New Mexico Writers Board of Directors
James McGrath Morris, Executive Director
James is the author of four biographies and several works of narrative history. His New York Times bestselling Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, The First Lady of the Black Press was awarded the Benjamin Hooks National Book Prize for the best work in civil rights history. His previous biography, Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power was selected by the Wall Street Journal one of the five best books on American moguls.
Lucy Moore, Secretary
Lucy is a mediator and facilitator focusing on environmental disputes, often involving cross-cultural issues. Based in Santa Fe, she works regionally and nationally. She is author of "Common Ground on Hostile Turf: Stories from an Environmental Mediator," Island Press, 2013, and "Into the Canyon: Seven Years in Navajo Country, UNM Press, 2004. She also posts monthly on her blog at lucymoore.com. She is delighted to be part of this effort to enrich and diversify the literary landscape in New Mexico.
Revell Carr, Treasurer
After a 31-year career at Mystic Seaport Museum, Revell Carr had time to write. His non-fiction book All Brave Sailors was published 2004 by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. and by several publishers in countries abroad. His American colonial history, Seeds of Discontent was published in 2008 by Bloomsbury/Walker & Co. He is slowly working on new book. He is Treasurer of New Mexico Writers and recently completed four years as President of the Board of Santa Fe Pro Musica. He is a founder and past president of the Women’s International Study Center here in Santa Fe.
Destiny Allison
Destiny chairs the marketing committee for New Mexico Writers. She has authored two award winning memoirs, The Romance Diet: Body Image and the Wars We Wage on Ourselves and Shaping Destiny, and two novels, Pipe Dreams and Bitterroot. In addition to her work as an author, she owns four Santa Fe Businesses, was named Santa Fe Business Woman of the Year, and was an award winning professional sculptor for most of her life.
Sandra Blakeslee
Sandra is a recently retired journalist who covered science and medicine at the New York Times for over 45 years. She is vice-chair of Searchlight, New Mexico, an investigative journalism nonprofit dedicated to uncovering malfeasance in our region. She serves on the grants committee for New Mexico Writers.
Pamela Lewis
Pam Lewis of Albuquerque, is chair of the dinner committee for New Mexico Writers. The author of the novels—Speak Softly, She Can Hear; Perfect Family; and A Young Wife—her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and her nonfiction in Redbook and various newspapers.
Cassie McClure
As an elder millennial, Cassie McClure waited out the not-so-Great Recession by getting an MA in rhetoric to follow up a BA in journalism. She worked in a library for a long time. She then thought she should use her degrees and became a freelance writer, writing about a wide variety of things like entertainment, home decor, entrepreneurs, and the intricacies of city-wide plumbing. She's written the column "My So-Called Millennial Life" since 2016 in the Las Cruces Sun-News and, since 2020, has been nationally syndicated through the Creators Syndicate. She can be reached at cassie@mcclurepublications.com.
Carmella Padilla, Chair
Carmella Padilla is the author and/or editor of seven books exploring intersections in history, art, and culture in New Mexico and beyond. A native Santa Fean, Padilla is a recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Literary Arts. She serves as chair of the Grants Committee for New Mexico Writers.
Luci Tapahonso
Luci serves on the grant review committee. She is Professor Emerita of English Literature, the inaugural Navajo Nation Poet Laureate and the author of 6 books of poetry and 3 children’s books.