A Writer's Guide to Las Cruces, New Mexico

The Thomas Branigan Memorial Library is the downtown library of Las Cruces Public Libraries. Local nonprofits can request a meeting room there for a free public event, and study rooms for one person or a group of up to three are booked online. A library card brings interlibrary loan and the digital library. It is closed Sundays.

Community members can use NMSU's collections and spaces during regular hours. A guest borrower card, by application, lets you check out up to ten items for four weeks. Guests can use metered public computers on the first floors of Zuhl and Branson. The subscription databases are available onsite only.

The Rio Grande Historical Collections hold papers and records on the history of New Mexico and the Spanish Borderlands, alongside the university archives and the political papers of New Mexico officeholders. Any researcher can work in the Caroline E. Stras Research Room on weekdays during the fall and spring semesters. Between semesters, the room opens by appointment. Give 24 hours' notice through the Research Materials form or archives@nmsu.edu.

COAS Books grew out of COAS Publishing, which the archaeologist Pat Beckett founded in 1973. Mike and Veronica Beckett run it now as a family business. The downtown store stocks new and used books, regional and out-of-print titles among them, along with music, films and games. Local authors sign books here, and the store is open daily.

Casa Camino Real, owned by the novelist Denise Chávez, opened in 2012 in an old adobe home and grew out of the Border Book Festival. It sells new, used, and out-of-print books, with Chicano/Latino and U.S.–México border literature among its specialties. Writers can call to arrange a signing or to present their own publication.

Milagro serves coffee, pastries and bagels, and it is open daily. A study-café guide lists it as laptop-friendly, with a quiet study area and plenty of outlets.

Grounded Lounge is a downtown coffeehouse that stays open into the evening and serves pizza alongside the coffee. There is live music every Friday night. It is closed Sundays.

La Posta has been open since 1939 in a historic adobe hacienda in Mesilla, once a stop on the Butterfield Stagecoach Line. The restaurant runs a music series. It has also published its own cookbook.

Each fall and spring semester, the Nelson-Boswell Reading Series brings visiting writers to NMSU, and graduating MFA students give thesis readings. The readings are free and open to the public. The series is named for Antonya Nelson and Robert Boswell, who began their teaching careers at NMSU, and grew out of the Distinguished Visiting Writer Series that Joe Somoza and Keith Wilson started.

The Las Cruces chapter of Shut Up & Write! meets every week at The Bean on Mesquite. Writers spend a block of time on their own work and can stay afterward to talk. It is free.

New Mexico Writers, a nonprofit founded in 2016, connects the state's literary community. Its monthly newsletter, The New Mexico Writer, rounds up readings, workshops, and grant opportunities. The group also holds an Annual Dinner and runs the New Mexico Book Awards.

The New Mexico State Poetry Society promotes the creation and appreciation of poetry throughout the state. Its chapters meet on Zoom. The society keeps a statewide poetry calendar and publishes the Cadence! anthology.

CLABS links NMSU faculty with colleagues at UNM, UTEP, and three Mexican institutions for work on Latin America and the U.S.-Mexico border. Its speaker series runs every year in English, Spanish, or both. Scholars can use the Nason Collection of more than 1,600 books and serials on Mexico and Central America on weekday afternoons.

The New Mexico Humanities Council engages New Mexicans with history, cultural traditions, and storytelling. Its programs include NM Listens and Cemetery Stories. The Southern New Mexico Heritage project covers this part of the state.

Chicana/Latina Studies is the interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS), published twice a year. It prints scholarship, commentary, reviews, and creative writing by and about Chicanas/Latinas and Indigenous women of the Americas, in English, Spanish, or both. Its lead editor and editorial team are at New Mexico State University. Preparing an article for Chicana/Latina Studies

New Mexico Writers gives grants each year to writers from every part of the state and the greater Navajo Nation, in genres from poetry and fiction to journalism and screenwriting. A grant can pay for a workshop, a mentorship, research travel, or time to write. The program includes the Douglas Preston Travel Grant and the Preston Young Writers Grant, which is for writers aged 18 to 25.

The New Mexico Book Awards run to more than forty categories, from poetry to cover design. Print books in English or Spanish qualify when the author, publisher, subject, or design has a direct creative connection to New Mexico or the greater Navajo Nation.

New Mexico Arts and the New Mexico State Library appoint a poet to a three-year term. The laureate gives public readings and workshops and leads poetry projects across the state.

The Governor's Arts Awards, established in 1974, honor New Mexico artists, arts organizations, and arts supporters. Authors and poets are among the artists recognized. Nominations come from New Mexico residents.

Our sister site's guide gathers grants and writing resources for NMSU students.

Presley is a local commercial printer that also handles bulk mailing and signs.

This FedEx Office binds reports and proposals with covers and specialty paper. It also prints posters and banners. You can print on your own from email, a USB drive, or cloud storage.

The UPS Store on El Paseo copies reports in black and white or color. Coil binding is available.