The Opioid Crisis and the Power of Story

Part of the Nevada Humanities Salon series, this Pop-Up Salon features the voices and stories of Julie Buntin and Sam Quinones, the 2018 Nevada Reads authors. Moderated by Heidi Kyser, staff writer at Desert Companion, the authors will discuss the history of opioid use and abuse in the United States and how storytelling is integral to understanding the root causes of this epidemic. Audience members can participate in a question and answer session followed by a reception and book signing. The evening is free and open to all. Featured books will be provided by The Writer’s Block and available for sale at this event. This event is hosted in partnership with the Clark County Library.

Panelists include:

Julie Buntin grew up in northern Michigan. Her debut novel, Marlena, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize, longlisted for The Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, and named a best book of 2017 by over thirteen venues, including The Washington Post, NPR, and Kirkus Reviews. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Vogue, The New York Times Book Review, Guernica, and other publications. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the Director of Writing Programs at Catapult. Native New Mexican Heidi Kyser has freelanced for the Patriot Ledger, Improper Bostonian, L.A. Times, Variety and several Southern Nevada publications. Her staff positions include 10 years editing trade publications Tradeshow Week and World Tea News and a year and a half writing for alt-weekly Vegas Seven. She is currently staff writer at Desert Companion, the monthly magazine of Nevada Public Radio, where she focuses on in-depth reporting of complex regional stories, winning her the 2016 Maggie Award from the Western Publishing Association for best news story.

Sam Quinones is a journalist, storyteller, former Los Angeles Times reporter, and author of three acclaimed books of narrative nonfiction. His career as a journalist has spanned almost 30 years. He lived for 10 years as a freelance writer in Mexico, where he wrote his first two books. In 2004, he returned to the United States to work for the Los Angeles Times, covering immigration, drug trafficking, neighborhood stories, and gangs. In 2014, he resigned from the paper to return to freelancing, working for National Geographic, Pacific Standard Magazine, The New York Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and other publications. He is the 2008 recipient of the Maria Moors Cabot prize for a career of excellence in covering Latin America. He is also a 1998 recipient of an Alicia Patterson Fellowship, one of the most prestigious fellowships given to print journalists.

Nevada Reads is a program of Nevada Humanities and part of the Nevada Center for the Book. Nevada Reads is made possible with support from Nevada State Library, Archives, and Public Records; the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Library of Congress Center for the Book promotes books and libraries, literacy and reading, and poetry and literature. This year, Nevada Reads features Julie Buntin’s Marlena: A Novel and Sam Quinones’ Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, two books that address the national opioid crisis in different ways.

This event happened on Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 7 pm at the Jewel Box Theater at Clark County Library, Las Vegas.