A Day with Santa Fe Authors Presents Poetry and Prose

Please Join Us

Sunday, November 15, 2026
10:00 am to 4:00 pm
The CCA Munoz Waxman Gallery
1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87505

A Day with Santa Fe Authors: Poetry and Prose is a fundraising event held in association with Partners in Education Foundation for the Santa Fe Public Schools, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.

The purpose of this event is to raise funds for Reading Quest, a local program whose mission is to “support children who are having trouble reading to become strong, enthusiastic readers,” and to connect local authors and booklovers.

The Day

Meet Six Phenomenal Local Authors

The day will be comprised of two half-day sessions, each featuring three authors reading from their work and sharing their thoughts on why they write, why they write what they write, their writing lives, the obstacles they have faced, and other experiences.

During each session, the audience will be encouraged to ask questions. Between the two sessions, the dialogue will continue as the audience and authors chat over gourmet box lunches. At designated times throughout the day, the authors will inscribe their books.

Host

Bettye Kearse

According to eight generations of oral history, Bettye Kearse is a descendant of an enslaved cook and her enslaver, and half-brother, President James Madison. Her multiple award-winning book, The Other Madisons, chronicles a journey of discovery—of our nation, her ancestors, and herself.

Authors

Margaret Randall

Kickoff Speaker (Poetry)

Poet, photographer, translator, and social activist Margaret Randall was born in New York City in 1936 and grew up in New Mexico. Out of Mexico City in the 1960s, she co-founded and edited a bilingual poetry journal, El Corno Emplumado, that published the best work of the decade. Her most recent poetry collection is The Calendar’s Whim.

Deborah Jackson Taffa

Keynote Speaker (Prose)

Deborah Taffa’s memoir Whiskey Tender was a 2024 National Book Award finalist. Named a Top 10 book-of-the-year by The Atlantic and Time, the book won a 2024 Southwest Book Prize, a 2025 International Latino Book Award, and the 2026 LULAC Award. A 2024 NEA fellow, Deborah lives in Santa Fe, NM.

Hakim Bellamy

(Poetry)

Hakim Bellamy served the City of Albuquerque as both Inaugural Poet Laureate and Deputy Director for the Department of Arts & Culture. A W.K. Kellogg Foundation Global Fellow and John F. Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow, Bellamy has held adjunct faculty positions at UNM and the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Carlene O’Connor

(Prose)

Carlene O’Connor is a USA Today bestselling author of the Irish Village Mysteries, Home to Ireland mysteries, and County Kerry series. Her work has earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Library Journal as well as Book of the Month from Apple, and Barnes and Noble.

Carol Moldaw

(Poetry)

Carol Moldaw is the author of seven books of poetry, including, most recently Go Figure (Four Way Books, 2024). The recipient of an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and a Lannan Foundation Residency Fellowship, her poetry and essays have been published widely in journals including American Poetry Review, The New York Review of Books, Georgia Review, Poetry, Virginia Quarterly Review, and The Yale Review. She lives in Santa Fe, NM, and teaches privately.

Dr. LaNysha Adams

(Prose)

LaNysha Adams, Ph.D., is an applied linguist, TEDx speaker, and 10-time award-winning author of Me Power, a transformational work of nonfiction that combines storytelling with an actionable framework for turning self-knowledge into individual and collective change.

Sponsorship

We are seeking sponsors to help us host this event, which supports the vital and inspiring work of Reading Quest. If desired, we will feature sponsors’ names and logos on the event website, promotional materials, and social media posts. Sponsors can also have business cards or postcards placed in the event book bags.