2016 Conference: The Epic Neihardt

John Neihardt

The Life and Literature of John G. Neihardt

Special Symposium: Feb. 10, 2016

Though he is best known for his book Black Elk Speaks, John G. Neihardt also is poet laureate in perpetuity of Nebraska and was the author of poems, stories, and essays about literature, science, Native Americans, and the settlement of the American West. This special one-day symposium, sponsored by the University of Nebraska Press and the Center for Great Plains Studies, featured talks exploring the larger life and writing of Neihardt.

John Neihardt

See photos from the Symposium

Photos from Neihardt State Historic Site

Schedule and Speakers

9 a.m.: Registration opens in the Great Plains Art Museum (all events held in the museum's main gallery unless otherwise noted)


10 a.m.: Welcome and introductions


10:30 a.m.: Tim Anderson, "Neihardt's Cycle of the West: New Heroes, Traditional Form”

Professor emeritus, College of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Nebraska, author of Lonesome Dreamer: The Life of John G. Neihardt


11:45 a.m.: Lunch in Schorr Suite (pre-registration required, seating is full)


1 p.m.: Aubrey Streit Krug, “Before Black Elk: John G. Neihardt's Omaha Stories”

Center for Great Plains Studies Graduate Fellow, PhD Candidate & Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Nebraska-Lincoln English Department


2 p.m.: Pamela Gossin, “Post-Victorian or Emergent Modern? John G. Neihardt and Early 20th Century Science”

Professor, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Texas at Dallas


For questions, call Lisa Maupin at the Center for Great Plains Studies, 402-472-3964 or email Aubrey Streit Krug at aubrey.streitkrug@huskers.unl.edu.

Snow policy: if the university is closed, the symposium will be canceled and will not be rescheduled.


Special thanks to the John G. Neihardt Foundation for their support.