Customer Reviews

Literary Pilgrims: The Santa Fe and Taos Writers' Colonies, 1917-1950

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"Literary Pilgrims," by Lynn Cline is an outstanding account of the writers' colonies of Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The book is clearly organized, with a section for Taos and a section for Santa Fe, and with every chapter focusing on a particular author. Cline's prose is crisp and immediately understandable, and the book reads incredibly well.

Everyone for Mary Austin to Willa Cather is explored here, as are D.H. Lawrence and Frank Waters. Among my recent research on the many writers of Santa Fe, this was certainly among the best books I discovered on the subject. For sure.

The book is well worth reading, and well worth buying. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about the histories of Taos or Santa Fe, or to anyone interested in the literary heritage of the Southwest. It also contains some great photos.

After World War I, people in the East disillusioned with materialism and mechanization fled to northern New Mexico. The landscape, the people, the lifestyle offered simpler ways. Santa Fe and Taos became colonies for artists; yet writers found their way here too. Author Lynn Cline has written a collection of essays about such notables as Mary Austin, Oliver La Farge, Willa Cather, D.H. Lawrence among others. Literary Pilgrims also includes lesser-known writers such as Lynn Riggs, the creator of Green Grow the Lilacs, the basis for the Rogers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!

More than a compilation of essays, the book takes a long look at the influences that prompted the literary past of the area. It also reveals anecdotes that give a bit of insight into the people. Consider Witter Bynner, a graduate of Harvard and magazine editor in New York. He came to Santa Fe to give a lecture and stayed, reflecting the "Southwestern landscape, more than any other ... reduces vainglory in a man and enforces his exact, or at least his reasonable importance." Writers come and stay for the same reasons even today.

Lynn Cline makes the literary scene, its characters, lumiaries and times both readable and lively. She has done wonderful research