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A timely and essential interview for all of us in the midst of change. Whether we’ve been suddenly thrust into a life change through losing a job, a home, or a beloved or are being gently nudged to make a change, Rebecca Borland Reynolds assures us that we can forever change the way we change. Published this week, Thresholds of Change: The Way Through Transformational Times is her stage-by-stage guide borne from intimate experience and professional research and collaboration with corporations and individuals over 30 years. Meet Rebecca at Santa Fe’s Garcia Street Books this Sunday, October 6th at 4:30 and begin to enjoy and welcome changes, big and small, global and very personal. www.rebeccaborlandreynolds.com

Journey with me behind the velvet curtains of the Paris Opera House in the hopeful years before the outbreak of World War II. A beautiful young soprano with a soaring voice destined for a starlit future, Yvonne is cast as an understudy to Madeleine, the most beloved voice of her time in the opera world. As Hitler’s SS advance on Paris, and Yvonne’s son enlists to help save France, she realizes that her casting is really a trap and is forced to make impossible decisions in order to survive. A gripping debut novel by Aurelie Thiele who grew up surrounded by opera. Published by Penguin Random House.

A unique opportunity to support student literacy through Reading Quest, hone your writing skills and participate in stimulating conversation with wonderful local authors. Coming up this Saturday, September 7th meet eight of New Mexico’s finest authors in the genre of Memoir and Mystery. As a preview, I interview historical mystery writer, Kari Bovee, author of 14 “cosy” mysteries including The Pryce of Murder series, and workshop organizer, memoirist Bettye Kearse author of The Other Madisons: The Lost History of A President’s Black Family. Saturday, September 7th, 9:00 am at Santa Fe Women’s Club. The afternoon session on mystery begins at 1:00 pm with a keynote by Anne Hillerman. Registration details for the full day or half day at bettyekearse.com

Do you ever wonder how to speak authentically to your friends, acquaintances and colleagues or do you even question that your words may not really be what you’re thinking and feeling deep down ? Robert W. Jensen, Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Media at UT, Austin, poses these and many provocative questions and ideas in his latest book, It’s Debatable: Talking Authentically about Many Tricky Topics. While not necessarily a book about politics, Professor Jensen takes the wide view that almost everything is political and our personal thoughts, conversations, decisions and actions, when in congruence, can sow seeds and form a vital thread of influence. Even if only to influence and clarify our own thinking and nudge us out of denial. And because of the title of his book and the fact that we’re in such a head-butting political time I couldn’t help asking Bob how he would advise both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump if he was on their debate advisory teams! robertwjensen.org

Journey down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast of the turbulent 1950s with award-winning author Minrose Gwin and her unforgettable characters with enchanting names like Memory Feather. How does a writer portray the angst and terror and also the beauty of times past? Minrose Gwin has a deft and rich, descriptive style to her prose and composes a picture for us so vivid that might have us swatting (imagined) mosquitos as we read Beautiful Dreamers in our air conditioned living rooms. A fabulous storyteller from Albuquerque to add to our reading list and meet at Books in The Bosque on Sunday, September 8th at 2:00 pm minrosegwin.com

You may be familiar with Haiku yet perhaps not Tanka another poetry form originating in pre-Buddhist Japan traditionally written and exchanged by lovers after their first union. A sweet note that emerges during today’s interview with Albuquerque Poet Laureate Emeritus Mary Oishi. Mary’s new collection, Sidewalk Cruiseship, is arranged in Tanka form and delights our hearts and sears our minds with her vision and perception. Mary’s decades of activist work in justice, her mentorship of queer youth and her love and knowledge of original blues music all bring her poetry alive and relevant to real life, tough and beautiful. Come and meet Mary Oishi in conversation with poet Michelle Otero at Collected Works, Tuesday May 7th at 6:00 pm.

Joined today by poet and musician Lee Underwood reading from his new, beautifully crafted volume, Riversong. Many poems are dedicated to his beloved wife of 50 years Sonia Crespi, his Lady of the Streams. Lee poignantly shares wisdom of their long relationship, how they forged and deepened their “marriage of opposites” through thick and thin. How loves endures and how the sweetness and power of the natural world soothes, comforts and inspired them both. A gentle interview with an octogenarian to sit beside and listen. Riversong published by Poetic Matrix Press poeticmatrix.com. Contact Lee for a signed copy at undrwd@sti.net

With me today is Christina Vo a Vietnamese American who has written an exquisitely crafted memoir with her father, Nghia M. Vo. My Vietnam, Your Vietnam: A Father Flees, A Daughter Returns. Nghia, risking death, torture or imprisonment was miraculously picked up by a small rescue boat a few days after the fall of Saigon in April, 1975 and eventually forged a new life in the United States. Yet like many refugees Christina’s parents never spoke to their children of the horrors of the war and their harrowing escape, even only speaking their native language when Christina and her sister were asleep or out of earshot. So it was after college in the Midwest that Christina began to feel a yearning to discover her rich ancestral roots and journeyed first to Hanoi. The theme of reconciliation runs like a precious gem through our vibrant conversation. My Vietnam, Your Vietnam published by Three Rooms Press.

A treat for me to unwind with poet and writing teacher, Miriam Sagan, stopping by the KSFR studios with her inspiring collection, Thanks for Stopping By. Always breaking new ground and breaking the rules, this time Miriam’s poems are untitled, adding an unexpected potency and triggering an unconscious sense of immediacy. Miriam discusses her sojourns as writer-in-residence in Japan a few years ago, as well as alone in four of our vast National Parks. Also, we take a peak into a new project she’s creating with her daughter Isabel. Look for Thanks for Stopping By at any of our treasured local bookstores.

Continuing poetry month here on The Last Word with Santa Fe’s much loved Wayne Lee here in the KSFR studios accompanied by his cat. Well, Buddha’s Cat to be specific, the title of his brand new chapbook published this week, a collection dedicated to furry four-legged creatures of all species, from beloved companion animals to the wildest and most revered and even feared here in New Mexico and across the country. Wayne’s evocative writing simultaneously cracks open your heart, tickles your funny bone, and sends shivers down your spine as he reads with honest and deeply personal emotion forged with astute awareness and great love of our natural world. Wayne will be the featured spoken word artist this Saturday morning May 23rd at 10:30 at Chatter North at the Center of Contemporary Art (CCA) on the Old Pecos Trail. More at wayneleepoet.com