Submitted by Village Books
Whether you have a longtime relationship with poetry or are just beginning to explore the vast world of verse, there’s no better time than now to grow your collection. April is National Poetry Month and Village Books is celebrating by offering their entire inventory of poetry at 20 percent off. In addition, throughout the month of April, you can visit Village Books to hear local and traveling authors and poets discuss their newly released titles. Check out the list below for a full schedule of upcoming Author Talks at Village Books.
Friday, April 3, 7:00 p.m.
John Marzluff, “Welcome to Subirdia” — Slide show
We all know that human development is threatening our environment. Runoff pollutes our streams. Homes and businesses encroach on wilderness habitat. Energy use warms the planet. Too many species are in decline. And yet, for some of our most charismatic wild creatures, suburban and urban habitats offer surprising opportunities to thrive. Our suburbs and city parks are often remarkably rich in bird diversity—holding more species than either wilderness areas or urban centers. In fact, suburbs may play a key role in preventing loss of species in the face of the dramatic disruptions of climate change and other human impacts. “Welcome to Subirdia” shows us how. This event is part of our “Nature of Writing” series, in partnership with North Cascades Institute.
John Marzluff is James W. Ridgeway Professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington, where he teaches classes in ornithology, urban ecology, conservation and field research. His previous books include “In the Company of Crows and Ravens” (with Tony Angell), “Dog Days, Raven Nights” (with his wife Colleen), and “Gifts of the Crow” (with Tony Angell). He is a Fellow of the American Ornithologist’s Union.
Saturday, April 4, 7:00 p.m.
Denise DuMaurier, “Sentinel” — Poetry!
Join local poet Denise DuMaurier as she reads from her new collection Sentinel. DuMaurier’s previous collections include “Abandoning the Raft” and “Follow Me Down.”
Thursday, April 9, 7:00 p.m.
Jennifer Adler, “Passionate Nutrition”
Equal parts cookbook, handbook for healthy eating, and memoir, “Passionate Nutrition” inspires readers to embrace the power of food, eat well, lose weight, and use food as medicine. Nutritionist and author, Jennifer Adler shares her personal story, outlines abundant eating and explores “the healthy trinity”—digestion, balance, and whole foods.
Jennifer Adler is the founder and owner of Passionate Nutrition, a nutrition practice that uses food—not supplements—as medicine. She is a nutritionist with a Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition and Counseling, co-founder of the International Eating Disorders Institute, and has been an adjunct faculty member at Bastyr University since 2006. She holds a graduate certificate in Spirituality, Health, and Medicine from Bastyr University and was trained at the School of Natural Cookery in Boulder, Colorado.
Friday, April 10, 7:00 p.m.
Sara Stamey, “The Ariadne Connection” — Fiction, local author
In the near future, a deadly plague and a geomagnetic reversal threaten the world’s precarious balance. When jaded American expat Peter Mitchell agrees to transport mysterious Ariadne Demodakis to sacred sites in the Greek islands, the sailor convinces himself it’s just another “freelance import” job. But when his passenger is pursued by the terrorist Sons of the Prophet, pharmaceutical mercenaries, and a cult of warrior women, Peter realizes there’s more to the young bioelectricity researcher than he first believed. “Saint Ariadne” seems to be healing plague victims with her touch. And she might have found a connection between the pandemic and overexposure to electrom agnetic emissions. Insane or inspired, Peter commits to getting Ariadne to Delphi—to the ancient Navel of Gaea—where the only hope for humanity’s survival is to reset the compass of the world.
Sara Stamey returned to her Bellingham roots after years of wanderlust: teaching scuba in the Caribbean, backpacking around Greece, New Zealand, and South America, and owning a farm in Southern Chile. She now teaches creative writing at Western Washington University and offers independent editing services. The Statesman Review called her suspense novel “Islands” “superior mystery and suspense—a stomping, vivid ride.” She stays active hiking and swimming the Northwest mountains and waters.
Saturday, April 11, 4:00 p.m.
Pamela Porter, “The Crazy Man”
It is 1965, and twelve-year-old Emaline lives on a wheat farm in southern Saskatchewan. Her family has fallen apart. Emaline’s accident while riding on the back of her dad’s tractor leaves her with a permanent disability. When her father walks off the farm, Emaline’s mother hires Angus, a patient from the local mental hospital, to work their fields. Together, Emaline, her mother, and Angus begin to heal from their grief and the town’s prejudice.
Pamela Porter is the author of the internationally acclaimed novel “The Crazy Man,” which won a dozen awards, including the Governor General’s Award (Canada’s National Book Award), the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year for Children Award, as well as the Texas Institute of Letters Children’s Book Prize, and was named a Jane Addams Foundation Honor Book. Pamela is also the author of “Sky” and “I’ll Be Watching,” as well as a picture book for young children, “Yellow Moon, Apple Moon,” which won the New Mexico Book Award. In addition, she has published eight volumes of adult poetry. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and educated in Texas, Pamela now lives near Victoria, BC with her family and a menagerie of rescued horses, dogs and cats.
Saturday, April 11, 7:00 p.m.
Thor Hanson, “The Triumph of Seeds” – Slide show
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning coffee to the cotton in our clothes, seeds support diets, economies, lifestyles, and civilizations. In “The Triumph of Seeds,” award-winning conservation biologist Thor Hanson builds on his own triumph in Feathers—itself a masterwork of natural and cultural history—to explore seeds as both a natural phenomenon and a human one. Spanning locations ranging from the Raccoon Lodge—Hanson’s backyard writing hideout-cum-laboratory—to the coffee plantations of the Amazon, from our backyard gardens to the spice routes of Kerala, The Triumph of the Seeds is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder by an enchanting writer who embodies both the charm of stories told by the fireside and the hard-won expertise of a professor of field biology. A worthy heir to the grand tradition of Aldo Leopold and Bernd Heinrich, this book is essential reading for anyone who loves to see a plant grow.
