Authors Uncovered begins summer talks | New

Authors Uncovered, a long-standing collaboration between Wilkinson Public Library and Between the Covers Bookstore, launches its summer series with author David Gessner at the library on Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Gessner will be reading from his latest book, “Quiet Desperation, Savage Delight: Sheltering with Thoreau in the Age of Crisis,” and answer questions from the audience.

Gessner’s latest is a pandemic-era meditation on Henry David Thoreau, one of the first social distancers. A nature writer, Gessner turned to Thoreau for lessons on how to live. According to Torrey House Press, these lessons – learning our own backyard, rewilding, loving nature, self-reliance and civil disobedience – hold a secret that could help us save ourselves as we face the greatest climate crisis. .

Between covers, co-owner Daiva Chesonis said Gessner is no stranger to Telluride. Not so long ago, a notable author talked about his book “All the Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner and the American West”, which included a question-and-answer session with Abbey, performed by Terry Tice and Stegner, played by Ashley Boling, much to the pleasure of the assemblies.

This Wednesday, Gessner will invite local poet and author Craig Childs to the stage to deliver what Chesonis has described as “a very current regional discourse on the state of the West.”

Gessner is also the author of “Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness”. He chairs the Creative Writing Department at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Ecotone. Gessner lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, with his wife, novelist Nina de Gramont, and their daughter Hadley.

Of Gessner’s latest book, Ginger Strand, author of ‘The Brothers Vonnegut’ wrote: ‘It’s all the rage today to deride Henry David Thoreau as a privileged white dude circling around a’ desert ‘. ” suburban. Silent despair, Savage Delight doesn’t deny it, but he digs deeper. Does Thoreau have something to tell us at this unfortunate moment in history? For David Gessner, the answer is yes: Thoreau becomes a vehicle for reflection on friendship, parenthood, race, aging, technology, home, climate change, justice and death. Gessner shows us how, rather than burying ourselves in old books, we could use them to get out and meet the world, in all of its wild and broken beauty.

The discovered perpetrators, although returning this summer, never really went off the radar during the height of the pandemic, Chesonis explained. Masked and socially distanced external events have enabled employees to organize events in 2020.

“We were trying,” she said. “In fact, we took them out. “

This time around, with more flexible regulations, a “come-one, come-all” spirit will ensure that the seats can be filled.

“It will really do good,” Chesonis said.

Gessner, along with July 13 featured author Nicole Walker, are published by Torrey House Press, a Salt Lake City-based publisher whose values ​​are interconnected with the natural world and social justice.

“We believe that living and contemporary literature is at the forefront of social change. We seek to inform, broaden and reshape the dialogue on environmental justice and stewardship of the natural world by elevating literary excellence in diverse voices, ”the THP statement of value reads.

With writers such as Childs, Gessner, Walker, Pam Houston, Amy Irvine, Betsy Gaines Quammen, Scott Graham and a host of others living in the area, Chesonis said the writers were more than willing to get in the car and to travel to the region for the author. talks and readings.

“We are in the process of honing this,” she said.

THP, added Chesonis, “comes out with things that are relevant and meaningful. They’re small and nimble,” while being intermountain west’s only non-profit environmental editor.

“Torrey House Press publishes books at the intersection of literary arts and environmental advocacy,” the mission statement reads. “The authors of THP explore the diversity of human experiences and relationships with place. THP’s books create conversations about issues that concern the American West, the landscape, literature, and the future of our ever-changing planet, inspiring action towards a more just world.

Nicole Walker, who is scheduled for Tuesday, July 13, will read and discuss her book, “Processed Meat: Essays on Food, Flesh, and Navigating Disaster,” a series of essays that examine “food choices and lifestyle choices. , dissecting the way we deal with disaster, repackaging it and turning it into something edible.

“She’s a trip,” Chesonis said of Walker. “She’s super fun.”

Walker is the author of “The After-Normal: Brief, Alphabetical Essays on a Changing Planet”, “Sustainability: A Love Story”, “A Survival Guide for Life in the Ruins” and other books. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and noted in several editions of The Best American Essays, Walker is a non-fiction editor at Diagram and a professor at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Just when you thought summer couldn’t be better.

Authors Uncovered takes place on the East Terrace of the Wilkinson Public Library from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm There is no registration or pre-registration fee. Come.