presentation titled “Remnants of Pueblos Past,” based on her recently published book “Pueblos of New Mexico.” The book contains archival photographs taken between 1866 and 1925.
■ 11 a.m. A panel of four authors will talk about “What It Takes to Get a Children’s Book Published.” Panelists are Nasario Garcia, Lisa Bear Goldman, Neecy Twinem and Ross Van Dusen.
■ Noon. Melody Groves will speak on “The Keys to Writing Western Fiction.”
■ 1 p.m. Anne Hillerman and David Morrell will talk on “Writing What Floats Your Boat.”
■ 2 p.m. Sarah Baker will discuss “The Twisted Road to Romance.”
Then at 3 p.m. there will be an awards ceremony for the winners of two writing contests — the David Morrell Prize for Fiction and the Anne Hillerman Prize for Non-Fiction.
A new festival element this year is a series of four writing workshops on Friday, Nov. 2, given by authors Badal, Dawn Wink, Sarah Lovett and Sherri Burr. (Deadline for workshop registration was Oct. 19.) The workshop presenters
will also sell their books on Saturday.
Badal has written a number of mysteries and thrillers. Wink wrote the novel “Meadowlark.” Lovett is the author of a popular thriller series featuring Dr. Sylvia Strange. Burr, Regents Professor Emerita of Law at the University of New Mexico, has written “Sum + Substance — Entertainment Law” and “A Short, Happy Guide to Financial Wellbeing.” And she is researching a narrative history with the working title “Aaron Burr’s Family of Color.”
Museum director Andrew Connors said the festival is an opportunity for the museum to celebrate writers and literature, which the art-and-history institution doesn’t normally feature.
“Writing is one of those great art forms that has contributed so richly to both the local artistic legacy and the documentation of regional history,” Connors said.
“While we rely on writers to take us to new places or help us re-examine our past, museums usually don’t do enough to capture these contributions … However, asking the writers to spend a day with us at the museum, sharing their imaginations, publications, research and manuscripts with the public provides a dynamic opportunity for greater understanding and appreciation of the art of words.
“We are honored that so many terrific writers from a broad range of genres are willing to meet and discuss their work with our museum visitors,” he added.
The festival is, in part, a fundraiser for the Albuquerque Museum Foundation.