The Last Word: Conversations with Writers

Journey down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast of the turbulent 1950s with award-winning author Minrose Gwin and her unforgettable characters with enchanting names like Memory Feather. How does a writer portray the angst and terror and also the beauty of times past? Minrose Gwin has a deft and rich, descriptive style to her prose and composes a picture for us so vivid that might have us swatting (imag...

A vital interview for all writers, aspiring authors, editors, book designers, booksellers and everyone in the publishing world. I welcome Shirley Melis and Anna Sochocky to the KSFR studio, Co-President and Vice President of New Mexico Book Association. This month, NMBA celebrates its 30th anniversary at a Gala on August 27th with special guest Hampton Sides. Learn how you can get involved with NM...

An enlightening conversation with English novelist and poet Rosalind Brackenbury about her new mystery Bone Whispers and her fascinating research for Miss Stephen’s Apprenticeship: How Virginia Stephen became Virginia Woolf. Fresh from hosting a writing retreat on the route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Rosalind speaks about the muses who have influenced her love of writing since childhood a...

Pause for a few minutes to listen to the words of Christina Donnell, author of Encounters with Living Language: Surrendering to the Power of Words. This conversation and Christina’s exquisitely scripted writing offer you a gently focused respite from the busyness of your day and a way of listening and speaking that could transform you and those around you. What if words and language are more than...

Take a deeply restful, nourishing journey today with Henry Shukman, meditation teacher, poet and spiritual director emeritus at Mountain Cloud Zen Center. Henry brings his intelligent, calming presence to our studios with his new book Original Love: The Four Inns on The Path to Awakening through which we glimpse a layer beyond the peace and mindfulness that meditation can bring. More than ever a s...

It has been 38 years since Natalie Goldberg’s beloved breakthrough book Writing Down The Bones inspired tens of thousands of hesitant writers and seasoned authors. So I am honored that Natalie can join me today in person with Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice. Yet, “Empty,” you ask? How could one of New Mexico’s and the whole country’s most gifted and prolific writers struggle to fin...

An essential listen for all pet lovers in this uplifting return visit with animal rights activist, Carlyn Montes de Oca author of Dog as Your Doctor, Cat as Your Nurse and the multi-award winning Junkyard Girl.  Last month, Carlyn’s beloved dog, Gracie, went missing in the Glorieta wilderness while on a hike with a trusted dog sitter friend. Her loss and return have become an inspiration. With the...

 With me today is Christina Vo a Vietnamese American who has written an exquisitely crafted memoir with her father, Nghia M. Vo. My Vietnam, Your Vietnam: A Father Flees, A Daughter Returns. Nghia, risking death, torture or imprisonment was miraculously picked up by a small rescue boat a few days after the fall of Saigon in April, 1975 and eventually forged a new life in the United States. Yet lik...

 A treat for me to unwind with poet and writing teacher, Miriam Sagan, stopping by the KSFR studios with her inspiring collection, Thanks for Stopping By. Always breaking new ground and breaking the rules, this time Miriam’s poems are untitled, adding an unexpected potency and triggering an unconscious sense of immediacy. Miriam discusses her sojourns as writer-in-residence in Japan a few years ag...

Continuing poetry month here on The Last Word with Santa Fe’s much loved Wayne Lee here in the KSFR studios accompanied by his cat. Well, Buddha’s Cat to be specific, the title of his brand new chapbook published this week, a collection dedicated to furry four-legged creatures of all species, from beloved companion animals to the wildest and most revered and even feared here in New Mexico and acro...

Joined today by poet and musician Lee Underwood reading from his new, beautifully crafted volume, Riversong. Many poems are dedicated to his beloved wife of 50 years Sonia Crespi, his Lady of the Streams. Lee poignantly shares wisdom of their long relationship, how they forged and deepened their “marriage of opposites” through thick and thin. How loves endures and how the sweetness and power of th...

You may be familiar with Haiku yet perhaps not Tanka another poetry form originating in pre-Buddhist Japan traditionally written and exchanged by lovers after their first union. A sweet note that emerges during today’s interview with Albuquerque Poet Laureate Emeritus Mary Oishi. Mary’s new collection, Sidewalk Cruiseship, is arranged in Tanka form and delights our hearts and sears our minds with...

