Nevada Writing Resources
The next installment of our State Writing Resources series takes us to the Silver State, Nevada, a word which means “heavy snowfall” in Spanish and “Yes, all this shit really is legal” in American English.
One of my favorite books in my late teens was Mark Twain’s Roughing It, a kinda/sorta memoir of his time spent in the Nevada Territory after his brother, Orion, was named secretary of said territory. Fun book, worth checking out, even if you’re a moderate Twain fan.
Other well-regarded writers with Nevada ties include Jeannette Walls (The Glass Castle), Matt O’Brien (Beneath the Neon), and the poet Donald Revell.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Nevada writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you are a Silver Stater, or are planning to become one, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at.
An annual literary magazine published in May featuring poetry and short fiction.
Interim is a biannual creative writing publication that features poetry, translation, belles lettres, short fiction and book reviews.
A nonprofit biannual journal dedicated to publishing quality writing. Red Rock Review invites submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry from both established and emerging writers.
Brushfire is Nevada’s oldest literary and arts journal, based at the University of Nevada, Reno.
5) Las Vegas Writers Conference
Join writing professionals, agents, publishers and industry experts for three days in Las Vegas, Nevada as they share their knowledge of all aspects of the writer’s craft.
Every summer for over 40 years, the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley has brought together poets, prose writers and screenwriters for weeks of workshops, individual conferences, lectures, panels, readings and discussions of the craft and the business of writing.
7) Northern Nevada Writing Project
Provides professional development and leadership opportunities for teachers and administrators interested in both improving and celebrating student writing.
8) Southern Nevada Writing Project
Committed to designing and delivering the highest quality professional experiences in an effort to improve and transform the teaching of writing.
An international literary center dedicated to promoting discourse on today’s most pressing issues. It provides an environment where creative writers and scholars can fight against entrenched perspectives, whatever their political or cultural source.
10) Wordriver
A literary journal dedicated to poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction.
Help us add to this list, Nevadans! Do you run a local writing group or a lit journal we should be aware of? Feel free to share info and links in the comments section below.