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Notable New Mexican Authors and Books: Writing in and about New Mexico

Mostly New Mexico Authors & Books

New Mexico stories are exciting, rich, and complicated. Storytellers, historians, poets, and visual artists have long been inspired by the state’s expansive landscape and diverse populations putting New Mexico at the heart tales as varied as Diné and Pueblo oral histories, frontier myths of manifest destiny and modern day mysteries set in new and ancient locations.

The New Mexico State Library Southwest Collection mirrors this complex historical and literary legacy with new and old books and journals on New Mexico state history, geography, culture, ethnology, government, natural history, and economics. The authors and writers listed in this guide are just a small part of our larger collection which is complemented by the State and Federal Documents collections of the New Mexico State Library and the New Mexico State Archives, all located within a single facility. 

Frequent research topics in the Southwest Collection include: the history of New Mexico places and families, railroad history, mines and mining, New Mexican writers, land grants, Santa Fe neighborhoods and buildings, Indian pueblos and reservations, farming and ranching, and Western trails.

To explore the full collection, see the State Library’s online catalog

Picture credit: Storyteller, Helen Cordaro, Cochiti Pueblo, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center