Nevada Humanities is features author Michael P. Branch and his book, On the Trail of the Jackalope, as our adult selection for the 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival. During this online event, folklorist Moira Marsh talks with Branch about topics including jackalopes, humor, and folklore, what inspired the writing of On the Trail of the Jackalope, and how books can bring us together.

Photo of author by Kyle Weerheim.

Michael P. Branch is Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is the author of ten books including the Nevada trilogy Raising Wild, Rants from the Hill, and How to Cuss in Western. His new book, On the Trail of the Jackalope, has been called “an entertaining and enlightening road trip to the heart of an American legend.” The Nevada Center for the Book is featuring Michael P. Branch and his book On the Trail of the Jackalope, as a Nevada Great Reads from Great Places selection for the 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival. Michael will also be participating in the 2022 Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl on September 10, 2022, in Reno.

Moira Marsh is a folklorist and humor scholar. She is the author of Practically Joking (2015), the first book-length scholarly study of the practical joke and allied forms of humor. Moira has served on the Executive Board of the International Society for Humor Studies and on the editorial board of Humor: International Journal of Humor Research. In her spare time, she is the librarian for folklore at Indiana University Bloomington, where she also cares for Boris, the fabulous flying jackalope.