University Libraries presents the 31st Annual Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Milt Glick Ballroom, 4th floor, at the Joe Crowley Student Union on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. The event's general reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the formal program beginning at 7 p.m. The cost to attend is $40 per person. Tickets can be purchased online. Complimentary parking is available on the first floor of the Brian Whalen Parking Complex located on north Virginia Street.

The Nevada Writers Hall of Fame was conceived by former Friends of the University Libraries President Marilyn Melton in 1988. She envisioned two purposes: an annual event honoring Nevada's finest writers, and a stimulus to encourage excellence among emerging writers in the Silver State. Honorees are selected based on their body of work, critical recognition, and a strong connection to Nevada through the themes of their writing or residence in the state.

The 2018 Nevada Writers Hall of Fame inductee is Robert Leonard Reid.

Reid is the author of five books, four works for the theater, and more than 100 essays, articles, and short stories. Louise Erdrich characterized Reid's essays as "wonderfully fluent, even visionary." Ron Hansen called them "stirring, witty, gorgeously written." Reid's latest book, Because It Is So Beautiful: Unraveling the Mystique of the American West, was a finalist for the 2018 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Bob has received two Artist Fellowships in Literary Arts from the Nevada Arts Council. A prolific songwriter, he has written and staged three satirical musical revues and the 24-song Bristlecone Mass. For more than a decade he has served as piano accompanist for songstress June Joplin in the Great American Songbook duo, Me and Bobby McGee. Bob attended Harvard College, where he earned a degree in mathematics. He lives in Carson City with his wife, Carol Dimmick Reid. They have a son, Jacob.

The 2018 Silver Pen recipients are Jared Stanley and Lindsay Wilson.

Stanley is the author of three collections of poetry: EARS, The Weeds, and Book Made of Forest. His poems and essays have appeared in many journals, including The Harvard Review, The Brooklyn Rail, Triple Canopy, and Columbia Poetry Review. Stanley lives in Reno, and teaches at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Wilson, an English professor at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), has edited The Meadow, the literary and arts journal of TMCC, since 2006. The Meadow publishes work from beginning and experienced writers and artists each Spring. He earned his M.A. in English from the University of Wyoming, and his M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Idaho. He has received the Nevada System of Higher Education Broad of Regents' Creative Activities Award, has been named a finalist for the Philip Levine Prize, has received a Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize XLII, and his sixth chapbook, Because the Dirt Here is Poor, is forthcoming from Main Street Rag Press. His first collection of poetry, No Elegies, won the Quercus Review Press Spring Book Award, and his poetry has been featured in The Missouri Review Online Poem of the Week, Verse Daily, The Bellevue Literary Review, Pank, and The Carolina Quarterly, among others. He is currently serving as the Poet Laureate of Reno, Nevada.

For event sponsorship information, or general questions regarding the 2018 Nevada Writers Hall of Fame please contact Robin Monteith, University Libraries' assistant director of development, 775-682-5656, or via email at robinmonteith@unr.edu.