Truly a personal honor to interview celebrated author and National Medal of Arts Recipient, Julia Alvarez, here with her new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories. Can a writer ever bury her characters? What happens when they climb out of their graves and come alive, surprising the local barrio residents and even the author herself. Like all her books, our conversation weaves, braids and fades any...

Author, journalist and co-founder of The Santa Fe International Literary Festival, Carmella Padilla, explores the intersection of art, culture and history here in New Mexico. Her skills, lifelong knowledge and passion place her in the perfect position to support and nourish many loved and respected local arts organizations and special events. Right now Carmella is working with Santa Fe Reads on th...

Finally here with their long-awaited new book, Slow Travel New Mexico: Unforgettable Personal Experiences in The Land of Enchantment, our beloved local travel journalists, Judith Fein and Paul Ross. A guide book like no other from world travelers like no other. What is Slow Travel and how can you carve your own adventurous path in your neighborhood? Begin with an old-fashioned map, stick in a pin...

Travel back in time to some of the most unspoiled, beautiful places on earth with Santa Fe’s own Hampton Sides who transports us across The Wide Wide Sea, the title of his enthralling new book about Captain James Cook’s final voyage. With piercing insight and extraordinary detail we are immersed in the “moral complexity” of this age of enlightenment and adventure and the consequences millions live...

Honored today to be joined by Buddhist Dharma teacher, Cynthia Jurs, celebrating the publication of her book Summoned By The Earth: Becoming A Holy Vessel for Healing Our World. As a young woman, Cynthia undertook a pilgrimage to Nepal to meet a revered, aged Rinpoche who she hoped would answer her heartfelt question, “What can I do to bring healing and protection to the earth?” He told her that h...

I’m aware that many Last Word listeners are writers, so today’s interview with award-winning Northern New Mexico’s poet, Renee Gregorio, may offer us all a fascinating boost for our writing life. Renee joins me with her new book, The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body: Somatic Practice to Enhance Creativity and Inspiration. Drawn from her lifetime practice of the martial art Aikido and her work as a ma...

03/07/2024 with Dr. Erica Elliott

Today, a glimpse into the craft of writing you’ve likely wondered about but never explored. Meet Joshua Lisec, a ghostwriter who has penned more than 80 books in the name of some well-known and lesser-known authors and celebrities. My interest was piqued by an article written by Lisec called Release The Ghosts, suggesting that the publishing industry’s hard-working, secret authors be given much mo...

A fun and very different aspect of the world of writing today with local composer and lyricist Carol Calvert who has written a delightful musical operetta called The Way of Angels which will premier next weekend. What comes first I ask, the lyrics or the music? Carol’s answer surprises me. We explore the way the creative muse, and perhaps angels themselves, guided Carol to find collaborators inclu...

Marsie Silvestro is an internationally respected speaker, feminist composer, author, visual artist and non-profit and business consultant. Known especially in Santa Fe as the former Executive Director of Esperanza Shelter she brings to the KSFR studio her years of community service and awareness distilled in four slim volumes of sumptuous poetry. Listen as Marsie describes The Gold of Poetry and r...

Joined today by bestselling author and Santa Fe resident Douglas Preston. Known for his collaboration with Lincoln Child on their superb crime thrillers, Doug takes on a very different kind of collaboration. Working closely with Margaret Atwood and the Authors Guild they invited 36 brilliant authors to contribute stories for a pandemic-era tale set on a shabby rooftop in New York City’s Lower East...

Big Medicine Pretty Water takes us into the harsh wildness of Northern New Mexico 100 years ago with a courageous young woman inspired by the author’s Grandmother Elvira. An atmospheric debut novel by former school principal and sports broadcaster Mike Katko. His superb storytelling takes us to places familiar to those of us privileged to live in this enchanted land. Yet are we prepared for an ear...

 We welcome the new year with whimsical and insightful children’s author, Melissa Marie McEwan. Melissa introduces us to Marty the Moose who became a local celebrity last year for his rare travels from native Colorado to Northern New Mexico. We follow his adventures in Marty Moose Makes His Way and learn not only where he’s been, but some of the real history of Moose in our region and other wild a...