39th Nevada Writers Hall of Fame induction and reception
- When
- Friday, November 6, 20266:00 PM – 9:00 PM PSTAdd to calendarGoogle Calendar
- Where
- Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center (MIKC) Wells Fargo Auditorium, first floorOpen in Maps
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About
You are invited to join the University Libraries as it hosts the 39th Nevada Writers Hall of Fame event this Fall, Nov. 6
Hall of Fame inductee John L. White and Silver Pen awardees Amanda Skenandore and Fil Corbitt will be honored. Before the event, Radical Cat will be selling books by the authors. Immediately following the event there will be a dessert and wine reception. For more information contact Maggie Ressel at ressel@unr.edu or 775.682.5653.
DETAILS:
WHEN: Friday, November 6, 2026 6 p.m. Book sales 7 p.m. Ceremony 8 p.m. Wine, desserts, and book signing
WHERE: Wells Fargo Auditorium, Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, 1st floor University of Nevada, Reno
Tickets are $25 per person in advance. Free parking will be available in the Brian Whalen Parking Complex.
Get to know the honorees:
John L. Smith 2026 Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Inductee
Native Nevadan John L. Smith has spent more than four decades writing about the characters and conundrums that make the state unique. The author of many books, his titles for the University of Nevada Press include Saints, Sinners, and Sovereign Citizens: The Endless War over the West’s Public Lands; The Westside Slugger: Joe Neal’s Lifelong Fight for Social Justice, and as a co-author My Life in Politics: The Memoirs of Senator Richard H. Bryan. His work is featured in both volumes of the acclaimed collections of American columnists, Deadline Artists.
Among his writing honors are the Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer Award, Northwestern’s Foley-Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism, ethics awards from the University of Oregon and National Society of Professional Journalists, and honors from the Best of the West and Nevada Press Association. He is a member of the press association’s Hall of Fame, and has received the Silver Pen Award from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. He’s also appeared on numerous documentaries, including The American Experience: Las Vegas – an Unconventional History, and Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press.
Married to fellow Nevada Writers Hall of Fame member Sally Denton, John has a daughter, three stepsons, a grandson, and three dogs. He lives in Reno, where he writes an award-winning column for The Nevada Independent, freelances widely, and is working on his next book.