Festival Event Schedule
CHOOSE ONE EVENT FOR EACH TIME SLOT WHERE INDICATED
Friday, May 16, 2025
5:00 p.m.
Opening Night Reception
All ticket holders are welcome!
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
6:00 p.m.
Percival Everett – Main Stage
National Book Award winner, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of bitingly funny novels, including James, Erasure, The Trees, and I Am Not Sidney Poitier
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
Saturday, May 17, 2025
8:00 a.m
Roshi Joan Halifax – Morning Meditation and Author Talk
Buddhist teacher and social and environmental activist.
Venue: Lamy / Peralta Rooms
9:15 a.m.
Amy Tan – Main Stage
Beloved author of multiple New York Times bestsellers, including The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, and The Backyard Bird Chronicles.
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
11:00 a.m.
The Man Made of Words: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of N. Scott Momaday – Main Stage
Terry Tempest Williams, Colum McCann, Julian Brave NoiseCat, and others pay tribute to the legendary Pulitzer Prize–winning poet, author, artist, and scholar who called Santa Fe home.
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
12:15 p.m.
Lunch Break
Bring lunch or visit one of the vendors located at the Convention Center.
Venue: Courtyard
1:00 p.m.
Marie Arana – Concurrent Stage
Award-winning author of LatinoLand, American Chica, and other books about the Hispanic experience.
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
Viet Thanh Nguyen – Concurrent Stage
Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sympathizer and bestselling award winners including A Man of Two Faces, The Committed, and The Refugees
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
2:30 p.m.
Danzy Senna – Concurrent Stage
Bestselling author of the novel Colored Television and other wry, insightful books about the absurdities and challenges of being a mixed-race American.
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
Ramona Emerson – Concurrent Stage
Filmmaker and author of the celebrated debut novel Shutter and its sequel, Exposure.
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
2:30 p.m.
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum – Walk & Talk
Walk to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, where the museum librarian will share insights into O’Keeffe’s many and varied literary interests and take a self-guided tour of the collection.
Venue: Off-Site: Meet in Gallery
Sazón - Spirits Tasting Walk & Talk
Walk to nearby Sazón restaurant and join chef Fernando Olea for an adventure into the spirits of Mexico with a flight of five mezcals, two sangrítas, and Olea’s famous moles.
Venue: Off-Site: Meet in Gallery
4:00 p.m.
Miranda July – Concurrent Stage
Filmmaker, actor, multimedia artist, and author of the provocative New York Times bestseller All Fours.
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
Chris Rainier – Concurrent Stage
Acclaimed photographer and filmmaker known for his work documenting endangered cultures around the world.
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
4:00 p.m.
Willa Cather’s Santa Fe – Walk & Talk
Explore Willa Cather’s Santa Fe and the inspiration behind her book Death Comes for the Archbishop with author, tour guide, and historian Garrett Peck.
Venue: Off-Site: Meet in Gallery
Kakawa Chocolate Immersion – Talk & Taste
Kakawa Chocolate House owner Bonnie Bennett will share Colonial American and Mexican chocolate history and recipes while you sample some of the many offerings.
Venue: Tesuque Room
5:00 p.m.
Saturday Night Reception
All ticket holders are welcome!
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
6:00 p.m.
Michael Pollan – Main Stage
Master of thought-provoking bestsellers, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind.
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
Sunday, May 18, 2025
8:00 a.m
Henry Shukman – Morning Meditation and Author Talk
Zen master, poet, and award-winning author of the memoir One Blade of Grass.
Venue: Lamy / Peralta Rooms
9:15 a.m.
Michael Cunningham – Main Stage
Pulitzer Prize–winning author of exquisitely crafted novels, including The Hours, Day, and A Home at the End of the World.
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
10:30 a.m.
Coming into Form, with Dana Levin, Tommy Archuleta, and Victoria Chang – Free Community Poetry Event
Venue: Nambe Room
11:00 a.m.
Jonathan Eig – Main Stage
Pulitzer Prize–winning author of biographies about Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and Lou Gehrig.
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
12:15 p.m.
Lunch Break
Bring lunch or visit one of the food vendors located at the Convention Center.
Venue: Courtyard
1:00 p.m.
Deborah Jackson Taffa In Conversation with Hampton Sides – Concurrent Stage
National Book Award finalist and author of the acclaimed coming-of-age memoir Whiskey Tender.
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
Gabrielle Zevin – Concurrent Stage
Novelist, screenwriter, and author of the breakout hit Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
2:00 p.m.
Coming into Form, with Dana Levin, Tommy Archuleta, and Victoria Chang – Free Community Poetry Event
Venue: Nambe Room
2:30 p.m.
Colum McCann – Concurrent Stage
National Book Award–winning author of Let the Great World Spin, TransAtlantic, and Apeirogon.
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
Cristina Rivera Garza – Concurrent Stage
Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the novels The Iliac Crest and The Taiga Syndrome and the memoir Liliana’s Invincible Summer.
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
2:30 p.m.
Downtown Santa Fe Wonder Walk
Wander through Santa Fe’s storied cityscape with Barbara Groth of the Nomadic School of Wonder and experience the art of sensory noticing—using the natural world as a creative muse.
Venue: Off-Site: Meet in Gallery
Kakawa Chocolate Immersion – Talk & Taste
Kakawa Chocolate House owner Bonnie Bennett will share Colonial American and Mexican chocolate history and recipes while you sample some of the many offerings.
Venue: Tesuque Room
4:00 p.m.
Willa Cather’s Santa Fe – Walk & Talk
Explore Willa Cather’s Santa Fe and the inspiration behind her book Death Comes for the Archbishop with author, tour guide, and historian Garrett Peck.
Venue: Off-Site: Meet in Gallery
Terry Tempest Williams – Main Stage
Renowned naturalist, activist, and award-winning author of the environmental classics Refuge and An Unspoken Hunger.
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom
Los Poblanos Farm Shop Norte – Spirits Tasting Walk & Talk
Raise a glass of botanical spirits with landscape designer and garden author Judith Phillips at Los Poblanos Farm Shop Norte. Enjoy specialty gin tastings and small bites.
Venue: Spirits Tasting & Author Talk
5:00 p.m.
Farewell Reception
All ticket holders are welcome!
Venue: Santa Fe Community Convention Center
6:00 p.m.
Heather Cox Richardson – Main Stage
Renowned historian and author of Democracy Awakening and the smash-hit Substack newsletter Letters from an American.
Venue: Sweeney Ballroom