The Linden Review, in partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha English Department and Creative Nonfiction Program and Glacier Creek Preserve, is proud to announce the details of this year’s Bouteloua LitArt Fest, a celebration of local authors and artists.

The event will be held at Glacier Creek Preserve in Bennington from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 28, 2025. The event is free to attend and open to the public, and complimentary food and drink will be provided.

Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. In addition to his poetry, Ross has released three collections of essays—The Book of Delights was released in 2019 and was a New York Times bestseller; Inciting Joy was released in 2022, and his newest collection, The Book of (More) Delights was released in September of 2023.

The event will kick off at 2:00 p.m. with a panel of local authors: Jeff Lacey, Jewel Rodgers, Jen Stastny, and Daniel Gathman. Ross Gay’s talk is scheduled to begin at 4:30.

Jeff Lacey has lived most of his life in Omaha, and has been a secondary school teacher for 25 years, having taught everything from seventh grade English to 12th grade AP English. He currently teaches AP Literature, Senior Composition, and 9th grade English at Elkhorn North High School. He believes a teacher should ‘practice what they preach’ as far as writing goes, so he has been publishing poetry and freelancing since 2019; this year, his work has appeared in Omaha Magazine and Nebraska Life Magazine. Lacey earned a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, an M.Ed. from the University of Arizona, and has a master’s degree in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Besides being a teacher, Lacey is also a certified Nebraska Master Naturalist. 

Jewel Rodgers is the 2025-2029 Nebraska State Poet, 2025 Academy of American Poets Fellowship recipient and a 2025 AIRIES Fellow. She is also a three-time Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award nominee for Best Performance Poet in Omaha, and a three-time TEDx speaker. Alongside her poetry, she is an interdisciplinary performer, spatial practitioner and youth coach. Her ultimate goal is to continue exploring her passions while inspiring others do the same.

Jen Stastny is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. She earned her BA in English and French and secondary teaching certification in both from UNL and her MA in Literature from UNO. Jen has taught English at Omaha Central High School since 1998 and currently teaches Holocaust Literature and International Baccalaureate Literature. She has been associated with the Nebraska Writing Project since 2004 and has facilitated the Nebraska Warrior Writers program in Omaha, a partnership between the Nebraska Writing Project and Humanities Nebraska, since 2016. Jen also works at Nebraska Wildlife Rehab as an educator and doer-of-all-tasks. Jen's parents had 10 children, so they taught them that "bored" is the one word they were never allowed to say.

Daniel Gathman currently teaches high school English and Creative Writing. He has been an English teacher since 2009 and tattooed since 2001. Some would say Gathman crossed into the category of heavily tattooed along the way. His writing often combines the art of his profession and that which he collects on his skin.  He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts at the University of Nebraska Omaha and earned the Advanced Writing certificate from UNO as well as degrees from the University of Iowa and Creighton University. Gathman is also a collector of rejection letters from mid to top tier literary journals and magazines for his writing. In fact, if the rejection letters were physical instead of digital, they would qualify as a well-formed pile.

The event will also feature prairie walks and an exhibition of art from local artists, curated and sponsored by Moonrise Gallery. Visitors can take in the rolling hills and the countryside scenery at the 525-acre preserve, part of University of Nebraska at Omaha's extended campus. The location features several trails, some of which wind through the 140-acre Allwine Prairie Tract, a restored tallgrass prairie created in 1970.