On Sunday, October 29, 1:30 - 3:00 pm MDT at the WNMU Miller Library the 2023 Southwest Word Fiesta will end with a special gathering of words and music. Three authors will share readings from their books -- two of the authors will read from newly-debuted books.  The celebrated duo known as MoonShine will entertain following the readings.

Heather D. Frankland will read from her new poetry chapbook, Midwest Musings. Midwest Musings,  inspired by a dual perspective of home, explores roots that anchor and scattered thoughts on place and identity. The poems in this chapbook find magic in the mundane, whether that be in recounting an old story,  loving a creek, or saving a luna moth. Readers come to a understand that no matter where you move, the roots of home run deep. 

Elise Stuart, author of My Mother and I, We Talk Cat, and Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County, writes of Midwest Musings: “Frankland’s unique voice brings the ordinary alive. Her keen observations are revealing and honest.”

Originally from Muncie, Indiana, Heather Frankland currently lives in Silver City, NM, where she teaches at Western New Mexico University. She holds both a MPH and an MFA from New Mexico State University and a BA from Knox College. She served in the Peace Corps and as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Peru and Panama. Heather finds herself intrigued by landscapes and the role they can play in language, story, and poetry. She has been published in ROAR, Plane Tree Journal, Sin Fronteras Press, Sweet Lit, Slippery Elm Literary Journal, and more.

Kris Neri will read from Magical Mushrooms, the latest adventure in her award-winning series. With the worldwide Great Disappearance, magic has come out of the closet. In the blink of an eye, iconic structures around the world have vanished. But the dynamic duo are on the case again: Special Agent Annabelle Haggerty, a genuine Celtic goddess hidden within the FBI, and her quirky sidekick and psychic Samantha Brennan. Too bad neither of them are at their best. Annabelle struggles with an inexplicable dimming of her powers. For Samantha, things are the opposite. She now possesses genuine psychic gifts, only she can’t begin to control her new powers. When the world is struck by a new round of supernatural crimes, and Annabelle can no longer trust her divine gifts, saving the world could come down to Samantha. She pities a planet facing the unimaginable ruin glimpsed in her visions with only a girl like her to save it.

Marsheila Rockwell, award-winning author of The Shard Axe series, wrote of Magical Mushrooms: “Neri delivers another riotous adventure for fake psychic Samantha Brennan and goddess-slash-FBI agent Annabelle Haggerty. With a new mystery to investigate and Samantha's freshly gained psychic powers manifesting just as Annabelle's goddess powers seem to be dwindling, Samantha takes matters into her own hands, and the results are as comical as they are chaotic."

Neri's earlier Samantha Brennan & Annabelle Haggerty Magical Mystery novels,  were Lefty Award finalists for Best Humorous Mystery Novel, and Magical Alienation was a New Mexico-Arizona Book Award winner. She lives in Silver City, with her musician husband Joe Neri and two pushy terriers.

Award-winning poet/playwright/essayist, John Macker will read from two of his poetry collections Atlas of Wolves and Belated Mornings.

Gerald Nicosia, author of Memory Babe: A Biography of Jack Kerouac, writes of John Macker's work: “What I like most about Poet John Macker's writing is that he's always pushing the limits of language…he’s always reaching for the meaning just beyond words."

Originally from Colorado, Macker has lived in northern New Mexico for 28 years. He studied at the University of Missouri and Naropa Institute at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. His publications include: Belated Mornings, Desert Threnody, Atlas of Wolves, The Blues Drink Your Dreams Away, Selected Poems 1983-2018, Chaco Sojourn (2021-22), Gorge Songs, Blood in the Mix, and others. He is a vice-president of the Frank Waters Foundation, Taos, NM. Teatro Paraguas Theatre Santa Fe produced his one-act play, “Coyote Acid” in 2022 and his trilogy of one-acts, “Black Range”, in 2023. He currently lives in Santa Fe with his wife, artist Annie and two mutt dogs.

Silver City’s musical group, MoonShine, will end the program by playing “Love Letter #11"

This event is free and open to the public.
Check the Southwest Word Fiesta website for the full schedule: https://swwordfiesta.org /