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Kathryn Aalto joins us to celebrate Earth Day & Poetry Month as honored through two centuries of nature writing in a discussion of her book, Writing Wild. (1-hour multimedia presentation with Q&A)
“From Henry David Thoreau to Wallace Stegner to Edward Abbey, male nature writers occupy a great deal of space in the environmental literary canon,” writes The Nature Conservancy. “But in her book, Writing Wild, Kathryn Aalto offers another perspective to the genre.”
That other perspective is conveyed in Writing Wild — part travel essay, literary biography, and cultural history — a narrative anthology celebrating two centuries of nature writing by women. From lesser-known pioneering writers like 19th-century poet and diarist Dorothy Wordsworth to well-known scientist Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, Writing Wild celebrates 25 diverse writers. These include Leslie Marmon Silko, the first female Native American novelist, Gene Stratton-Porter who sold more than 55 million nature novels and nature studies in her lifetime, and ethnographer and feminist writer Mary Austin. In a presentation that is visually-rich, educational, and entertaining, Kathryn Aalto’s talk is a reminder of the diverse ways people sense and experience the natural world. These inspiring wordsmiths are scholars, spiritual seekers, conservationists, scientists, novelists, and explorers. They defy easy categorization, yet they all share a bold authenticity that makes their work both distinct and universal.
Featured writers include:
Kathryn Aalto is a writer, historian, teacher, and designer focused on the natural world. Kathryn's energy, humor, and storytelling make her an in-demand speaker from Ivy League universities to the world’s most beautiful botanical gardens. Kathryn is the author of three books including The New York Times bestseller, The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh: A Walk Through the Forest that Inspired the Hundred Acre Wood (2015) and Nature and Human Intervention (2011). Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Women Who Shape How We See the Natural World (Timber Press, June 2020) is her third book. Her essays have appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, Outside, Sierra, Buzzfeed, Resurgence, The Ecologist, and more.
AGE GROUP: | Teens (13-17) | Adults (18+) |
EVENT TYPE: | Virtual Program | Literature, Arts, and Culture | Literacy and Language |
TAGS: | Women | poetry | Nature | literature | cultural history |
The Ives Main Library, designed by renowned architect, Cass Gilbert in 1911, is a cornerstone of the historic New Haven Green. The facility is a community treasure and features unique design details, including several WPA-era murals. Ives is open 54 hours a week, Monday-Saturday, and houses major public service departments for children and teens as well as adult reference, a computer tech center and Ives Squared, a newly renovated space for innovation and entrepreneurship.
2019 Recipient of National Medal for