Visiting fellows join a community of creative writers and scholars in a thriving literary scene in Las Vegas and on the campus of UNLV. Fellows are supported by individuals and groups who share the commitment of bringing writers and the literary imagination into the heart of public life.

We welcome writers during the UNLV academic year between August and May. BMI fellowships rely on the generosity of individuals and foundations to provide vital support perennially to writers and to immerse them in the Nevada landscape.

Past Fellows

Tajja Isen

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2024

Julián Delgado Lopera

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2024

Edgar Gomez

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2023

Morgan Thomas

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2023

Fakhria Rasikh

City of Asylum Fellow
2022 – present

Ahmed Naji

City of Asylum Fellow
2019 – 2023

Amanda Fortini

Beverly Rogers Fellow
2020 – 2023

Jaquira Díaz

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2023

Anna Qu

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2023

Nabila Lovelace

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2022

Melissa Febos

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2022

Natasha Tarpley

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2022

Mary South

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2021

Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2022

Faylita Hicks

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2021

Jorge Olivera Castillo

City of Asylum Fellow

Summer 2021

Bonnie Chau

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2020

Jordan Kisner

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2021

Sally Wen Mao

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2021

Megan Stielstra

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2020

Kristen Arnett

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2020

Lisa Ko

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2020

Niela Orr

BMI Fellow

Vi Khi Nao

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2019

Amy Kurzweil

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2019

Hanif Abdurraqib

Shearing Fellow
April 2019

Lesley Nneka Arimah

Shearing Fellow
Spring 2019

Camille Bromley

Juhl Writer-in-Residence
November-December 2018

Adrian Nicole le Blanc

Elias Ghanem Chair
February 2019

Sarah Marshall

Writer-in-Residence
October-November 2018

Derek Palacio

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2018

Claire Vaye Watkins

Shearing Fellow
Fall 2018

James Yeh

Visiting Writer
March-April 2019

Tayari Jones

Fellow
2017-2018

Lesley Hazleton

Fellow
2017-2018

Hossein Mortezaeian Abkenar

Fellow
2017-2018

Ben Ehrenreich

Fellow
2017-2018

Harriet A. Washington

Shearing Fellow
2012-2013