A novelist who is redefining Southern literature, an internationally acclaimed historian who wrote the manifesto for agnostics, and a novelist/investigative journalist who has covered stories from Los Angeles to Palestine will take up residencies at the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute (BMI) for the international literary center’s 2017-18 season.
Tayari Jones, Lesley Hazelton and Ben Ehrenreich are the newest fellows in the Diana L. Bennett Fellowship program at BMI. The writers will join Hossein Abkenar, the Kenneth Barlow City of Asylum Fellow, currently in residence at BMI. The new fellows will introduce themselves to the community in September at the Beverly Rogers Literature and Law Building.
“Stretching back to long-term residencies with Wole Soyinka and E.L. Doctorow, BMI has an illustrious tradition of bringing the best writers and intellectuals to enrich our community here,” said Joshua Wolf Shenk, BMI’s executive director and writer-in-residence. “This year brings another dazzling group of lyrical writers whose work is urgent and provocative.”
Each year, BMI offers the Bennett Fellowship to three critically acclaimed writers who, for one or two semesters, contribute to the cultural landscape of UNLV and the larger Las Vegas community. The program is named for entrepreneur and philanthropist Diana L. Bennett. Past fellows include: Walter Kirn (Thumbsucker, Up in the Air), David L. Ulin, Tom Bissell, Yelena Akhtiorskaya and Okey Ndibe.
The visiting fellows are:
Tayari Jones
Tayari Jones is the author of the novels Leaving Atlanta, The Untelling, Silver Sparrow, and An American Marriage (Algonquin Books, February 2018).

Lesley Hazleton
Lesley Hazleton is a writer and psychologist, also called “The Accidental Theologist,” who explores the vast and volatile arena in which religion and politics intersect.

Ben Ehrenreich
Ben Ehrenreich’s most recent book, The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine, based on several years of reporting from the West Bank, was selected as one of the best books of 2016 by The Guardian, The Economist, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Black Mountain Institute
The Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Carter Black Mountain Institute brings writers and the literary imagination into the heart of public life through innovative public programs, award-winning publications, and a diverse array of fellowships. BMI is part of the UNLV College of Liberal Arts, where it collaborates with prestigious graduate programs in creative writing. In fall 2018 the first students will enroll in a new track in literary non-fiction.