In April, the Trump administration terminated grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This, according to George Tsz-Kwan Lam, assistant director at Nevada Humanities, put the 2025 Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl on pause.
The Lit Crawl has been an annual tradition in Reno for more than a decade. A daylong celebration of ideas and the written word, the crawl is open to participants of all ages and free to attend.
Tsz-Kwan Lam explained how the Lit Crawl is similar to Reno’s pub crawls (Santa, Leprechaun, Zombie, etc.)—but rather than walking into a local business to order a drink, participants walk into a local business (which may well be a bar!) to listen to a poet or attend a writing workshop.
In response to the cuts, which eliminated $65 million in federal support for state humanities councils, the Mellon Foundation donated $15 million in emergency funding. This funding was distributed to all 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils across the United States, including up to $250,000 for Nevada Humanities.
With that help, along with contributions from various donors, and some grants that are specifically for the literary crawl—including a city of Reno arts and culture events grant—Nevada Humanities, according to Tsz-Kwan Lam, “made the decision to move forward with a literary crawl with a very, very limited budget.” As such, the 2025 Lit Crawl will take place as scheduled on Saturday, Sept. 13.
He said that the event’s budget, typically above $200,000, has been reduced this year to $83,293. Less than half of this year’s Lit Crawl budget, 46%, is in the form of cash. The remaining 54% comes in the form of in-kind donations of time, expertise, services and facilities.
“This demonstrates incredible community support for this event,” Tsz-Kwan Lam said. “I’m just so grateful for all of the artists who we are contracting who are essentially agreeing to, you know, do it for less.”
Tsz-Kwan Lam said the crawl’s main purpose is to give back to the community, celebrate the humanities and showcase the literary talent in Northern Nevada.
“We’re supporting people who tell Nevada stories,” said Tsz-Kwan Lam. “We have a lot of folks who work in nonfiction and research—for example, academic research—but also in poetry and creative writing.”
While this one event has been funded, the future of humanities funding remains uncertain, according to Christina Barr, the executive director of Nevada Humanities. She pointed out that while the Mellon Foundation grant helped, the termination of the federal grants cost Nevada Humanities 75% of its annual funding.
There is some reason for hope. On Aug. 6, a federal judge in Oregon ruled that the federal cuts in April were “unlawful” and allowed a lawsuit filed by Oregon Humanities and the Federation of State Humanities Councils to proceed.
Whatever happens, this year’s Lit Crawl is a go, and on Saturday, Sept. 13, more 100 authors, artists, presenters and performers will appear at nearly 40 events throughout downtown Reno. Events include panel discussions, book-signings, workshops, performances and family-friendly activities.
The keynote speaker is Reno-born author and musician Willy Vlautin, a 2025 winner of the Joyce Carol Oats literary prize, in conversation with former Nevada Poet Laureate Gailmarie Pahmeier. A moderated Q&A session and a book-signing will follow. (Tickets, which are free, are required to attend the keynote.)
Other events include:
- A performance with opera singers from the University of Nevada, Reno, performing and discussing “the art of the unamplified human voice.”
- A reading of a new play by Sandra Neace in partnership with Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Company.
- A live broadcast on KWNK of a radio performance by Fil Corbitt on the music of classic Westerns.
- A showcase by Spoken Views Collective, a local group that builds community through spoken-word expression.
- A workshop for young songwriters hosted by J Vineyard and Casey Bell of G.I.R.L.S. Rock Reno.
- A discussion with Richard Bednarski, John M. Glionna, Sydney Martinez and Mark Maynard about their latest nonfiction projects and how they tell the story of Nevada.
In addition, Kris Vagner, the managing editor of the Reno News & Review and the editor and publisher of Double Scoop, will be part of a panel on arts writing.
The Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Nevada Museum of Art, the Downtown Reno Library and other businesses and venues in and near the California Avenue corridor. For the complete schedule, visit www.nevadahumanities.org/literarycrawl. For the latest information, join the Nevada Humanities email list. Nevada Humanities is also seeking volunteer stage managers, session guides, survey ambassadors and information booth greeters. Visit the Nevada Humanities volunteer page to learn more.