University of Utah Press

Agha Shahid Ali Prize Reading
2024-11-14 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver) | Finch Lane Art Gallery, 54 Finch Lane, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112
Guest Writers Series presents Sara Ellen Fowler, author of Two Signatures and Winner of Agha Shahid Ali Prize and Joan Naviyuk Kane, author of Ex Machina.

Jody Olsen: Hope, Purpose, and Service in Times of Change
2024-11-19 12:00 | Hinkley Caucus Room, 260 Central Campus Dr, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
Jody Olsen, author of A Million Miles: My Peace Corp Journey will be speaking at the Hinckley Institute Forum on Hope, Purpose, and Service in Times of Change.

Dr. Josephine (Jody) Olsen, PhD, served as the 20th Director of the Peace Corps between March, 2018 – January, 2021. With the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Olsen made the unprecedented decision to evacuate all 7,000 Peace Corps Volunteers and bring them safely back to the United States. Dr. Olsen then led the development of a comprehensive re-entry plan for Volunteers to return to service and expanded what it means to serve, launching the Virtual Service Pilot Program. She also championed global women’s economic empowerment, opened a new country, Viet Nam, and re-opened three countries in which Peace Corps had previously served.Dr. Olsen began her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer, serving in Tunisia from 196601968. She has also served the agency as Acting Director (2009), Deputy Director (2002-2009), Chief of Staff (1989-1992), Regional Director (1981-1984), and Country Director (1979-1981).
Prior to returning to the Peace Corps in 2018, Dr. Olsen was Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland-Baltimore School of Social Work and Director of the University’s Center for Global Education. In this capacity she developed and directed inter-professional global health projects for health graduate students, oversaw health research projects in Malawi, and taught international social work, global social policy, and global health.
Dr. Olsen received a BS from the University of Utah, and a Master’s in Social Work and a PhD in Human Development from the University of Maryland.
Throughout her career, Dr. Olsen has championed the expansion of service, learning and international opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds.

Cosponsored by:

The University of Utah Press
The Tanner Center for Human Rights
The Office of Global Engagement

A Wallace Stegner Center Green Bag
2024-11-21 12:15 - 13:30 | S.J. Quinney College of Law and Virtual Event
The American West has long been seen as a place of rugged landscapes presenting endless opportunities. But the land is more fragile and resources more finite than popular perceptions admit.
We are presenting a volume of essays, A Watershed Moment, that explores tensions between a culture of economic growth and personal freedom and the ecological, economic, and social constraints set by community values and the land itself. The book examines practical approaches to land use, land management, and community planning rooted in philosophical views on justice, quality of life, and sustainability in the American West. The result is a compelling vision of place-based, policy-oriented sustainability across the West.
Our presentations focus on what the management of water resources demonstrates about how communities and environmental systems are dealing with the implications of growth, development, and climate change

Betsy Howell - Wild Forest Home: Stories of Conservation in the Pacific Northwest
2024-11-24 17:00 - 18:00 | Village Books and Paper Dreams, 1200 11th St, Bellingham, WA, 98225, United States
Join Village Books and North Cascades Institute in the last Nature of Writing event of 2024 with Betsy Howell as talks about her new book Wild Forest Home: Stories of Conservation in the Pacific Northwest!
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Betsy Howell spent her childhood exploring and thriving in old-growth coniferous forests. In the summer of 1986, she volunteered in Mt. Hood National Forest, surveying northern spotted owls. That position turned into three decades as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service agency.
Betsy L. Howell is a writer and wildlife biologist living on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. She has worked as a biologist since 1986 and earned her bachelor’s degree in wildlife management at Washington State University. She began writing in 1998 and has published articles on natural history and travel in American Forests, Earth Island Journal, The Wildlife Professional, South Loop Review, Clackamas Literary Review, Apple Valley Review, 1859 Oregon’s Magazine, and Prairie Fire. Her two previous books are Acoustic Shadows, Men at War and a Daughter Who Remembers Them, a memoir about her father and great-great-grandfather and their lives as soldiers; and The Marvelous Orange Tree, A Novel of the Civil War, a story chronicling the life and war experiences of a woman soldier from the time. She is a member of The Wildlife Society, Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, the Martes Working Group, and the Author’s Guild.

