The Write Connection at Thoreau Farm

A Program in Partnership with the Thoreau Society

Author talks and writing workshops that encourage critical thinking and perceptive writing about the world and ourselves.

Spring 2024


 

Wild Stories from the History of Bird Migration Research: A Conversation with Flight Paths Author Rebecca Heisman

Thursday, February 22, 2024
7 pm
Online
Free. Registration required.

 

We’ve all heard amazing facts about bird migration—the long distances that birds travel, the ways that they navigate, etc. But did you ever wonder how we figured all of this out? In this talk Rebecca Heisman shares some surprising stories from the history of bird migration research and discuss why understanding migration is so crucial for bird conservation.


Blight: Author Emily Monosson in Conversation with Brent Ranalli

Sunday, March 10, 2024
2pm
At Thoreau Farm and Online
Free to attend in-person event. Registration required.

Register for the IN PERSON event at Thoreau Farm

Emily Monosson’s book Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic is a prescient warning about the mysterious and deadly world of fungi—and how to avert further loss across species, including our own.

Delving into case studies at once fascinating, sobering, and hopeful, Blight serves as a wake-up call, a reminder of the delicate interconnectedness of the natural world, and a lesson in seeing life on our planet with renewed humility and awe.

We are delighted to also offer online viewing of this program. Free to attend online. Registration required. Register on ZOOM to join us virtually


Outsider: My Boyhood with Thoreau — A Book Talk with Lawrence Millman

April 11, 2024
7pm
At Thoreau Farm
$5/person

Outsider: My Boyhood with Thoreau is a memoir told in vignettes by the mycologist and author Lawrence Millman. Early on, Millman found in Thoreau a kindred spirit, far outside of the mainstream social, sporting, and educational interests he was expected to be cultivating. And like Thoreau, he would rather be out-of-doors — where he could socialize with mushrooms, insects, or earthworms —than stuck in any indoor locale.

Register for the IN PERSON event at Thoreau Farm

We are delighted to also offer online viewing of this program. FREE to attend online. Registration required. 

Register on ZOOM to join us virtually


Fascinating Stories about Birdsong for Every Week of the Year– An Author Talk with Dominic Couzens

Saturday, April 13
2pm
Free Online Event. 
Registration Required.

Register on Zoom

Leading bird expert Dominic Couzens takes us on a journey around the world to enjoy an authentic year of birdsong, from the influence of the blackbird’s song on classical music to the amazing imitations of the lyrebird.


Thoreau and the Birds of Concord: A Book Launch with Geoff Wisner

Saturday, May 11, 2024
6 pm
At Thoreau Farm
$15/person to attend in-person event. Registration required.Register for the IN PERSON event at Thoreau Farm

We are delighted to also offer online viewing of this program. $10/person to attend online. Registration required. 

Register on ZOOM to join us virtually

Just released by Mercer University Press, A Year of Birds is the first collection of Thoreau’s writings on birds to be arranged by the day of the year, emphasizing the relationship of birds with their environment and the spiritual significance of the seasons. With a focus on the town of Concord, A Year of Birds includes unparalleled descriptions of birds ranging from the red-tailed hawk to the whippoorwill. Special sections are devoted to the now-vanished passenger pigeon and to Thoreau’s mysterious “night warbler.”

Geoff Wisner, editor of A Year of Birds, is a board member of the Thoreau Society and the editor of Thoreau’s Wildflowers and Thoreau’s Animals, published by Yale University Press.


Dancing Cockatoos: A Conversation with Marlene Zuk

Thursday, May 23
7 pm
Free Online Event. 
Registration Required.

Register on Zoom

Marlene Zuk shares her book Dancing Cockatoos and the Dead Man Test: How Behavior Evolves and Why It Matters.

Longlisted for the 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, it is a lively exploration of animal behavior in all its glorious complexity, whether in tiny wasps, lumbering elephants, or ourselves.

Marlene Zuk is Regents Professor of ecology, evolution, and behavior at the University of Minnesota and studies animal sexual behavior and communication. The author of Paleofantasy and Sex on Six Legs, among other works, she lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

All registration fees for Write Connection at Thoreau Farm programs are non-refundable.

Donations to the Write Connection at Thoreau Farm are strongly encouraged and help make our free programs possible.