By Joanna Howes and illustrated by Alex Bailey
The idea for writing the book Wild Sierra Nevada: A Family Nature Guide, began after moving to the Sierra Nevada a decade ago. But really, you could say that it started much earlier, on yearly camping trips to the Sierra when I was a kid.
Read MoreBy Robin Stark
Even after living in Las Vegas, Nevada, for more than 30 years and spending countless hours hiking and biking through its deserts and mountains, I have yet to tire of these experiences. The plants and animals possess a remarkable ability to survive under some of the harshest and most challenging conditions. Their resilience serves as a reminder of the endurance and fortitude required to remain strong when confronting difficult circumstances.
Read MoreBy Elisa Garcia
Growing up in a Mexican American household means your mom had frijoles on the stovetop when you came home from school but you asked for bologna and cheese sandwiches on white bread as a kid to fit in with your peers. It means understanding that you can in fact enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tortas. The best of both worlds.
Read MoreBy DW McKinney
Since my mother moved to Las Vegas last year, we’ve taken to exploring the city together. Because she’s been interested in Las Vegas’s history, this spring I took us on a tour of the Harrison Guest House in the Historic Westside.
Read MoreBy Sarah Lohman
I'm Sarah Lohman, a food historian and author. My latest book Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods was selected by Nevada Humanities to represent the state at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
Read MoreBy Brad McMullen
My first experience of Basque food was at The Star in Elko. I was visiting town for a job interview, and they insisted on going there for dinner.
Read MoreBy Katie Karnehm-Esh
If you ask who Lone Piñon is, some might say a musical group from New Mexico. Others might say they are a dance band. Still others might say they are folk music educators. But when I first heard them play at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, I would have said they were the single greatest hour of delight I’d experienced in 2026.
Read MoreBy Shayla Silvers
This spring, I have been lucky enough to work as a program intern here at Nevada Humanities. For my time at the organization, I have focused on facilitating an event that would align with the humanities values, alongside my own personal interests, to create an event to bring people together and share our stories.
By Mei-Mei Mijares and Niko Mendoza
Recipe for a Beautiful Friendship was written by us for a Pho-etry workshop we did with Nevada Humanities last year. It tells the epic tale of our blossoming friendship that started in 2022 but really felt like uncovering a bulb of sisterhood that had been growing all along…
Read MoreBy Angela M. Brommel
Tucked inside my copy of Who will love the earth is a photocopy of a poem James Kavanaugh wrote for Marydean Martin after her mother’s death, “For Vassie, who passed just before Christmas.”
Read MoreBy Kathy Pham
It has been a little over a month since my end-of-the-year project as a Nevada Humanities intern: creating and leading the community program, Phoetry Night, which celebrated AAPI heritage…
Read MoreBy Angela M. Brommel
All day long the people are people-ing so hard it feels impossible
to breathe sometimes. The only free place left is in the sky.
By Jesse James Ziegler
Two years seemed to fly by in a blink, until I sat down and deeply reflected on everything that was packed into my seven hundred and thirty days, holding the honorary role for the Biggest Little City in the World.
Read MoreBy Kathy Pham
Being a third-year first-generation college student to immigrant parents, I take great pride in my Vietnamese heritage and background. Being once ashamed of my complexion and home-made packed school lunches, I now proudly share these things as a part of my identity.
Read MoreBy Jodi Jill
Puzzles? When I think about puzzles it brings absolute joy. Whether sharing the different names of jigsaw puzzle pieces shapes with a classroom or discussing a crossword clue, it’s a passion that brings me happiness. And it all started with a dream of finding puzzle friends.
Read MoreBy Kyra Lalas
i hunt the demon that goes bump in the night
but first i ask if they'd like to take a bath
i take a sponge and scrub
at the filth, wet, and slop
until it comes off effortless and neat
i towel their spine and they brush their teeth
read them bedtime stories where they sleep
By Sara Wang
I used to think growing up meant not falling anymore.
But maybe it means trusting the fall,
And knowing there’s more to reach for
Then there ever was to hold onto.
By Bobbie Ann Howell
Growing up in Nevada, one of the coolest things was our celebration of Nevada Day. Out of school, often heading to a theme park in California filled with kids from Nevada, or heading out to Lake Mead or hiking the Valley of Fire and, of course, planning for the best places to secure a trick-or-treat haul.
Read MoreBy Jarret Keene
Water defines survival, dictating what can be built and where life thrives. Water determines how long we will exist.
Read MoreBy Safiyya Bintali
“Water.” The third college essay prompt choice, consisting of just those five letters. Water.
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