Steven Simms - First Peoples of Great Salt Lake
2025-01-23 11:00 | Joseph F. Smith Building (BYU), 1100 Campus Drive, Provo, UT, 84604, United States
Steven Simms (Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Utah State University)
First Peoples of Great Salt Lake: A Cultural Landscape from Nevada to Wyoming
B192 JFSB Education in Zion Auditorium

Faith and the Fight: France Davis
2025-01-23 12:00 - 13:00 | J. Willard Marriott Library, Gould Auditorium, 295 S 1500 E, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112
One of the most foundational roles that civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. served in was as a religious leader. He first served as pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama and then later became co-pastor, along with his father, of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

In addition to being a center of worship, what has been the role in the Black Church in the fight for equal rights? Does the Black Church of today serve as a space for inspiring and mobilizing its members?

In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s tireless work, please join us for a discussion, led by Pastor Emeritus France Davis (retired from Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City), and including pastors from several Black Churches along the Wasatch Front.

Moderator:

Pastor Emeritus France Davis
(retired from Calvary Baptist Church, Salt Lake City)

Panelists:

Pastor Vada Southern,
Pastor at Embry Chapel, A.M.E., Ogden

Pastor Bobby Allen, Jr.,
Pastor at Griffin Memorial Church of God in Christ, Ogden

Bishop Bobby Allen,
Jurisdiction Bishop of the Churches of God in Christ for Utah And Pastor of the Kingdom Church of God in Christ, Salt Lake City

Pastor Charles Petty,
Pastor of the Second Baptist Church, Ogden

PLA's Annual Convention and Trade Show
2025-02-02 - 2025-02-06 | Westgate Las Vegas, 3000 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas, NV, 89109, United States
The annual Convention and Trade Show (PLA) is the premier gathering for leaders in the public lands sector to network, gain essential tools, and explore products that enhance the visitor experience and support conservation, preservation, and enrichment efforts.

Facing Limits In the American West: A community Discussion on Past, Present, and Future Directions
2025-02-28 10:00 - 12:00 | Merrill-Cazier Library, 3000 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah, 84321
A new collection of essays, A Watershed Moment, reveals tensions between a culture of economic growth and personal freedom and the ecological, economic, and social constraints set by community values and the land itself. As Western communities come up against these limits, chapter authors highlight issues of sustainability endemic to the region and to the nation as a whole. Join us to hear from authors and discuss critical social-environmental issues in the West.
Panelists:
Robert Frodeman, Environmental Philosopher
Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, Montezuma Land Conservancy
Kekek Jason Stark, Director of the Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic
Luther Probst, Teton County, Wyoming County Commissioner
Paul Rogers, Director of Western Aspen Alliance
Sponsored by: Department of Environment & Society, Community and Natural Resources Institute. Western Aspen Alliance, Native American Cultural Center, and Quinney College of Natural Resources.
A Watershed Moment edited by Robert Frodeman, Evelyn Brister, and Luther Propst

Amy Tanner Thiriot - Slavery in Zion
2025-03-13 11:00 - 14:00 | Joseph F. Smith Building (BYU), 1100 Campus Drive, Provo, UT, 84604, United States
B192 JFSB (Education in Zion Auditorium)

The Last Miner hosted by The King's English Bookshop
2025-04-01 18:30 - 20:30 | The King’s English Bookshop, 1511 South 1500 East, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84105
Join local author, Dick Fluehe, for a discussion and signing of his memoir, The Last Miner.
This event is $5 and open to the public. All proceeds go to the literary non-profit, Brain Food Books.
Copies of the book will be available to purchase at the event. You may also pre-order your signed copy of The Last Miner to pick up at the event by either calling the store at 801-484-9100 or ordering online. If you cannot make this event, signed copies of The Last Miner may be ordered from our website. Please specify in the comments if you would like your copy personalized. Places in the signing line are reserved for those who purchase a copy from The King’s English.
About the Book:
Explore Utah’s legendary lost and hidden silver mines with the last miner The Last Miner is a captivating memoir chronicling the final days of mining exploration in Utah’s legendary Little Cottonwood Canyon during the 1950s. Through the eyes of Dick Fluehe, the last living miner to traverse these haunted, silver-laden tunnels, readers are immersed in a forgotten world beneath the internationally renowned Alta and Snowbird ski areas. With a knowledge as deep as the mines themselves, Dick recounts tales of collapsed shafts, gloriously jeweled stopes, and colorful personalities, such as “Swingin’ Door,” “Slick,” and “The Bull,” who lived and died pursuing ore. Edited by New York Times bestselling author Dan Schilling, The Last Miner offers a unique, firsthand account of the treacherous, adventurous, and humorous lives of mid-century miners. Both thrilling and insightful, this memoir is the mining equivalent of a float down the Mississippi with Mark Twain and an unprecedented insight into the history of American West mining.

