SOMOS. We are . . .

the literary heart of Taos,

the Society of the Muse of the Southwest.

We are a place for the written and spoken word

We are SOMOS . . . and you are welcome here.

Countdown to the 7th Annual Taos Writers Conference!

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Sawnie Morris women of words taos nm

Poet Laureate:

Joshua Concha

2022-2024 Taos Poet Laureate

Joshua Concha is an Indigenous multi-media artist and writer who has been a tribal resident of the Taos Pueblo for twenty-five years. Concha has worked in a wide range of media (including film and digital storytelling, music, stone, and metal sculpture, silversmithing, and watercolor). His poem, “Rust” was chosen by the previous Poet Laureate, Catherine Strisik, as one of the fifteen poems installed in outdoor venues in Taos. His poems were also selected for “Poetry in Public Places” (2018 & 2019) and have been published in The Notebook: A Progressive Journal About Women and Girls with Rural and Small Town Roots and 200 New Mexico Poems: Celebrating the Centennial and Beyond. His 2022-23 Poet Laureate project is tentatively titled “Taos Poetry in Motion”: a film project, with 9-12 poets reading their work accompanied by visual images.

Sawnie Morris women of words taos nm

Taos Writers Conference:

Ramona Emerson

Keynote Speaker, Taos Writers Conference
Friday, 7/7/23 @ 5:30pm

Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. She has a bachelor’s in Media Arts from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. After starting in forensic videography, she embarked upon a career as a photographer, writer, and editor. She is an Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab Fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller Fellow, a Tribeca All-Access Grantee and a WGBH Producer Fellow. In 2020, Emerson was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Film and Media Industries for the State of New Mexico. She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband, the producer Kelly Byars, run their production company Reel Indian Pictures. Shutter is her first novel.
Somos sign and storefront

Writers Showcase:

Dr. Ray Christian

Saturday, 10/14/23 (Taos Storytelling Festival)

Dr. Raymond Christian is a retired US Army paratrooper who grew up on the poverty-ridden streets of Richmond, VA. The son of illiterate parents, his love for the written word sparked his dreams of a different life and led to many adventures, including seeming impossible educational achievements and life as an amateur farmer and professional family-man. Ray is a Fulbright Specialist Scholar in Education, with expertise in oral history and personal narrative. He is the only specialist in this field on the Fulbright roster which makes him a uniquely qualified educator, facilitator, performer and creator. Ray uses his unique combination of education and world experience to teach, inspire and entertain.  From professional development workshops and fundraisers to keynote addresses, he uses the spoken word to connect to audiences and leave them encouraged and inspired to take on any challenge they might face.

 

Somos sign and storefront

Writers Showcase:

Kinari Webb

Friday & Saturday, 11/3/23 – 11/4/23

Kinari Webb is an American physician who first came to Indonesia in 1993. In the US, she founded Health in Harmony to support her work in Indonesia and then, in 2006, she co-founded Yayasan Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) in West Kalimantan with dentist Hotlin Ompusunngu. Kinari developed the vision for Health In Harmony on an undergraduate trip, studying orangutans at Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesian Borneo in 1993. Dr. Webb graduated from Yale University School of Medicine with honors and then founded Health In Harmony in 2005 to support the combined human and environmental work that she envisioned. Kinari also co-founded Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) with Hotlin Ompusunggu and Antonia Gorog. Kinari splits her time between, Indonesia, Madagascar, Brazil, international test sites and the San Francisco Bay Area. Her book Guardians of the Trees was published in 2021.

 

Upcoming Events

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Open Tues-Sat  12pm-4pm  575.758.0081  108 Civic Plaza Drive

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3225, Taos, NM 87571

THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDERS

SOMOS programs are made possible in part by these organizations: New Mexico Arts, a Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts • Taos Community Foundation • The McCune Foundation • The National Endowment For The Arts • The Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation • Taos County Lodgers Tax • TaosNetLLC for high speed internet service  • LANL (Los Alamos National Labs)  • New Mexico Humanities Council • Frost Foundation • Witter Bynner Foundation • Amazon Literary Partnership • Literary Emergency Fund