Santa Fe Writers Project

SFWP is an independent press dedicated to the craft of writing. We stand by our authors and we stand by our books, embracing new trends and ideas beyond those of the current publishing industry.

Our history, and our mission, goes far beyond publishing. At the heart of SFWP, we are a resource for authors. For a decade, we have hosted an internationally recognized Literary Awards Program. Since 2002, we have maintained an online Literary Journal which provides a home for published and unpublished authors, featuring fiction, creative nonfiction, book reviews, and experimental work.

In 2010, we are expanding with a Screenplay Awards Program, judged by Bill Phillips, the screenwriter who brought us Stephen King’s Christine.

In conjunction with Pagan Kennedy, we will also be launching “Writers Aloud,” a new service tracking the best Podcasts and audio resources for writers and listeners. Part of the Writers Aloud project will be an in-depth look at the future of publishing, and we’re glad to have Pagan at the helm. An author not afraid of exploring new avenues for the written word – be it on paper, through your headphones, or even embedded beneath your skin…

Interested? Please join us on Facebook, and keep an eye on this site as we continue to move forward and evolve.

The Santa Fe Writers Project was founded in 1998 by Andrew Gifford. The goal, then and now, was to offer recognition for excellence in writing in a time of declining support for writers and the craft of literature. What started as a grass-roots trial effort supported by a small group of writers and arts advocates in Santa Fe, has since spawned an internationally recognized literary awards program and an on-line literary journal fueled by a community of authors who are organized around the Project’s goals and ideas.

Read a profile about Andrew Gifford from the Washington Post Magazine

Read an interview with Andrew from the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD.

SFWP now looks forward to continued growth as we explore different ways to champion books, writing, and writers. In 2005, we realized a lifelong vision: to launch a small press. SFWP secured the work of Canadian author Ray Robertson, hailed as one of Canada’s finest novelists. His acclaimed novel, Moody Food, was the first title offered by SFWP, released in 2006 and earning a gold Independent Publisher award for best regional fiction. Our second release, The Fires, is a duo of novellas from NPR commentator Alan Cheuse, and was released in 2007. On September 1st, 2008, SFWP released a new collection of nonfiction from celebrated pop-culture maven Pagan Kennedy titled The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Tales. In 2009, we released the 20th Anniversary edition of Fatal Light, by Richard Currey. For 2010, we’ll be developing the resource side of SFWP.

Since 2000, the Project has held a successful annual Literary Awards Program, attracting thousands of outstanding authors from over 70 nations and judged by authors such as Richard Currey, Jayne Anne Phillips, Chris Offutt, Kate Horsley, Ayun Halliday, Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler, and the “Queen of the ‘Zines” Pagan Kennedy. Each of the grand prize winners, and many other honorable mentions, continued through to publication and successful writing careers. In 2010, the program, not partnered with the Grub Street Writing Center, will be judged once again by Robert Olen Butler, and we will again be referring winners to the Irene Goodman Literary Agency for review. We will also be hosting a screenplay program, judged by Bill Phillips.

“SFWP launched the best year of my literary life.”

–K.L. Cook, author of Last Call and The Girl from Charnelle

In the summer of 2002, we introduced our online literary journal, dedicated to our goal to promote and recognize authors. Ever since those first days, the journal has thrived, supported by our lively community.

With years of experience, and extreme dedication to the literary world, SFWP continues without hesitation on the path dreamed of in 1998.