Join Nevada Humanities, the Marydean Martin Writers’ Project, and the City of Henderson on Thursday, November 19 at 6:00 pm in the auditorium of the Kasner Academic Building (Nevada State University) for a conversation with authors Jennifer Battisti and Andrew Romanelli.
Battisti and Romanelli are Las Vegas born poets, curious about the idea of loneliness in response to traveling across and exploring the “Loneliest Road in America”, Nevada’s Highway 50. Life Magazine gave the 287 mile stretch the moniker “The Loneliest Road in America” in a 1986 article that claimed the area offered no attractions or points of interest, had little services along the way, and advised travelers to possess “survival skills.” The poets’ work considers how our perceptions of loneliness may have changed. Who decides a point of interest, and can the landscape alone offer enough of an attraction to make the trek worth it?
The reception will begin at 6:00 pm with reading and presentation from Battisti and Romanelli from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. This program is free and open to the public.
This event is presented by Nevada Humanities,. The Marydean Martin Writers’ Project is a program of the Office for the Arts at Nevada State University. For more information about the Nevada State University arts programming, visit NSU webpage and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and X at @NevadaStateArts. For questions about this event, contact the Office for the Arts at TheArts@nevadastate.edu or 702.992.2380.
Born and raised in Las Vegas, Andrew Romanelli is an educator and serves as creative director of Devoid Magazine. His first poetry collection Rotgut was published by Zeitgeist Press, and he has since published 3 poetry chapbooks: Supermarket Poems, One More Night, and 12 Jennys. His latest book, in collaboration with Jennifer Battisti, is called Nevada in Our Teeth, Crossing Highway 50. Visit him at andrewromanelli.com
Jennifer Battisti is a lifelong Nevadan. Her work has been anthologized in Legs of Tumbleweed, Wings of Lace, Sagebrush and Sandstone, and Where We Live, an anthology of writing and art in response to the October 1st tragedy. Her work has also appeared in The Desert Companion, Witness, Brevity, Western Humanities Review, Split Lip, Wildsam Travel Guide, Las Vegas Writes, 300 Days of Sun, and elsewhere. She is currently a Teaching Artist for the Nevada Arts Council and has also been a Teaching Artist for the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project in Clark County. She was voted best local poet by the Desert Companion in 2018 and 2021. Her work has been on display in exhibits for Nevada Humanities. Her first chapbook, Echo Bay was released in 2018 and her full-length manuscript, Off Boulder Highway was released in 2021 (Tolsun Books). Her most recent work was a collaboration with Andrew Romanelli on a travel guide of poetry about the Loneliest Road in America titled: Nevada in Our Teeth, Crossing Highway 50.
