Category: Program

AMERICAN HISTORY TEACHER turned Photographer-Author-Public Speaker Joseph Sohm is both student and teacher of America’s past, present and future. He conceived “Visions of America” (TM) as an on-going multi-media project dedicated to capturing the American spirit in print and multi-media presentations. Spanning thirty years, Sohm has traveled and photographed all 50-states. Images from his “Visions of America” collection are published 50,000 times worldwide a year and 500,000 timesover his lifetime, through his international photo agencies Getty Images, Corbis, Shutterstock, etc.

More about Joe Sohm here.

Submit questions for Joe Sohm here.

Join the May 22nd Livestream here.

Website

Linktree

Still Crazy By Judy Prescott Marshall
A strong, loving and passionate wife discovers a handwritten note that has the power to either destroy her or make her stronger yet.

Still Crazy is the story of one woman’s journey through pain, betrayal, and forgiveness as she learns to hold onto her faith and, for the first time in her life trust in herself. Julie Holliday
has always had a dream – to be the perfect wife. After she gives her heart to the love of her life, all she wants is for Dan to adore her the way she adores him. With a high school
equivalency in one hand and a fist full of ambition in the other, together they build a million-dollar empire. It seems Julie and Dan have a fairytale life – that is, until the day she
discovers her love for him is not enough to stop him from having what she suspects is numerous affairs.

Judy Prescott Marshall earned her certificate, Write Your First Novel, from Michigan State
University. She writes women’s contemporary fiction. Judy enjoys writing stories about real
women facing life’s many struggles and their journey through it all. She’s also the founder of
the Be Strong Enough Foundation – helping women, children and their pets. Judy is represented by Black Hawk Literary Agency.

Submit your questions for Judy here.

Join the May 10th Livestream here.

View the Book Talk on OFPL’s Youtube Channel.

City of Albuquerque Poet Laureate (2016-2018), began his career in the poetry slam and has represented Albuquerque four times as a member of the Albuquerque poetry slam team. After working in Albuquerque’s poetry community for 6 yrs, Manuel began to use slam poetry to help local youth find positive and constructive ways to deal with life’s pressures. Manuel began teaching workshops on self-expression through poetry in high schools, youth detention centers and also started facilitating art therapy programs to help at-risk and incarcerated youth. In 2014, Manuel started Low Writing at El Chante, a free bi-monthly writer’s group open to all members of the community. In 2016, Manuel was selected as Albuquerque’s 3rd poet laureate and has continued his passion for helping others heal and express themselves through poetry. Manuel has appeared on the PBS show, ¡COLORES!: My word is my power and on ¡COLORES! 9/23/2017and has two collections of his poetry published entitled, But my friends call me Burque….  and  Om Boy (Swimming with Elephants Press) His third book, Duende de Burque: Albuquerque Musings (UNM Press), just released February 2021 and is available now. Currently, Manuel is working with the University of New Mexico Chicana/Chicano Studies program as a consultant.

Duende de Burque
…but my friends call me Burque
Om Boy

Sarita Sol González is a 16-year-old performance poet from Albuquerque, New Mexico currently attending New Mexico School for the Arts. Sarita has been published in various poetry anthologies and in 2016 published Burquenita (Swimming With Elephants Publications). Sarita was a featured speaker at Albuquerque TEDxYouth 2015 and a featured performer at TEDxABQ Main Event 2018. In April of 2016, Sarita had the honor of being invited by US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, to perform with him at the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Sarita has also been awarded the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce 2016 President’s Award for her accomplishments in poetry and most recently a 2018 Albuquerque Creative Bravos Award for using her poetry in community outreach. She also had the privilege to open for professor and jazz icon Dr. Ron McCurdy and his presentation of The Langston Hughes Project’s Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz at the University of New Mexico’s Popejoy Hall in February of 2020. Sarita currently manages and hosts WOC: Women of Color Open Mic at El Chante: Casa de Cultura. A monthly poetry open mic and feature with the priority on WOC voices.

View their poetry on OFPL’s YouTube Channel.

Beth Kuiper is returning to the Gallup area after some time away studying art at Cerritos College in Los Angeles, CA.  She enjoys working in various mediums including paper, acrylics, gauche, photography and mixed media.  The wonderful people and landscapes of New Mexico have inspired her works.

Instagram
Etsy

John Lewis Taylor is a longtime educator in western New Mexico, having served as a teacher and principal for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and as an instructor at the University of New Mexico-Gallup.

He is enthralled with the history of the American Southwest and retirement has allowed him the time to research and write about his passion.

John Lewis Taylor holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Western Kentucky University and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of New Mexico. He is the author of Looking for Dan: The Puzzling Life of a Frontier Character Daniel Dubois and Navajo Scouts During The Apache Wars.

He currently lives with his wife, Betty, in Gallup, New Mexico.

View his presentation on OFPL’s YouTube Channel.