After a two-year hiatus, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute (BMI) is bringing back its annual festival – reimagined with writers, thought leaders, and new programming for young readers and families.

WAVE IN: A BMI FESTIVAL is slated for May 5-7 at various Las Vegas locations. Tickets and a full lineup are available on the festival website.

Previously known as The Believer Festival, the three-day roving celebration of writing, music, film, and visual arts returns after a pause due to the pandemic with award-winning literary writers and provocative thinkers. The lineup includes essayist and feminist icon Roxane Gay, sociologist and poet Eve L. Ewing, and theorist Maggie Nelson.

The festival will explore the ripple effects of human impact on climate, indigenous liberation, the displacement of those seeking refuge, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.

For the first time, special programming is dedicated to young readers and families. Community partners include Discovery Children's Museum and The Cupcake Girls.

Evening events are ticketed, but discounts are available for UNLV and CCSD students. The festival will feature an array of free programming for all ages.

The program is funded in part by support from Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

About the Black Mountain Institute

Since 2006, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute has brought writers, and the literary imagination, into the heart of public life, through live experiences, diverse fellowships and award-winning publications. As a literary arts institute in the UNLV College of Liberal Arts, BMI created the first-ever U.S. City of Asylum program, hosting writers in exile from their home countries. Learn more at: blackmountaininstitute.org