SouthWest Writers Receives a 2026 NMA Mini Grant
We are pleased to announce that the FY26 Arts & The Military Mini Grants Program has awarded SouthWest Writers (SWW) a new grant, to take place from 1 January 2026 until 15 June 2026.
Veterans and family members who were published in Holes in Our Hearts (2023) or Unbreaking the Circle (2025), or who participated in the 2024 online memoir course, all funded by New Mexico Arts (NMA) and SWW, will conduct in-person public readings of their published writing from those programs that feature their healing journeys. Speakers will discuss how writing contributed to their healing.
Authors published in the two previous anthologies, have been contacted directly by Jim Tritten, the project leader, offering them the opportunity to participate in the FY26 outreach program. Previous public reading efforts have occurred mainly in Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Santa Fe counties. Priority in 2026 is for activities in counties outside of these three. In order to expand its outreach to distant counties, the Wednesday, 27 May 2026 SWW Zoom meeting will include readings by authors who cannot attend one of our in-person program events.
Once the venues are scheduled, this webpage will list all opportunities for authors from our two previous anthologies to volunteer to travel to these locations and participate. Authors will be expected to read an extract from their published writings in Holes in Our Hearts or Unbreaking the Circle and discuss with the audience how they used writing to help their healing. Discussions don’t need to include medical details. If the author used humor, for example, to help healing, they need to just explain that.
Funding is available and will primarily be used to reimburse travel and venue costs.
Available Reader Venues
Use the form below to submit your name to the 2026 NMA SWW outreach reading program:
A New Mexico map for reference:
For more information, please contact Jim at military@swwriters.com or jtritten121@comcast.net, or his cell phone at 505-453-6795.