The Sage May 2026 News
The Annual Contest Is Open! Also, Please Think about Meetings, Awards, and Service.
Message from the Prez
Happy May, everybody!
Have you entered the contest yet? If you haven’t, why not? The submission window opened on May First!
This month is going to be all about the contest, because the submission window closes during the first week of June, and we want this contest to be the best one yet. Seriously, get your work in early so you can spend the rest of the submission period relaxing and anxiously awaiting the awards at our annual meeting in October. It’s a fantastic opportunity to practice in genres you don’t normally write in, to refine your skills in the genres you prefer, and to submit your work online to a contest (which is actually a super useful skillset to have!).
In addition to inviting submissions to the contest, we are still looking for suggestions for alternate meeting locations when our contract with UNM Continuing Education is up at the end of the year. I’m not promising that we will change locations, but if you’ve wanted to see us host our Saturday meetings somewhere else, we need to know about it early so we can start exploring possibilities.
I won’t keep you for long this month—just do me a favor and go write something and submit it to the contest. Pretty please?
Kim Rose
President
From Our VP (Who Also Co-Chairs Our Writing Contest) Part II
It’s here! The moment you have been waiting for. The Southwest Writers Annual Writing Contest! Maybe you have been tweaking, poking, prodding that narrative into a form that is ready to be shared with the world. Maybe it is a short story, or a poem, or a screenplay.
Regardless of the form, no one wants to hear an artificial story imitating the work of someone else. We want to hear you, your voice, your story, your passion, by your own hands! Keep that Artificial Intelligence far away from your storytelling prowess. Show us what YOU are capable of!
This year’s writing contest theme is By Human Hands!
Get that work of art into tip-top shape and prepare to submit it! Here's a link so you can set up an account to begin the submission process!
There are dozens of categories that could accommodate your prose or poetry. Check out the full list here.
Allen Herring
Vice-President and Contest Co-Chair
Your Input Needed
It’s getting to be that time of year again.
We're inviting members to help us find nominees for the Parris Award. We’ll be creating a committee and we’ll also accept nominations from the membership.
We're also looking for help creating this year's slate of Executive Committee candidates for elections that occur during the annual meeting.
If you’d like to serve on either the Parris Award Committee or the Executive Committee, or if you have ideas for nominees for either category, please contact either Kim Rose (swwpresident@SWWriters.com) or the office (Office@SWWriters.com).
Léonie Rosenstiel
Editor, The Sage
Upcoming SWW Events
You can find information about upcoming events on the SWW website here. Here’s what’s on tap this month.
May 9, 2026: Meeting presentation (in-person or Zoom) from 10 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. Writing Poetry as a Civil Right will be presented by Irene I. Blea. More information here.
May 16, 2026: Workshop (Zoom only) from 10:00 a.m. until Noon. AI as Your Research Partner and Writing Assistant will be presented by Gary Lucero. More information here. You are also welcome to register here to attend.
May 27, 2026: Meeting presentation (Zoom only) from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. Readings from the SWW Military Anthologies will be hosted by Jim Tritten. More information here.
Last Month’s Writing Challenge - The Results
Author Title of Poem
Wanda Jerome “Being the Flow”
March Fleisher “Lovin’ That Walk”
Reza Ghadimi “Walkin’ by a Cholla”
Jeffrey LaCroix “Highway Monument”
Larry Kilham “The Bat”
Sam Moorman “Bagel Shop Bum”
Lesa Masten “Bee Song”
Wanda Jerome “Rise and Return”
To read the submissions listed above, click on Poetry in Motion
This Month’s Writing Challenge for SWW Members
An opportunity for SouthWest Writers to shine!
One of the many factors involved with becoming a successful author is finding pathways to becoming known. Even before you have a book published, you need to find ways to connect with readers. SouthWest Writers offers members a monthly opportunity to do so, The Sage Challenge. Members are inspired with a prompt designed to exercise their talents. The entries are published on our website to give the authors exposure, and the best are later published in an anthology.
The May Sage Challenge: Artemis Inspired Space Stories
It’s been half a century since our country sent a manned mission to the moon. For older members, as children, we saw photos of moon landings and watched as rockets blasted into the sky, but then there was a long dry period. Recently, many of our younger members were tuned into that experience for the first time. Those early flights inspired a host of television shows and movies.
This month’s challenge is: Internalize your thoughts and form them into either a memoir, a reflective essay, or a fictional story inspired by the activities, news, and photos about the recent Artemis mission. Up to 1,000 words.
Deadline is May 20, 2026. Send your story or article to: webmaster@swwriters.com.
Credit: Earthrise from the Moon (Dec. 24, 1968). Bob Anders, Crew Member (NASA—from Wikipedia Commons)
Regional and Online Literary Happenings
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS
The purpose of the New Mexico Book Awards is to uncover and honor the best in New Mexico books!
Entries in the NM Book Awards will be judged by booksellers, librarians, teachers, authors, publishers, agents, and avid readers. (Cutoff for entries 5/11/26.)
Eligibility:
Open to authors, designers, publishers, and publicists anywhere. Books must have a direct creative connection to New Mexico or the greater Navajo Nation (for example, author, publisher, subject, cover design). Books with a publication date or copyright date in 2024 or 2025. Click here for more information.
Come and Support the Authors of Our SWW Anthology Unbreaking the Circle!
Five programs of authors reading and discussing their work, supported by grants from New Mexico Arts, remain. One will be online; the rest will be happening throughout the state. The series ends on 6/10/26. The readers will also be discussing how writing their chapters affected their healing. Attend and support the authors and their work.
Email sage@swwriters.com with links to anything you think we should share with Sage subscribers.
Welcome to SouthWest Writers!
The following writers joined our community last month. We hope to see you at one of our events in person or online. Write on!
Jeffrey LaCroix, Bill Richard, Samantha Corfield, Terry Nichols, Amanda Knee, Karen Huismann, Lesa Masten, Mary Carter, and Trish Herron.
If you’re not yet a member, learn more about the benefits here. (Remember, if you’re a member, the Office can let those on our mailing list know about your book launch!)
We have resources for writers across our platforms and additional content on our members-only section of the website. Visit our website, ask to join our Facebook Group, check out our blog, see what we’re saying on X (Twitter), check out the session recordings on our YouTube channel, or find our page on Goodreads.