Imagine this.
It’s Oct. 11 between the hours 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. The Doña Ana Student Resource Building on the community college’s East Mesa campus is filled with authors from the Southwest region.
Children are gathered around a local writer, listening to a story. Nearby, people float between booths of authors eager to share their work with a public just as eager to find the perfect book to cozy up with this fall.
Everything is going smoothly. Everybody is happy.
Two people involved in organizing the Inaugural Southern New Mexico Book Festival can see the vision clearly.
“We have to keep the end result in mind, and we keep that vision because that’s part of writing too—your imagination,” said author and volunteer of the event Charmayne Samuelson.
Samuelson and Eva Nevarez St. John, author and SNM Book Festival committee member, are both part of the Las Cruces Writing Group which will be spearheading the event. What started out as a small, annual gathering of authors at Branigan Library has grown into a full-blown festival, and it’s organized by volunteers.
Included in the festival will be an area for kids’ book readings, raffle giveaways and activities, as well as food trucks with local offerings. The main goal, however, is to connect writers, readers, publishers, editors and the public all in one place, said Samuelson.
There will be local authors selling their books and signing them. Out of the bunch, 14 will be allotted a 30-minute block for reading and answering questions. For those wanting to dive deeper, various workshops will be offered, some for writers, some for readers and some with craft elements to them.
While Samuelson is excited for her own workshop titled “Writers Are Never Lonely: How the Creative Process Can Be Your Best Friend Forever,” Nevarez said she can’t wait to attend “Social Media Marketing for Authors (Who Would Rather Be Writing)” presented by Saleema Ishq.
“There’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok …somehow you have to get out there, especially to reach younger people,” Nevarez said.
As much as social media and technology can be allies for authors, Nevarez and Samuelson agree these tools have also damaged younger generations’ skills in reading, writing and comprehension.
“I think part of what we see now is everybody is looking at their phones and it’s more visual,” Nevarez said. “As far as how much to read, everything is given in flashes or headlines and don’t get deeper.”
According to a 2025 study done by World Population Review, New Mexico was ranked the lowest state in literacy rates.
Neither Nevarez or Samuelson seemed surprised.
Nevarez recalled a time when the Las Cruces Writers sold their books at the Mesilla Valley Mall. She said there was a lady next to her who would ask passersby if they were readers as the start of her sales pitch.
“I was so shocked how many people said no,” Nevarez said. “I was like, ‘Okay, that’s part of the problem right now. Not enough people reading.’”
For Nevarez, it is important children learn literacy at a young age, and she is thrilled to be giving away 200+ children’s books at the festival.
Samuelson noted how, sometimes for a child, meeting the author in person and getting a signature in the book is enough to light a literary fire in the child.
“You have to start there, but then you have to continue to encourage it with younger people,” Nevarez said. “Sit down and read a book sometimes instead of just being on the computer or watching TV or on your phone. Just read some words and think while you’re reading,” she added with a laugh.
The festival is intended to bolster Las Cruces as a place to visit, and Samuelson and Nevarez hope the number of attendees reaches 1,000.
“Not only come to the festival, but bring friends and family and especially your kids,” Nevarez said. “They’re gonna get free books, and you’ll get to meet awesome authors.”
