The University of Nevada, Reno Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism, in partnership with Nevada Humanities, presents the 2022 Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer Awardee Beth Piatote. Beth Piatote, a creative writer, playwright, and scholar, will speak during this free, public event titled The Mountain as Genre: Form and Writing from the West on November 17, at 7 pm, at the Wells Fargo Auditorium at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Beth Piatote is a creative writer, playwright, and scholar. She is the author of two books, including the mixed-genre collection, The Beadworkers: Stories (Counterpoint 2019), which was long-listed for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the PEN/Bingham Prize, and short-listed for the California Independent Booksellers Association “Golden Poppy” Prize for Fiction. She is an Indigenous language activist and a founding member of luk’upsíimey/North Star Collective, a group dedicated to using creative expression for Nez Perce language revitalization. A former journalist, she completed her PhD at Stanford University and is currently an associate professor of Comparative Literature and English and the Director of the Arts Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. She is Nez Perce, enrolled with Colville Confederated Tribes. Piatote is the recipient of the 2022 Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer Award.