SFILF Young Writers and Readers
Engaging Youth in the Power of Story
In a world of nonstop information and conversation, finding one’s voice can feel daunting, especially for youth. Yet storytelling is a direct path to the power of words and ideas, a way to feel heard and seen in the meandering journey of life.
The Santa Fe International Literary Festival’s Young Writers and Readers program engages our community’s young writers and readers in the educational, life-affirming experience of books, language, and literacy. Our partnerships with the Santa Fe Public Library, local schools, and nonprofits empower youth to imagine and write their own stories and to revel in the works and worlds of other writers. Our ultimate hope is to provide the tools to inspire youth in a love of reading and a passion for writing.
LITERARY = LITERACY
The Festival itself is an educational offering, a multicultural experience where literary = literacy. We strive to create and support diverse Festival experiences that promote storytelling, reading, and writing. Festival highlights have included:
The SFILF Community Stage: A platform for young writers, poets, and other performers to share their stories with free readings enjoyed by Festivalgoers and others from throughout the community.
Narrative 4: A collaboration with internationally acclaimed author and past Festival headliner Colum McCann, Narrative 4 engages area high school and college students and other community members in the activity of storytelling as a way to inspire empathy, combat loneliness, and motivate participants to make positive changes in their communities.
Santa Fe Public Library: Our partnership with our local libraries extends the Festival’s reach in the community through various activities, including children’s bilingual story hours highlighting the work of featured authors, the family-friendly celebration of the annual El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), and the NEA-sponsored “The Big Read,” a community-wide reading event.
Book Giveaways: In a tribute to one of New Mexico’s legendary writers, SFILF has distributed hundreds of books by Rudolfo Anaya, New Mexico’s acclaimed “Godfather of Chicano Literature,” to students and other community members in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and beyond.
Free Festival Tickets: In our commitment to making the Festival accessible to more of our statewide community, we provide 1,500 free tickets to the Festival for New Mexico students, their teachers, librarians and other book lovers who need financial assistance. This translates to an approximately $40,000 contribution from the Festival to promote inclusivity and benefit the lifelong learning of New Mexicans through literature.
GROWING THE CIRCLE
All of our Young Writers and Readers programs seek to grow our magical circle of storytelling. We welcome interest and involvement from young readers, writers, and educational organizations throughout the community. We also thank all those who have supported our efforts this far, including: Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library, Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, Library of America, Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe, Museum of New Mexico Press, Narrative 4, New Mexico School for the Arts, Penguin Classics, Reading Quest, Read to Me, Rio Grande Books, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe Public Library, University of New Mexico Press, University of Oklahoma Press and the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry.