Literary Arts

Santa Fe is best known as an arts center, but its equally rich literary past laid the groundwork for the vibrant literary community you'll find here today.

The ancestors of the Pueblo people, whose oral traditions made them the region's first storytellers, and the Spanish Colonists, who brought their tales with them 400 years ago, established early literary traditions in northern New Mexico.

Shortly after the start of the last century, at the same time that artists traveled here from around the world and formed art colonies in Santa Fe and Taos, writers also arrived for similar reasons. They were fleeing the violence of World War I, the excesses of a materialistic culture and the industrialization that had overtaken so many of America's major cities. Many of them initially came for the clear, dry air, hoping to recover from tuberculosis at Sunmount, a popular sanatorium near what is now St. John's College. But they fell so in love with Santa Fe, they stayed for good.

Like the artists, these writers found inspiration in the region's majestic landscape and unfamiliar cultures. They mined their experiences in northern New Mexico to produce volumes of poetry, fiction, travelogues, essays, plays and articles that appeared in national publications. They also worked hard to preserve and promote Native American and Spanish Colonial art and culture.

American Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather and British author D.H. Lawrence are among the best known writers of this era, but scores of others famous in their day belonged to the Santa Fe and Taos literary colonies, including novelist and nonfiction author Oliver La Farge and historian Paul Horgan, both Pulitzer Prize winners, naturalist and feminist writer Mary Austin, poet Alice Corbin Henderson and arts patron and author Mabel Dodge Luhan.

The literary colonies flourished during the 1920s and 1930s then faded after World War II began. Yet they left a lasting legacy. Many of the books published during this era remain in print. Writers of every genre have followed in the footsteps of these colony writers, relocating to Santa Fe from all parts of the globe because, like their predecessors, they find endless creativity in the city and its environs.

Books About Santa Fe
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Literary Pilgrims: The Santa Fe and Taos Writers' Colonies, 1917-1950, by Lynn Cline
Walks in Literary Santa Fe: A Guide to Landmarks, Legends and Lore, by Barbara Harrelson
New Mexico: An Interpretive History by Mark Simmons
Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford
Santa Fe: A Walk Through Time by Kingsley Hammett
Santa Fe: History of an Ancient City edited by David Grant Noble
Santa Fe Style by Christine Mather and Sharon Woods
The Myth of Santa Fe: Creating a Modern Regional Tradition by Chris Wilson
Turn Left at the Sleeping Dog: Scripting the Santa Fe Legend, 1922-1955 by John Pen La Farge
The Wind Leaves No Shadow by Ruth Laughlin

Book lovers and writers of every genre will find that Santa Fe is always busy with appealing events, from author lectures, readings and signings to writer's conferences, classes and workshops.

Click on our books section to find out about author events hosted by local bookstores.

Visit the Lannan Foundation's website for a schedule of the foundation's annual Readings & Conversations series at the Lensic that brings writers from around the world to Santa Fe to read from and discuss their work.

Click here to learn about the annual Santa Fe Writers Conference and here to learn about the Santa Fe Art Institute's writer residency programs. The Center for Contemporary Arts hosts a monthly series featuring poets in performance.

Visit the Lensic Performing Arts Center's website for a list of author readings, lectures and other literary arts events scheduled there.