I’m excited to announce an event in which I’ll be participating this coming Friday, May 17th. It’s the May salon, “The Art of the Casino,” sponsored by Nevada Humanities, to be held at Sundance Books & Music in Reno at 6:30 p.m. More details on the event here.

Salon de Madame Geoffrin

This monthly series is inspired by their namesake gatherings of old, when people of wide & varied interests met together to share lively conversation about the topics of the day. They are stimulating (literally and intellectually–there’s wine!), and always draw an ebullient crowd.

This Friday’s salon, “The Art of the Casino” is particularly inspired for our time and place, and will feature David Kranes and  Susan Chandler. I’ll moderate and round out the panel. We’ll give our panelists a chance to share their thoughts and then we’ll all chime in.

David is an award-winning writer, playwright, and professor emeritus of Creative Writing from the University of Utah, who has written many pieces inspired by Nevada’s gambling landscape, including the novel Keno Runner. He is also a creative design consultant for casinos, giving him terrific insights on creating art both in and from the casino environment.

Susan, an associate professor in UNR’s School of Social Work, is co-author of the new book, Casino Women: Courage in Unexpected Places, which incorporates interviews with maids, cocktail waitresses, cooks, laundry workers, dealers, pit bosses, and vice presidents, into a pioneering look at women in the casino world.

What will we discuss? Whatever comes to mind! How casinos shape the visitor experience, who holds the power within them and how those dynamics have changed, why casinos look and feel the way they do, and what we all see as the future of casinos, their workers, and their communities as legalized gambling expands throughout the country and the world. Please join us and add your voice to the conversation!