This is Black Mountain Institute Conversations, an interview series produced by Nevada Public Radio’s Desert Companion in collaboration with the Black Mountain Institute. For this series, we sit down with BMI’s Fellows to talk about the writing that brought them here and how they’re spending their short time in Las Vegas.
Joining us for episode two is Isle McElroy, one of the Black Mountain Institute’s 2025-26 Shearing Fellows.
Isle is the author of two fictional novels: The Atmospherians, published in 2021 by Simon & Schuster, and People Collide, published in 2023 by HarperCollins. The latter was named a best book of that year by NPR,Vulture, and the New York Times. Though very different in tone, both books challenge the specious, complicated aspects of wellness, relationships, self-perception, and more.