Tales of a Mud Brick City
2025-04-03 09:30 - 11:00 | U of U Continuing Education Building, 540 Arapeen Dr., Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, United States
Pioneer homes in western North America are often assumed to have been log cabins. Not so in Salt Lake City! Near the Great Salt Lake, on level land to be used for farming, trees were in short supply. But mud, which a few pioneers knew could be made into bricks, was easy to find on the wet land near the Great Salt Lake. So the pioneers of every rank made bricks, made homes, and made history with adobe.
Instructor: Laurie Bryant. This is a single-day class.

Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Annual Meeting
2025-04-23 - 2025-04-27 | Denver, CO
The 90th Annual Meeting will be held April 23–April 27, 2025, in Denver, Colorado.
The program is composed of general sessions, symposia, forums, lightning rounds, posters, and workshops. The SAA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of archaeologists of the Americas, and it offers unparalleled networking opportunities in its exhibit hall, excursions, and receptions and career-development opportunities.
The meeting has a wide audience that ranges from anyone who has interest in archaeology to experts in the field. Attendees come from all over the United States and from over 45 countries! With a wide variety of presentations and events, attendees are able to learn something new, meet new contacts, and reconnect with old friends.

Mormon History Association Conference
2025-06-05 - 2025-06-08 | Ogden, UT, Ogden, UT, United States
The Mormon History Association invites you to Ogden, Utah for its sixtieth annual conference to be held June 5-8, 2025. Situated on the Ogden and Weber Rivers near where they join the Great Salt Lake, and nicknamed “Junction City” when it became the connecting point between numerous railroad lines, Ogden has long been a site of junctions. Long before Latter-day Saints dreamed of an American Zion in the Great Basin, ancestors of Shoshone and other indigenous peoples criss-crossed the region, establishing trade networks and sharing languages, settlements, and cultures.
Ogden highlights a confluence of events and dynamics that shaped Mormon settlement, identity, and culture, and ensured that the tradition would always be intertwined with the wider world. The railroad especially brought diverse groups to Ogden. Wealthy investors and industrialists as well as Black Americans and Chinese, Japanese, German, and Irish immigrants were drawn to the burgeoning railroad town and its economic opportunities, bringing greater influence from the margins. They built communities that both constituted and contradicted centers of Latter-day Saint power, resulting in diversity, and alternative directions. Conversely, families like Apostle Franklin D. and Jane S. Richards represented Ogden’s influence on the highest levels of the church.

Steve Kemp - An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s Crusade to Save America's Wonderlands
2025-08-14 18:00 - 19:00 | City Lights Bookstore, 3 E Jackson St Ste 1, Sylva, NC, 28779, United States
Steve Kemp will visit City Lights on Thursday, August 14th to share his new book, An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands.
America’s national parks are facing unprecedented challenges. With visitation pressures mounting and the National Park Service struggling to keep up, author and former park ranger Steve Kemp looks toward one exceptionally effective historical example of conservation philanthropy and park building—the collaboration between John D. Rockefeller Jr. and NPS legends Stephen Mather, Horace Albright, and Arno Cammerer.
An Exaltation of Parks reveals the inspiring story of this collaboration, showing how the partnership transformed some of America’s most cherished national parks, including Acadia, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, and Yosemite. It recounts Rockefeller’s lifelong dedication to conservation, digging into his own pockets and toiling as a volunteer to achieve his goals for converting private land into public use. Bringing to life the history and significance of America’s most magnificent landscapes, this volume is both a tribute to past conservation victories and a call to action for the future, emphasizing the need for continued vigilance to preserve these national treasures for generations to come.
Steve Kemp is a former seasonal ranger in Yellowstone and Denali and served as publications director for the Great Smoky Mountains Association. He has written for National Parks, Outside, Outdoor Life, and Smokies Life Journal, and is the author of Trees of the Smokies, and Great Smoky Mountains Simply Beautiful.

