Best-selling novelist Cristina García delivers the keynote address at the 12th Taos Summer Writer's Conference on Sunday, July 11, at 8 p.m. at the Sagebrush Inn Conference Center, 1508 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur, Taos, N.M. The event kicks off a series of free, public readings by conference faculty, July 12-17.

García is author of five novels, "Dreaming in Cuban," "The Agüero Sisters," "Monkey Hunting," "A Handbook to Luck" and the forthcoming "The Lady Matador's Hotel;" two works for young readers, "The Dog Who Loved the Moon" and "I Wanna Be Your Shoebox;" and a poetry collection, "The Lesser Tragedy of Death." She edited two anthologies, "Cubanísimo: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature" and "Bordering Fires: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicano/a Literature." Visit: Christina García.

Monday, July 12
Jon Davis, John Dufresne, Priscilla Long and Debra Monroe read Monday, July 12, at 5:30 p.m. Davis' poetry collections include "Preliminary Report," "Scrimmage of Appetite" and "Dangerous Amusements." Dufresne's novels include "Louisiana Power & Light," "Love Warps the Mind a Little," "Deep in the Shade of Paradise" and "Requiem Mass." Long is author of "Where the Sun Never Shines: a History of America's Bloody Coal Industry" and "The Writer's Portable Mentor." Monroe is author of a memoir, "On the Outskirts of Normal: Forging a Family Against the Grain," and two novels, "Newfangled" and "Shambles."

Tuesday, July 13
Jonis Agee, Jeff Davis, Minrose Gwin and Jesse Lee Kercheval read Tuesday, July 13, at 5:30 p.m. Agee is author of 13 books, including five novels, "Sweet Eyes," "Strange Angels," "South of Resurrection," "The Weight of Dreams" and "The River Wife." Davis is author of "The Journey from the Center to the Page" and "City Reservoir." Gwin is author of a novel, "The Queen of Palmyra," and a memoir, "Wishing for Snow." Kercheval is author of the memoir "Space," short novel "Brazil" and poetry collection "Cinema Muto."

Wednesday, July 14
Dorothy Allison, Jane Ciabattari, Sarah Manguso and Rob Wilder read on Wednesday, July 14, at 5:30 p.m. Allison is author of "Bastard Out of Carolina" and forthcoming novel "She Who." Ciabattari is author of the short story collection "Stealing the Fire" and president of the National Book Critics Circle. Manguso is author of the memoir "The Two Kinds of Decay," story collection "Hard to Admit and Harder to Escape" and poetry collections "Siste Viator" and "The Captain Lands in Paradise." Wilder is author of two books of essays, "Tales From The Teachers' Lounge" and "Daddy Needs a Drink."

Thursday, July 15
Jill Bialosky, Pam Houston, Mark Sundeen and Summer Wood read on Thursday, July 15, at 5:30 p.m. Bialosky is author of the novels "Life Room" and "House under Snow" and poetry collections "Subterranean" and "Intruder." She is executive editor and vice president at W. W. Norton. Houston is author of two collections of linked short stories, "Cowboys Are My Weakness" and "Waltzing the Cat" and the novel "Sighthound." Sundeen is author of two books of creative nonfiction, "Car Camping" and "The Making of Toro," and a correspondent for Outside magazine. Wood's novels are "Arroyo" and the forthcoming "Wrecker."

Saturday, July 17
Annie Dawid, Joy Harjo, Houston, Valerie Martínez, Daniel Mueller, Michelle Otero and Sundeen read on Saturday, July 17, at 7 p.m. Dawid is author of "And Darkness Was Under His Feet: Stories of a Family," "Lily in the Desert: Stories" and "York Ferry: A Novel." Harjo's poetry books include "She Had Some Horses," "The Woman Who Fell From the Sky" and "How We Became Human, New and Selected Poems." Martínez' poetry books include "Absence, Luminescent," "World to World," "A Flock of Scarlet Doves," "And They Called it Horizon" and "Each and Her." Mueller is author of a collection of stories, "How Animals Mate." Otero is author of "Malinche's Daughter."

For more information or to find open conference workshop sections, call (505) 277-5572 or visit: Taos Summer Writer's Conference. The conference is organized by UNM's Department of English Language and Literature.

Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu