New Mexico State University (NMSU) will host a public reading event featuring author Deborah Jackson Taffa and MFA candidate Rodrigo Hernandez. This event is part of the Nelson-Boswell Reading Series, which brings visiting writers to NMSU to share their work with the community.

Deborah Jackson Taffa, director of the MFA Creative Writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and a citizen of the Quechan (Yuma) Nation and Laguna Pueblo, will read from her book "Whiskey Tender." The book has been longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award.

Rodrigo Hernandez, an NMSU MFA student, will read from his developing thesis before Taffa’s reading.

The event is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27 at CMI Theatre in Milton Hall, Room 171.

Following the readings, there will be a reception at Bosque Brewing Company located at 901 E. University Ave., directly across University Avenue from the ASNMSU Center for the Arts.

Before her current role at IAIA, Taffa taught creative nonfiction at Webster University and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She also served as an executive board member with the Missouri Humanities Council where she helped create a Native American Heritage Program in the state.