Steve Kemp - Our Story Series: John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s Crusade for the National Parks
2025-08-28 18:00 - 19:00 | Anna Porter Public Library, 159 Mills Park Rd., Gatlinburg, TN, 37738, United States
This August, Kemp will be releasing his new book, An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands. The book focuses on how John D. Rockefeller Jr. collaborated with renowned NPS figures Horace Albright, Stephen Mather, and Arno Cammerer to establish beautiful national parks in America. Kemp will be giving a talk about the importance of national parks and the challenges they face today at Anna Porter Public Library on Thursday, August 28, at 6:00 p.m. The presentation will be followed by Q&A, and books will be available to purchase and get signed! The event is free to attend, and you can go to the library’s website, annaporterpl.org, to RSVP to get email reminders. The library is located at 159 Mills Park Rd., Gatlinburg, TN, next to the schools on Highway 321.

Lori Wrankle - Southern Utah Book Festival
2025-09-15 08:00 - 2025-09-20 17:00 | Cedar City, UT, Cedar City, UT, United States
The 2nd annual Southern Utah Book Festival will be held September 15-20, 2025, in Cedar City. Our website will update as we continue to solidify plans for this year. You can expect to engage with more of your favorite authors and illustrators during this free festival.

Steve Kemp - An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands
2025-09-16 10:00 - 17:00 | History Jackson Hole Center and Museum, 175 E Broadway Ave., Jackson, WY, 83001, United States
More information will be included at a later date.

The Water Commons: Living Legacies of Utah Waterways
2025-09-19 09:00 - 16:15 | J. Willard Marriott Library, Gould Auditorium, 295 S 1500 E, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112
Date & Time: Friday, September 19, 2025
9:00am-4:15pm
Location: Gould Auditorium, Marriott Library

This symposium works to coordinate efforts to preserve the waterways that are the basis of life, health, and prosperity for all life in Utah.
Gather with local water scholars, stewards, and artists to learn about ongoing projects, discover practices of stewardship from stakeholders across the state, and participate in fostering networks for further collaboration.
We will share strategies of sustainability and water management as well as oral history and art projects to document and preserve stories and histories of the Colorado River, the Bear River, Great Salt Lake, and Utah Lake.
Free and open to public and academic audiences.

Steve Kemp - Iowa City Book Festival
2025-10-05 - 2025-10-12 | Iowa City, IA, IA, United States
The 17th annual Iowa City Book Festival will be held Oct. 5-12, 2025, at locations throughout downtown and beyond. It will showcase a dynamic mix of original events and collaborative programs with partner organizations, all celebrating the power of the written word and the exchange of ideas.
Dates and event listings for the 2025 festival will be posted when they are available.

Wasatch Festival of Books at Library Square
2025-10-11 08:00 - 2025-10-12 17:00 | Salt Lake City Public Library, 210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84111
The Wasatch Festival of Books at Library Square will take place on Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12. All events are at the Salt Lake City Public Library’s Main Library in downtown Salt Lake City.
Bringing together a variety of acclaimed authors, readings, and interactive public events, this two-day event is a community celebration of the power of reading—for all ages, and in all its forms. (And yes, for people who love genre stories, graphic novels, and audiobooks, this is your festival too!) All events are free and open to the public.

Great Basin Anthropological Association (GBAA)
2025-10-15 - 2025-10-18 | Whitney Peak Hotel, NV, 255 N Virginia St, Reno, NV, 89501, United States
The GBAA promotes the study of the peoples and cultures of the Great Basin of the western United States and its relationship to adjacent regions.
Join Us in RENO, NEVADA for the 39th Biennial GBAC – OCTOBER 15-18, 2025

Western History Association (WHA)
2025-10-15 - 2025-10-18 | Convention Center, Albuquerque, NM, United States
The Western History Association’s annual conference is a four-day event scheduled in October. It features over 120 sessions, roundtables, workshops, and professional panels on all aspects of the North American West. Participants enjoy meals, receptions, awards ceremonies, and tours to nearby historic sites and cultural centers.

Steve Kemp - Malaprops Bookstore
2025-11-05 17:30 - 19:30 | Malaprops Bookstore, 55 Haywood St, Asheville, NC, 28801, United States
Malaprops Bookstore, Asheville, North Carolina with Nancy East!

Join us in store or live online when Steve Kemp presents his new book An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands, in conversation with Nancy East.
This is a free hybrid event with the option to attend in-store or online.
• Click HERE to register for the IN-STORE event.
• Click HERE to register for the VIRTUAL event.

