The Tucson Festival of Books is a favorite event for celebrated authors from across the U.S., but it provides a special opportunity for local authors who may not otherwise have the means to market their work on such a large scale.

Last year’s festival boasted 130,000 attendees, providing established and first-time authors with a built-in audience to market their work.

Bestselling author and journalist Anne Hillerman falls into both of those groups, carrying on the work of her father, Tony Hillerman, and publishing her 10th novel this year.

Hillerman is one of 44 Tucson-based authors invited by the festival to talk about their work.

While Hillerman’s work is well-known, she said the event is great for Arizona-based writers who often self-publish or publish through small presses that don’t have the means to cover travel expenses.

That was true for Gabriel Palacios, who published his first book last year.

“My book was published in 2024, but I was really grateful to get this invitation,” he said. “For a small-press poet, there is only so much we can do to bring the book, not just into the world, but into people’s faces.”

Palacios, a native Tucsonan, college writing instructor and poet, has been attending the festival as a fan on and off for years.

“When you grow up somewhere, everything around you is just kind of like furniture; you’re blind to it,” he said. “But I have so much appreciation for [the festival] now.”

He said his debut poetry collection, “A Ten Peso Burial for Which I Sign,” helped him find that appreciation.

When Palacios began writing, he had many questions: What does it mean to have ancestors who settled here? Whose land are they settling on?

These questions started in Palacios’ home in South Tucson, close to the Spanish Trail Motel, a building he found to be a mystery and sparked his curiosity.

“I think this book is really a Tucson-centric book,” he said. “It’s really rooted in this place.”

While writing his book, Palacios delved into internet and physical archives to learn about the history of the Spanish Trail Motel and his ancestors. He said this was a way for him to be attentive to place and find a greater connection to where he was.

This will be Palacios' first time as a presenting author at the festival, which he said is giving him the opportunity to be in a space and have conversations with well-known and established authors.

The Tucson Festival of Books “really elevates what I do, and gives me the kind of reach I wouldn’t have,” he said.

Palacios is a panelist on a session called “The Poetics of Place,” featuring Forrest Gander, an author Palacios said he admires, and Farid Matuk.

He’ll also be speaking on a panel called “Voicing the Archives” with Denise Low, moderated by Palacios’ former professor and influential documentary poet Susan Briante.

“I just feel really seen that my work is viewed through those lenses,” he said. “I’m being included in those conversations, so that’s pretty moving for me.”

Writing can be an isolating profession, something else that resonates with Palacios. Being a presenting author at the festival gives authors the opportunity to be a part of the community, to network with other writers, and field questions from their readers.

It also gives lesser-known authors a chance to meet the big names they admire, as well as admirers of their own.

“One of the real benefits of doing these kinds of events for authors is to just get together and see each other,” said romance author Jen DeLuca, adding that a big part of an author’s job involves sitting alone in front of a computer.

DeLuca is a USA Today bestselling author of the “Well Met” series. She’s lived in Tucson for five years, and this will be her third time attending the festival as a presenting author.

This year, she’ll take part in panels “Love, Arizona” and “Unreal!”

After attending the festival for three years, DeLuca said she’s still impressed every year.

“To see how far it stretches, and just the number of panels and the diversity of authors and genres,” she said. “It seems like it covers just about anything. That’s so impressive to me.”

Both DeLuca and Hillerman can attest to the work the volunteers put into making the festival an unforgettable event each year.

“The volunteers are so wonderful,” Hillerman said. “They help you with every detail, and they have a great green room where you can go get coffee, and run into other people, maybe some of whom have been your inspiration.”

Tucson and the book festival have held a special place in Hillerman’s heart since 2010, when she was first invited to be a presenting author.

After being invited again and again to the festival and eventually marrying a Tucsonan, Hillerman finally settled down and bought a home in the Old Pueblo.

She said the Festival of Books is a national treasure and she especially enjoys having the chance to hear in person from other authors whose work she admires and getting the chance to be exposed to so many different readers as a presenter.

Hillerman will take part in Sunday’s “From the Page to Your Living Room” discussion with Craig Johnson and Thomas Perry.

“Perfect, it’s really perfect,” Hillerman said.

Gracie Kayko is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist.

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