The High Desert Museum marked its 40th anniversary in 2022.

Caroline Tracey of Tucson, Arizona, is the winner of the 2022 Waterston Desert Writing Prize and will read at the award ceremony, taking place at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at the High Desert Museum in Bend.

The event’s keynote speaker is Kevin Fedarko, author of the best-selling book “The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon.” The Grand Canyon will also be the topic of his presentation at the museum, titled “Beneath the River of Shooting Stars: Beauty, Hardship, and Grace in the Grand Canyon.”

The evening also includes a reception and the awarding of the 2022 Waterston Desert Writing Prize by this year’s guest judge, Raquel Gutiérrez, an MFA faculty author at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend.

Tracey won the prize for the 18-essay collection “SALT LAKES,” which offers a queer perspective on climate change in arid environments. Tracey holds a doctorate in geography and speaks and writes in English, Russian and Spanish, focusing her work on culture, environment and migration.

Tickets to the Waterston Desert Writing Prize Award Ceremony are $7, with a 20 percent discount for members of the museum. For more info, visit highdesertmuseum.org/waterston-2022.