“Dusty wide kaleidoscope, where’s my chapstick?”
—Jessica Bruder’s six-word memoir for the Burning Man festival.

SMITH’s Burning Man photo essay and interview with Burning Book author Jessica Bruder are up!

I have a confession: I had never heard of Burning Man the event until I read Burning Book. It seems like everyone else in my mini-world was more in the know than me; they were all shocked that I was so in the dark about the great glow that goes on each Labor Day weekend in the Nevada Desert.

My conversations with friends go like this:

ME: “Ever hear of this thing called Burning Man?”

EVERYONE ELSE: “Um, yeah… are you serious? You’ve never heard of Burning Man?”

Still, flipping through Burning Book—an awesome tribute to this yearly shindig—I have to say, I was really in awe of the whole thing, even if I couldn’t quite comprehend exactly what was going on. Fortunately, Jess was able give me this explanation of Burning Man, which I think sums it up well:

“Burning Man is a temporary desert city of 40,000 dusty and sleep-deprived people working doggedly to bring their most outlandish, unlikely, and inspired ideas to life in a tangible way.”

Wild stuff. Now it’s your turn. Got some drama in the desert to share? We want to hear it. Tell us your favorite Burning Man story in 100-1,000 words, and five burning storytellers will win a copy of Burning Book, a work of inspired art and dynamic storytelling.