Abbey, Edward (1927-1989)
Abbey was a well-known nature writer, particularly remembered for his book Desert Solitaire. He wrote two books set in New Mexico: Fire on the Mountain and The Brave Cowboy.
Austin, Mary Hunter (1868-1934)
Austin was a novelist, poet, playwright and essayist, who moved to Santa Fe in 1924. Austin wrote 35 novels, and is best known for The Land of Little Rain, set in California. She wrote one novel set in New Mexico, Starry Adventure (1931) and collaborated with Ansel Adams on his first book of photographs Taos Pueblo (1930).
The Swiss-born archaeologist is better known for his archaeological publications, but authored a work of fiction: The Delight Makers.
Bradford, Richard (1932-2002)
Bradford is best known for his 1968 novel Red Sky at Morning, a coming of age story set in New Mexico. He was a staff writer for El Palacio magazine.
Bynner, Witter (1881-1968)
Bynner was a poet and scholar of Chinese literature known for his friendships with literary and artistic figures. He moved to New Mexico in 1922 with poet Walter Willard "Spud" Johnson. In 1930 he met Robert Hunt, his lifetime partner. He is remembered for his open gay relationships at a time when this was uncommon and for his friendships with avant garde luminaries including Mabel Dodge Luhan, Georgia O'Keefe, Carl Van Vechten, and Martha Graham.
Cabeza de Baca Gilbert, Fabiola (1894-1991)
Cabeza de Baca was a writer, cookbook author, educator and founding member of La Sociedad Folklorica. Her first book, Historic Cookery (1931), introduced Anglo audiences to essential New Mexico cuisine including chile and its various uses. She authored The Good Life: New Mexico Traditions and Food in 1949 and an autobiographical narrative, We Fed Them Cactus, in 1954.
Cather, Willa (1973-1947)
Cather's 1927 novel Death Comes for the Archbishop is a work of historical fiction about territorial New Mexico, based on Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy's work building the Diocese of Santa Fe. Though Cather never lived in New Mexico, she visited and enjoyed extended stays in Taos and Santa Fe during the 1910s and 1920s.
Chavez, Fray Angelico (1910-1996)
Fr. Chavez was a native New Mexican priest, artist, and historian. He is known for his historical and genealogical writing and also wrote fiction, short stories and poetry. The Fray Angélico Chávez History Library at the Palace of the Governor's in Santa Fe is named for him.
Church, Peggy Pond (1903-1986)
Church was a native New Mexican poet and author whose evocative writings captured the landscape and distinct character of the state. Her father operated the Los Alamos Ranch School which later became the site of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The House at Otowi Bridge is a both a memoir and biography of her friend Edith Warner, a resident on the Pajarito Plateau whose quiet mountain life was transformed by the National Lab's installation.
Fergusson, Erna (1888-1964)
Fergusson was a New Mexico native, a magazine and travel writer and a promoter of the state. In 1921, while working as a reporter for the Albuquerque Herald, she and friend Ethel Hickey co-founded Koshare Tours, a guide service bringing tourists to the Pueblos and Navajo and Hopi reservations. Fred Harvey expanded the business renaming it Indian Detours and hiring Fergusson to organize and direct the large staff. Fergusson was also an early advocate and preservationist of Southwestern and Native American cultures publishing many books on these topics beginning with Dancing Gods in 1931.
Horgan, Paul (1903-1995)
Horgan won the Pulitzer Prize for history for Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History (1955) and Lamy of Santa Fe: His Life and Times (1976). He wrote more than 40 books of fiction and nonfiction. Most of his fiction is set in the Southwest. Horgan moved to Albuquerque with his family in 1915, and attended the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. He was later the librarian at the New Mexico Military Institute. His papers are at the Sibley Music Library at the Eastman School of Music.
Jaramillo, Cleofas (1878-1956)
Jaramillo was a native New Mexican who was born and raised in Arroyo Hondo near Taos. She was a founder of La Sociedad Folklorica de Santa Fe (Folklore Society of Santa Fe) with the mission of preserving the traditional Spanish folklore and customs of New Mexico. Her books include The Genuine New Mexico Tasty Recipes/Potajes Sabrosos (1939), Spanish Fairy Tales/Cuentos De Hogar (1939), Shadows of the Past/Sombras del Pasado (1941), and her autobiography Romance of a Little Village Girl (1955).
La Farge, Oliver (1901-1963)
La Farge was an anthropologist who became familiar with the Southwest through his fieldwork. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1930 for the novel Laughing Boy, about a Navajo silversmith. He moved to Santa Fe in 1946, and wrote for the New Mexican.
Luhan, Mabel Dodge (1879-1962)
Luhan was a complex and polarizing figure, remembered as much for introducing early twentieth century artists such as D.H. Lawrence,Ansel Adams, and Georgia O'Keefe to New Mexico as for her memoirs and essays. A socialite and writer who had lived in Italy and New York, she moved to Taos in 1917 where she built a large home and several smaller ones to host friends from the avant garde community. Her best known works are Lorenzo in Taos and Edge of Taos Desert. Her extensive papers are held at the Beinecke Library at Yale University.
McKenna, James A. (1851-1941)
McKenna published Black Range Tales: Chronicling Sixty Years of Life and Adventure in the Southwest in 1936. These turn of the century stories of prospecting and mining feature the Black Range, the Mongollon and the Gila. Like many works at that time, McKenna's book is considered nonfiction, though the text centers manifest destiny and favors anecdotal characterizations of western life.
Wallace, Lew (1827-1905)
Wallace was Territorial Governor of New Mexico from 1878 to 1881. While in residence at the Palace of the Governor's, he wrote the novel Ben Hur. He is also well-known for this quote about New Mexico: "All calculations based on experience elsewhere fail in New Mexico."
Waters, Frank (1902-1995)
Waters is a writer with deep roots in the Southwest. He was born in Colorado, lived in Taos and Santa Fe as well as Sedona, Arizona. He was friends with Mabel Dodge Luhan and worked at Los Alamos National Lab. The Man Who Killed the Deer: A Novel of Pueblo Indian Life is considered his masterpiece.
