Michael Branch

Michael Branch, who is University Foundation Professor, Emeritus, at the University of Nevada, Reno, is the author of more than 300 essays, which have appeared in venues including CNN, the San Francisco Chronicle, Slate, Outside, Orion, Ecotone, Pacific Standard, Bustle, Utne Reader, National Parks, The Scientist, High Country News, and Terrain.org. He has published ten books, including his trilogy of environmental humor writing from the Great Basin Desert: Raising Wild, Rants from the Hill, and How to Cuss in Western. His creative nonfiction includes pieces recognized as Notable Essays in The Best American Essays, The Best Creative Nonfiction, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. In the most absurd line from its positive review of Mike’s latest book, On the Trail of the Jackalope, the Wall Street Journal wrote that “Branch knows at least as much about jackalopes as Einstein did about physics.” Mike has received the Western Literature Association’s Frederick Manfred Award for Creative Writing, the Montana Prize for Humor (guest judged by Jimmy Kimmel), and the North American Travel Journalists Association Award, and in 2024 he was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. Mike has long counted Ellen Meloy among his literary heroes. Ellen’s combination of intelligence, attentiveness, humor, and lyrical prose makes her work unique. Mike received the Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award in 2017. You can learn more about Mike’s work at michaelbranchwriter.com.