Robin Patten - The Mountain: Journeys in High Places - Country Bookshelf, Bozeman, MT
2025-11-06 17:00 - 18:30 | Country Bookshelf, 28 West Main Street, Bozeman, MT, 59715, United States
Country Bookshelf will be welcoming Robin Patten to discuss her new book, The Mountain: Journeys in High Places.

Robin will take audience questions following the program.

Tickets are not required for this event, but RSVPs are appreciated. Please visit the event page for more information.

Steve Kemp - An Exaltation of Parks: John D Rockefeller's Crusade to Save America's Wonderlands
2025-11-11 19:00 - 20:30 | Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN, 37919, United States
Steve Kemp will give an overview of his recent book “An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands.”
Over a third of the book is about the creation of the Smokies, but also includes JDR Jr.’s philanthropy for Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, the Blue Ridge Parkway and over a dozen other national parks. The purpose of the book is to encourage partnerships that help parks.
As we approach the Smokies centennial, it’s important to remember the wildly successful collaboration that created GSMNP.

Author Steve Kemp has spent most of his adult life working in national parks, from cook at a park concession in the Grand Tetons to a seasonal ranger in Yellowstone and Denali to publications director for nonprofit park education partner Great Smoky Mountains Association (now Smokies Life). A graduate of the University of Montana’s writing program, Kemp has written for magazines including National Parks, Outside, Outdoor Life, and Smokies Life Journal, and is the author of Trees of the Smokies,Great Smoky Mountains Simply Beautiful, The Blue Ridge Parkway: In Celebration of the American Landscape (forthcoming) and the children’s book, We’re Going to the Mountains.

Watershed Symposium
2025-11-19 09:30 - 2025-11-20 16:30 | Utah Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 West 3100 South, Salt Lake City, UT, 84119, United States
Free and open to all, the Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium encourages a comprehensive review of the current state of our watershed while creating learning and networking opportunities for a broad array of stakeholders. Sessions cover water quality and watershed issues with local, regional, and national relevance.
Hosted annually by Salt Lake County’s Watershed Planning & Restoration Program.

Middle East Studies Association (MESA)
2025-11-22 - 2025-11-25 | Westin Downtown Washington, DC, Washington, DC, United States
The MESA is a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples through programs, publications and services that enhance education, further intellectual exchange, recognize professional distinction, and defend academic freedom in accordance with its status as a 501(c)(3) scientific, educational, literary, and charitable organization.

Steve Kemp - Wilderness Wildlife Week
2026-01-05 - 2026-01-08 | LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge, 2986 Teaster Ln, Pigeon Forge, TN, 37863, United States

Evening with the Author Kerry William Bate, author of The Life and Times of John Steele: Mormon Kingdom Builder
2026-02-19 17:30 - 19:30 | Benchmark Books, 3269 S Main St, Ste 250, South Salt Lake, Utah, 84115
We are pleased to announce that Kerry Bate will be here to speak about The Life and Times of John Steele Mormon Kingdom Builder (published by The University of Utah Press) on Thursday, February 19. He will be here from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., will speak at 6:00, and answer questions and sign books before and after that time.
Among the founders of Salt Lake City, Parowan, and Las Vegas, and an explorer of Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, John Steele’s legacy is etched across the American West. The Life and Times of John Steele follows the remarkable journey of this Irish-born convert to Mormonism from his birth into scarcity through his final days in Kanarraville, Utah.
A fervent believer in utopian ideals, Steele sought to build an egalitarian Kingdom of Christ in the last days, becoming a key figure in early Utah history. His multifaceted roles—missionary, city founder, militia major, justice of the peace, and self-taught doctor using folk medicine, charms, and the occult—make his story unique. This meticulously researched biography offers new insights into pivotal events such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the communal economics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, drawing from Steele’s extensive personal diaries and papers to bring his complex, colorful life and times to light.
The Life and Times of John Steele Mormon Kingdom Builder. Paperback. $29.95.https://www.benchmarkbooks.com/…/the-life-and-times-of…

Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry Reading
2026-02-19 19:00 - 21:00 | Finch Lane Art Gallery, 54 Finch Lane, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112
Ange Mlinko author of Foxglovewise and Dan Murphy, author of Estate Sale will read from their works at the Finch Lane Art Gallery
