The Black Mountain Institute (BMI) at UNLV presents the Fall 2011 Readings and Panels series, which brings prominent writers and lecturers in literature, politics and social issues from across the nation to UNLV. Events are subject to change. All events are free and open to the public.
Reading with Joshua Kryah
Date/Time: Thursday, Sept.15 at 7 p.m.
Location: UNLV Greenspun Hall Auditorium
Description: Joshua Kryah received his Ph.D. from UNLV and was the Poetry Schaeffer Fellow at BMI. He now serves as the poetry editor of BMI's literary journal "Witness." His first book, "Glean," was awarded the 2005 Nightboat Books Poetry Prize. He has also authored "We Are Starved," a second collection of poems describing his struggles growing up in St. Louis.
Uncensored Voices: Celebrating Literary Freedom
Date/Time: Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m.
Location: Clark County Library Theater, 1401. E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas
Description: Carol Harter, UNLV President Emerita and BMI executive director, will moderate as local community leaders and writers read from controversial works in literary history. Co-sponsored by Vegas Valley Book Festival, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.
Transforming Artists
Date/Time: Monday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum Auditorium
Description: This UNLV Forum Lecture Series features Moniro Ravanipour, an internationally acclaimed author, Margot Mink Colbert, a dancer and choreographer, and Roberta Sabbath, instructor in the UNLV English department. This event is co-sponsored by the UNLV departments of dance and English.
Theism and Atheism
Date/Time: Thursday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.
Location: UNLV Student Union Ballroom
Description: Reza Aslan will moderate a panel on theism and atheism with writers Susan Jacoby and Karen King. Jacoby is the author of 10 nonfiction books including "Never Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age." She writes the column "The Spirited Atheist" for The Washington Post. Her work focuses on American intellectual history. King is the first female Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, and is the author of several books including "Reading Judas: The Gospels of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity." Aslan is the author of "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam" which Blackwell Publishers praised as one of the 100 most influential books of the last decade.
Reading with Laura van den Berg
Date/Time: Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.
Location: UNLV Greenspun Hall Auditorium
Description: As part of the Nevada Emerging Writing Series, writer Laura van den Berg will read from her collection of stories. She is the author of a collection called "What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us," which was long-listed for The Story Prize and short-listed for the Frank O'Connor Award. Her stories have or will soon appear in the Boston Review, American Short Fiction and Best New American Voices 2010.
Reading with Jane Smiley
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m.
Location: Fifth Street School Auditorium, 401 S. Fourth St., Las Vegas, NV 89101
Description: Jane Smiley, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, is the author of "A Thousand Acres," "The Age of Grief," "The Greenlanders," and "Moo," among others. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001, and awarded the 2005 PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. This reading is a part of the Vegas Valley Book Festival. Co-sponsored by the City of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Las Vegas Chapter of the Professional Association of Design (AIGA) and Nevada Humanities.
Reading with Srikanth Reddy
Date/Time: Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.
Location: UNLV Greenspun Hall Auditorium
Description: As part of the Nevada Emerging Writing Series, writer Srikanth Reddy will read a selection of his poetry collections. He is the author of the poetry collection "Facts for Visitors," and has received fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and Mellon Foundation. His poems have appeared in anthologies such as "Asian American Poetry: the Next Generation" and "Isn't it Romantic: 100 Love Poems by Younger American Poets."
Maps to UNLV and campus locations may be found on the campus maps web page. For more information, contact BMI at (702) 895-5542 or e-mail blackmountaininstitute@unlv.edu.
About Black Mountain Institute
Founded in 2006, UNLV's Black Mountain Institute (BMI) is an international center for creative writers and scholars. The institute supports a series of initiatives that promote humanistic and cross-cultural dialogue, including public readings and panel discussions, degree programs in creative writing, fellowships for residential writing and faculty research, and literary publications.
About the Nevada Emerging Writers Series
The Nevada Emerging Writers Series (NEWS) brings four poets and fiction writers early in their careers each year to the campuses of UNLV and University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) to present public readings and student-centered craft talks. In partnership with UNR's department of English, BMI selects four writers--two poets and two fiction writers--each year to read from their creative work and to present a brown bag lunch seminar on a craft topic of their choosing. The readings are free and open to the public. Seminars on the craft of writing are limited to students and faculty in the humanities at their respective hosting campuses. This series aims to build community through public exchange and dialogue, to foster critical thinking and reflection about current events and the creative process, and to enhance the literary offerings in Nevada's two most populous counties. This series is made possible through a Nevada Humanities Grant.
