Piece Description

February 2, 2002, a remarkable and even unique event in the history of Southwestern letters took place in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, as novelists, Rudolfo Anaya, Tony Hillerman, and N. Scott Momaday took part in a panel discussion before an audience of several hundred at Jemez Valley High School Auditorium. Most obviously, these writers represent the “three cultures” or intermingling literary traditions of New Mexico - the Hispano, the Anglo and the Native American. While Anaya, Hillerman, and Momaday have cultivated their own distinctive voices or styles, they also share a common interest in the magic and mythology of the American Southwest. Their novels, stories, and plays are grounded in the particulars of place, steeped in the landscape and in the ancient cultures of the region.

The program is dedicated to Tony Hillerman, who died October 26, 2008.

A Celebration of Southwest Storytellers: Anaya, Hillerman, Momaday has been awarded the 2003 Silver Reel Award for a Special National Entertainment Program by the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. The program was produced by Paul Ingles and Nola Daves Moses.

A second installment of the series featuring authors Denise Chavez, Simon Ortiz and Michael McGarrity is also available on PRX (coming soon).

A third installment of the series featuring Rina Swentzell, Demetria Martinez, and John Nichols is also available at PRX: http://www.prx.org/pieces/2790-a-celebration-of-southwest-storytellers-part-3-ri