Barbara Rockman's poignant reading of some of her newest work from "Night said" had the audience so transfixed that you could hear a pin drop. And her conversation about the work with Kyce Bello added a layer of depth and personal history to the reading.

What a joyful afternoon listening to Désirée, Michelle and Margo read their works and talk about the magic of words, the power of writing communities, and the importance of Latina representation in literature.

Dance and cultural historian and memoirist, Elizabeth Kendall spoke with Balanchine-trained dancer and founder of NDI, Catherine Oppenheimer, about the contradictions of the visionary Russian-American ballet choreographer who was recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century.

A perfect dynamic duo! As Annette McGivney shared the premise of "Plastic Shaman" and Betsy Gaines Quammen of "This Haunted Land," it was extraordinary to see how both books reckon with the ghosts of colonialism—and how the appropriation of Indigenous cultures, exploitation of the land, and unresolved histories continue to shape our relationship to place, spirituality, and one another.

Author Robin Maguire and her mom, Santa Fe favorite Joan Tewkesbury, explored Robin's fast-paced, emotionally charged novel about relationships and the complicated territory between friendship and desire. The Weight of Sunshine takes readers from Los Angeles to Manhattan as a couple wrestles with an age-old question: Can men and women really be friends?

Jennifer Givhan's bright disposition belies her deep emotional connection to her novel, The Sleeping Sisters, which she shared with Jennifer Cervantes and our audience. What she thought was a crime thriller turns out to be a taut mystery shot through with myth and a Chicana-Indigenous reimagining of the legend of the headless woman, which, by its cataclysmic end, has spiraled into a fevered, feral hymn to motherhood and a mesmerizing portrait of trauma and the monstrous bargains we make to protect those we love.

Carla Chung Mattix who served for more than twenty-five years as an attorney for the National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor and Dwight Pitcaithley who served as chief historian of the National Park Service for ten years, engaged in such a fascinating conversation, giving us insight and background to many of the National Parks and Supreme Court's past cases as well as present ones.

We kicked off celebrating Indian Market Week with two powerful poets. IAIA alum Laura Da', who, as a student, had been inspired by her fellow poet IAIA professorJames Thomas Stevens, read from Severalty, the final book in her celebrated triptych. James shared two new pieces inspired by his lifelong dream of a solo journey to Greenland, followed by selections from Golden Book.

It was an honor to have Ken Salazar, former US ambassador to Mexico, US senator, and US Secretary of the Interior, in-store, sharing his valuable perspective on why representation matters in our politics and why cross-border relationships are vital to our humanity and future.