"A Valley of Light and Shadow" | Las Vegas Writes Book Launch

When Dana and I arrived in Las Vegas a year and a half ago we had little in the way of predicting what we might be doing eighteen months later.

We strolled through the arts scene a bit, took a look at things, met some remarkable people. A friend of a friend of a friend met me for coffee early on and I picked his brain for possibilities.

”There are about five hundred people central to the local arts and they all know each other. It’s a tight-knit group so establishing yourself in it won’t be, uhm, welcomed, I guess. Think of Vegas like a bigger version of a very small town when it comes to the literary crowd.”

Being an outlier has been my standard operating procedure so this wasn’t daunting, but Vegas exemplifies the ethic of “Who you know defines where you go” mentality. Given we knew almost no one and it became apparent that none of my accomplishments in Chicago meant anything here, we started from scratch.

Via David Himmel, we met a few stand outs. Ryan Pardey, the owner of the Bunkhouse Saloon, gave us a chance to do monthly BUGHOUSE! shows, which we ran until COVID came knocking. Donald Hickey, a grand mountain of a man, showed us the cool spots outside of the tourist map. Jarret Keene, UNLV professor in a perpetual black t-shirt and Jack Kirby enthusiast, advised, supported, and ultimately got us both to write for the magazine he edits (Witness) and encouraged further writing. Keene also became a staple debater in our shows near Fremont.

One of the first things he invited us to was a book launch for an annual anthology Las Vegas Writes, a compilation of essays from Las Vegas authors about, well, Las Vegas. He was a featured writer in that volume and in the tiny event space connected to The Writer’s Block we drank PBRs and listened to various writers read excerpts from the volume.

This year, it seems Dana and I can be considered Las Vegans in at least some sense as we are featured in this year’s anthology. No live book launch—COVID sits in wait for those community gatherings like the Mask of the Red Death of Poe’s imagination—but there is a digital launch coming up this Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m. PDT and you, oh readers of the Ape, are invited.

To register, go to crowdcast.io/e/las-vegas-writes/register or go to Nevada Humanities.

You can also buy a copy of the book on Amazon right now.

Christ! Look at all the sponsors!