S.O.M.O.S. presents programs that focus on freedom of expression and human rights, featuring works by authors who have been imperiled, imprisoned, or silenced by political censorship. Presenters have included Chilean professor Marjorie Agosin of Wellesley College, and Cambodian exile U Sam Oeur. S.O.M.O.S. also offers programs which express our connection to the greater world community, and deepen our perception and understanding of nature. Presenters have included William deBuys and Terry Tempest Williams.

Don’t you love attending an event that stirs your imagination, evokes deep laughter and perhaps tears? Welcome to storytelling, an art form that fills your mind, body and heart. A good storyteller can weave you through the spectrum of emotion and create an image that returns months and years later; a line, metaphor, or moral that sticks with us – an intellectual anchor that we can draw upon. Being engaged with a fine storyteller is a work out for the soul; a bright mode of communication and connection in this quick throw away society.
S.O.M.O.S. has created an event that provides just this kind of outlet and opportunity. Our 2008 Ninth Annual Taos Storytelling Festival will be held on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18 at the Anglada's Building, 736 Kit Carson Rd, Taos.. Once again we’re offering an impressive lineup of tellers spinning their weave in concerts, children stories, tales of the weird, and in visits to our locals schools.
Visit us again soon for complete details.

S.O.M.O.S. workshops are designed to assist both novice and experienced writers. They offer a variety of genres, and address both the creative and practical aspects of being a writer. Workshops presented throughout the year are open to non-members. Topics have included poetry, fiction, presentation, political expression through art, personal memoir, and legal issues for writers. Past presenters have included Robin Becker, Denise Chavez, Joan Logghe, Jim Navé, Levi Romero, Jenny Goldberg, Roger Weingarten and Sean Murphy. Visit our website again soon for updated information and schedules.

MIKE FARRELL: READING & BOOK SIGNING
A special evening with Mike Farrell, Thursday, May 15, 7:30 pm at the Harwood Museum of Art, 238 Ledoux Street. reading and book signing of Farrell’s Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist (Akashic Books/RDV Books, New York). "Just call me Mike is a riveting tale of personal, professional, and civic grouth from sallow California kid to mature citizen committed to a more just social order." --Ambassador Joseph Wilson.
Best known for his eight years on M*A*S*H* and five years on Providence, Mike Farrell is also a writer, director, and producer, co-chair emeritus of Human Rights Watch in Southern California: spokesperson for Concern American; and cofounder of Artists United to Win Without War. As president of Death Penalty Focus, he speaks, writes and works to abolish capital punishment.
FREE to the public, this event is co-hosted by SOMOS, UNM-Taos Library, and the Harwood Museum of Art.

4th ANNUAL FUNDRAISING DINNER/BENEFIT
This famously fun event will be held on Sunday, June 1 at 5:30 PM at the Bavarian Lodge in Taos Ski Valley, with honored guests Ambassador Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame Wilson, and will include a delicious dinner, and live auction.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson: former U.S. Ambassador, author: The Politics of Truth. During his 20-plus year career in international relations, he held numerous senior government appointments, including Special Assistant to President Clinton and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council.

Valerie Plame Wilson: “outed" former CIA agent, author of Fair Game : My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House. She is a former CIA operative who in 2003 found herself the subject of a political storm when her covert identity was revealed in a syndicated newspaper column.
$125/per person. Limited Seating! For information and to make reservations, please call 575-758-0081 or e-mail somos@laplaza.org.