Poetry as Healing: How Haikus Led Me Back to Life
By Jocelyn Paige Kelly
Life has a way of knocking us down when we least expect it. For me, it was a stroke and kidney failure, two events that completely upended my world. In an instant, everything I knew—my routine, my independence, my sense of self—was thrown into uncertainty.
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Roadsides of Northern Nevada
By Emily Najera
A city is more than its skyline. It’s the shape of its neighborhoods, the rhythm of its streets, the glow of neon humming through the night.
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Playing with Science: Learning about Climate Change through the board game Daybreak
By Emma Frances Bloomfield
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kickstarter pledges for board games skyrocketed. Trapped at home with flexible working hours and far less commute time, some people turned to board games as entertainment.
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Desert Oasis: Passage of Time and Places
By Valentin Yordanov
Step into Desert Oasis: Passage of Time and Places — an exhibition of works in which I merge the dynamic energy of urban life with the timeless beauty of the desert.
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Reading Epitaphs; Writing Eulogies
By Kahlo R. F. Smith
My earliest playground memories are set in cemeteries, chasing my brother around family plots and peering through each crypt’s ornate grating. Dad hoped he could keep us from fearing death by making cemeteries sites of joy.
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Through the Lens: A Conversation with Iyana Esters and Erica Vital-Lazare
By Iyana Esters and Erica Vital-Lazare
Erica Vital-Lazare speaks with Iyana Esters about her new exhibition Birthed from the soil.
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A Look Back at Highlights from 2024
By Nevada Humanities Staff
A look back at staff highlights in 2024.
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From Hawaii to Las Vegas: Embracing this Home Away from Home
By Giana Ragudos
I’ve always loved the diversity of my home. Being born and raised in Hawaii, and to be raised surrounded by such rich cultures, isa privilege. As a child, I’ve been given the opportunity to experience many cultural traditions that play a huge role in my identity today.
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Because They Are People
By Shaun T. Griffin
October 2024. This preamble is for the scores of men who have been in the Razor Wire Poetry Workshop which, for over three decades, saved lives, kept them out of prison, gave voice to many poets, and led to countless friendships that kept me returning to teach poetry.
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Together in Providence: The 2024 National Humanities Conference
By George Tsz-Kwan Lam
Last week, Nevada Humanities staff traveled to Providence, Rhode Island to attend the 2024 National Humanities Conference, which took place from November 13 to November 17. This annual gathering was jointly produced by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Humanities Alliance. Rhode Island Humanities served as this year’s conference host.
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A Gathering for Ideas
By George Tsz-Kwan Lam
The 2024 Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl returned on Saturday, October 12, featuring panel discussions and interactive activities throughout downtown Reno.
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Circle of Animal: Standing Witness for the Sentient Wild
By Sharon K. Schafer
My interest in the magic and mystery of the natural world lies at the intersection of art and science. As a wildlife biologist by education and an artist and photographer by passion, I endeavor to work at the confluence of these disciplines to create images that open hearts and minds to the life and landscapes of the world’s wild places.
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Full Circle: The Creation of Loreloop
By Ashley Warren
In 2016, I rolled a 20-sided dice onto my kitchen table, surrounded by some of my closest friends, and my life changed forever. This was my first time playing Dungeons & Dragons, a game I had wanted to play since I was a child looking at the early versions of the Monster Manual at the public library.
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A Desert Muse
By Alina Lindquist
When in bloom, the desert globe mallow brings the Mojave floor to life with vibrant orange and red hues. It is a common misconception that the desert is desolate or devoid of life, but when stumbling upon natural gems like the globe mallow, it unveils the incomparable beauty of the landscape. Hop out of the car and walk along any trail in the southern part of Nevada. It may look barren from the road, but it is impossible to miss all the wonders and life of the desert that emerge when walking amongst it.
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Dispatch from the Heart of Paradise
By Shannon Salter
The first thing I loved about Las Vegas was its oleander. Not only the bursting blossoms—red, pink, white—but the way it so often throws itself over cement walls and sidewalks, how it thrusts up against chain link fences, and drops its petals into the street. When I came to Las Vegas in 2009 to study poetry at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), I walked around in constant awe of the blooming things, which defied the starkness of an American suburban landscape.
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A Toast to the Venues
By George Tsz-Kwan Lam
The excitement is building around the 2024 Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl. The Crawl is northern Nevada’s largest literary festival. I am grateful to have the opportunity to work together with our team at Nevada Humanities to bring this event to life. We are now putting together the final touches to a rich program of sessions, readings, and interactive activities for Saturday, October 12 in downtown Reno.
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¿Por qué “en español”?
Por Lydia Huerta Moreno
El acceso y la representación en español son cada vez más necesarios en Estados Unidos, lo que refleja la evolución demográfica y cultural del país. Con más de 40 millones de hispanohablantes, Estados Unidos es el segundo país de habla hispana del mundo, por lo que es esencial que las empresas y otras industrias faciliten el acceso y presten servicio a esta población.
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Underneath
By Maryam Ala Amjadi
In July 2009, a Sudanese journalist, Lubna al-Hussein, and a group of 12 other women in Khartoum, Sudan were arrested for wearing trousers and sentenced to 40 lashes each for committing an act of “indecency.”
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My Path Did Not Just Cross Goldwell Open Air Museum
By Michelle Graves
What a whirlwind the past year has been! For a condensed story, over the summer of 2023 I first heard about Goldwell Open Air Museum and a call for temporary outdoor sculptures through fellow Las Vegas artist Brian Gibson. I applied to the call for art as well as a Nevada Arts Council Project Grant and was accepted to both. The sculpture exhibit was canceled but I pursued the installation anyway and was told, “Absolutely yes,” by Goldwell Open Air Museum Executive Director Suzanne Hackett-Morgan. So I installed my 4’ x 30’ text sculpture called, Keep Going in October 2023.
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The Ocean Went Away and Left the Desert
By Laura Newman
As the recipient of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Silver Pen Award, I am excited to present a session at this year’s Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl on October 12, 2024. The subject of the session will be Writing the Desert West in Fact and Fiction. Michael Branch, a Nevada Writers Hall of Fame 2024 inductee, represents fact, while I represent fiction. Join us!
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