SOMOS presents programs that focus on freedom of expression and human rights, featuring works by authors who have been imperiled, imprisoned, or silenced by political censorship. Presenters have included Chilean professor Marjorie Agosin of Wellesley College, and Cambodian exile U Sam Oeur. SOMOS also offers programs which express our connection to the greater world community, and deepen our perception and understanding of nature. Presenters have included William deBuys and Terry Tempest Williams.

Don’t you love attending an event that stirs your imagination, evokes deep laughter and perhaps tears? Welcome to storytelling, an art form that fills your mind, body and heart. A good storyteller can weave you through the spectrum of emotion and create an image that returns months and years later; a line, metaphor, or moral that sticks with us – an intellectual anchor that we can draw upon. Being engaged with a fine storyteller is a work out for the soul; a bright mode of communication and connection in this quick throw away society.
S.O.M.O.S. has created an event that provides just this kind of outlet and opportunity. Our 2009 Tenth Annual Taos Storytelling Festival will be held on Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17 at the Taos Center for the Arts, 133 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos. Once again we’re offering an impressive lineup of tellers spinning their weave in concerts, children stories, tales of the weird, and in visits to our locals schools.
Click here for complete details.

S.O.M.O.S. workshops are designed to assist both novice and experienced writers. They offer a variety of genres, and address both the creative and practical aspects of being a writer. Workshops presented throughout the year are open to non-members. Topics have included poetry, fiction, presentation, political expression through art, personal memoir, and legal issues for writers. Past presenters have included Robin Becker, Denise Chavez, Joan Logghe, Jim Navé, Levi Romero, Jenny Goldberg, Roger Weingarten and Sean Murphy. Visit our website again soon for updated information and schedules

THE BIG READ – ULTIMA IS COMING! NOVEMBER 7 – DECEMBER 1
Big Read is a project of the National Endowment for the Arts, and is sponsored here in Taos by SOMOS, Taos’ premier literary organization, in collaboration with the Taos Public Library.
The Big Read is a month-long party, and everybody’s invited. The idea is that all of us who live here in Taos County will read the same book at the same time and be inspired to talk about the issues it raises. The book is BLESS ME, ULTIMA, by New Mexico author Rudolfo Anaya. We’ll be giving the books away FREE at our kickoff event at the Library on Saturday, November 7, and we’ll have dozens of other events and activities throughout the month to encourage people to come out and share their thoughts and stories.
Who’s Ultima? She’s a curandera, an old woman with an owl familiar and an insight into the healing powers of the ancient ways, and she comes to live with the family of Antonio, a young boy growing up during the time of World War II. Antonio is slated to become a cowboy like his father … unless he becomes a priest to the farmers of his mother’s community – and, either way, he’s bound to disappoint somebody. He’s a boy in a quandary, and when Ultima comes to live with his family he learns that there are many different ways to look at a situation.