The Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute is proud to announce its fall 2019 season designed to connect literary luminaries and emerging talent with the Las Vegas arts community. All events are free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required.
Check out highlights below and visit the BMI website for a full lineup.
Beyond Words: An Evening with BMI Fellows
Join BMI for a night spanning continents as we welcome our fall Shearing Fellows: City of Asylum Fellow Ahmed Naji; comics artist Amy Kurzwell; and poet, novelist, and performer Vi Khi Nao.
Sept. 3, 7 p.m.
Rogers Literature and Law Building, Room 101, on UNLV’s campus
The Believer Presents: Sarah M. Broom in Conversation with Claytee D. White
The Yellow House tells the story of Sarah M. Broom’s family and their relationship to home in one of America’s most mythologized cities. The Yellow House is a memoir of place, class, race, inequality, and internalized shame. Broom will discuss her debut work with distinguished oral historian Claytee D. White.
Sept. 23, 7 p.m.
The Writer’s Block
519 South 6th St., Suite 100
Las Vegas, NV 89101
The Believer Presents: Susan Steinberg in Conversation with Steve Woodward
Susan Steinberg’s first novel, Machine, surveys guilt and blame in the wake of tragedy. In lean, acrobatic prose, Steinberg challenges conventional gender roles. Steinberg will discuss her work with Graywolf Press editor Steve Woodward.
Oct. 3, 7 p.m.
The Writer’s Block
519 South 6th St., Suite 100
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Alumni Reading Series: Megan Merchant
Megan Merchant holds an MFA from UNLV and was the winner of the 2017 Beullah Rose Poetry Prize, the 2016-2017 Cog Literary Award, and the Las Vegas Poets Prize. Join us for Merchant’s return to Las Vegas in anticipation of her latest book Bleuet/Bluetiful/Blue, available March 2020.
Oct. 14, 7 p.m.
Rogers Literature and Law Building, Room 101, on UNLV campus
Days of Awe: An Afternoon with A.M. Homes at the Las Vegas Book Festival
Join us for a reading and conversation with author A.M. Homes. The author of 13 books, Homes’ latest collection, Days of Awe alludes in its title to the holiest period of the Jewish year but also anchors itself in the ongoing, everyday states of awe that Homes wants to evoke. The evening will be introduced by several Las Vegas writers offering their most indelible encounters with “awe.”
Oct. 19, 2:30 p.m.
Historic Fifth Street School
401 South 4th St.
Las Vegas, NV 89101
The Believer debuts an interactive comic by Matt Huynh
In this special evening, artist Matt Huynh will debut a cinematic, interactive comic about growing up in a community of Vietnam War refugees resettled in Cabramatta, Australia. Kristen Radtke, The Believer’s art director, will interview Huynh after his presentation.
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.
Art Square Theatre
1025 South 1st Street
Las Vegas, NV 89101
She Who Has No Master(s): Food, Memory, Mythology
Spend a decadent evening with Vietnamese poets, writers, performance artists Dao Strom, Stacey Tran, and Vi Khi Nao. With Vietnamese cuisine like bánh cuốn or cuộn giấy or bánh xèo, Dao, Tran, and Nao explore the imagined future of language and food through matriarchal mythologies.
Oct. 28, 7 p.m.
East Las Vegas Library
2851 E. Bonanza Road
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Life is an Op-Ed with Jennifer Senior
A lively discussion of current affairs, alongside a guide for the perplexed in the age of Twitter, with Jennifer Senior, an opinion writer for The New York Times.
Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
Rogers Literature and Law Building, Room 101, on UNLV’s campus
Breakout Poet: Billy-Ray Belcourt
Spend an evening with BMI to delve into Billy-Ray Belcourt’s debut poetry collection, This Wound is a World. Part manifesto, part memoir, the collection examines love and sex to understand how indigenous peoples shoulder sadness and pain without giving up.
Nov. 13, 7 p.m.
Rogers Literature and Law Building, Room 101, on UNLV’s campus
Breakout Nonfiction Writer: Lindsay Nixon
Lindsay Nixon’s first book, nîtisânak is a memoir spanning nations, prairie punk scenes, and queer love stories. Join us for a reading exploring despair and healing through community and family.
Dec. 2, 7 p.m.
Rogers Literature and Law Building, Room 101, on UNLV’s campus
In spring 2020, you can look forward to a conversation with Carmen Maria Machado, an evening with BMI Shearing Fellows Kristen Arnett and Lisa Ko, an interview with fiction writer Brandon Taylor, and a visit from Jamel Brinkley, whose work is featured in The Believer’s 2019 music issue. Finally, mark your calendars for the return of The Believer Festival April 30-May 2.