Thor Hanson is a conservation biologist, Guggenheim Fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow, and member of the Human Ecosystems Study Group. The author of “Feathers” and “The Impenetrable Forest,” Hanson lives with his wife and son on an island in Washington State.
Sunday, April 12, 4:00 p.m.
Lin Kaymer, “Who is Mackie Spence?”
Sixteen-year-old Jeremy has known Mackie Spence his whole life, but this fall there’s something different about her. For one thing, she’s suddenly has turned into a knockout. He also sees that she has a new and inexplicable power. When they volunteer at the local wildlife rehabilitation center, he sees terrified, injured birds of prey grow calm and heal quickly in her presence. She’s still Mackie, but she’s also someone beyond normal human experience — or is she? Finding the answers will bring danger to Jeremy’s future, and will change the way he understands life forever.
A wildlife enthusiast and former journalist, Lin Kaymer brings her sensitivity for wild creatures to her debut Young Adult novel.
Wednesday, April 15, 7:00 p.m.
Woody Wheeler, “Look Up!” — Slide show
“Look Up!” Is a series of nature essays that inspire readers to experience the outdoors habitually in an affordable, accessible way. The essays encourage backyard bird watching, native plant landscaping and restoration, practical energy and land conservation. They also explore how nature can help us live happier, more fulfilled lives.
Woody Wheeler is a nature educator and tour guide for Conservation Catalyst, a business he started eight years ago to inspire people to appreciate birds and natural history. He also guides for Naturalist Journeys, an international birding and natural history tour company. Previously, Woody worked for environmental nonprofits including The Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society and Seattle Parks Foundation. He helped these groups protect natural areas and establish nature centers, park lands and bicycle/pedestrian trails. Woody is a graduate of Huxley College of Environmental Studies at Western Washington University.
Thursday, April 16, 7:00 p.m.
Audrey DeLella Benedict and Joseph Gaydos, “The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest”
“The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest” combines a scientist’s inquiring mind, breathtaking nature photography, and wondrous stories. Straddling the western border between Canada and the United States, this unique ecosystem is brought to life on the page with a lively narrative that looks at the region’s geology, fauna, and history.
Audrey DeLella Benedict is a biologist, a writer, and a passionate advocate for the conservation of the global ocean and Arctic and alpine environments the world over. She is founder and director of Cloud Ridge Naturalists, a nonprofit natural history educational organization now in its fourth decade. She is currently a member of the board of the SeaDoc Society and served for nearly a decade as a trustee for the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy, from which she received the prestigious One Conservancy Award in 2003 for her work in Ecuador. Audrey splits her time between her home at 9,000 feet along the Colorado Front Range and her off-grid cottage on San Juan’s Frost Island. Joseph K. Gaydos is Chief Scientist for the SeaDoc Society, a marine science and conservation program focused on the Salish Sea. He is a licensed wildlife veterinarian and has a PhD in wildlife health. For over a decade he has been studying the fish and wildlife of the Salish Sea.
Saturday, April 18, 7:00 p.m.
Saul Weisberg, “Headwaters” — Poetry!
Saul Weisberg’s poetry grows out of specific images and distinct moments gathered from the natural world. It celebrates green and misty landscapes and the wilderness they hold. In the tradition of poets like Robert Sund, Gary Snyder, Tim McNulty and Sam Green, the poems are an invitation to walk alongside a perceptive observer on rambles in the mountains, runs down the river and ruminations in desert canyons, investigating the ties that bind people and place.
Saul Weisberg is a poet, naturalist, educator and executive director of North Cascades Institute. He has worked throughout the Northwest as a wilderness climbing ranger, field biologist, commercial fisherman and fire lookout. Saul is author of North Cascades: The Story Behind the Scenery and From the Mountains to the Sea: A Guide to the Skagit River Watershed. He lives with his wife, Shelley, in Bellingham, Washington, near the shores of the Salish Sea.
Sunday, April 19, 4:00 p.m.
Jim Milstead, “Collage” — Poetry
“Collage” includes the variable juxtaposition of serious poems about childhood, parents, children, political bias, trauma of war, environment degradation, peace, suicide, love and loss, along with light-hearted fanciful pieces about gluttony, marriage, the insatiable need to possess, and the hypothetical interactions of Adam and Eve.
Jim Milstead describes himself thus: “Born in Chicago. Moved to Fresno, CA. Entered the Marine Corps, occupying northern China. Graduated from Fresno State College. Worked at the Linear Accelerator in Livermore, Ca. Entered graduate school, spending 35 years as a biological control researcher at UC Berkeley. Moved to Bellingham in 1992. Now I write.”
Thursday, April 23, 7:00 p.m
Bruce Barcott, “Weed the People”
Washington State and Colorado have established the world’s first legal and state-regulated marijuana industries and, in doing so, have carried out one of the most remarkable about-faces in American history. The magnitude of the change in America’s relationship to marijuana can’t be measured in only economic or social terms: There are deeper shifts going on here – cultural realignments, social adjustments, and financial adjustments. The place of marijuana in our lives is being rethought, reconsidered, and recalibrated. Four decades after Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs, that long campaign has reached a point of exhaustion and failure. The era of its winding down as arrived. In 2012, Bruce Barcott reluctantly voted for legalization in his home state of Washington; the next morning he wondered, “What have we done?” “Weed the People” answers that question with an insightful and often funny dive into the booming pot industry and a look at the legal, social, cultural, and personal changes brought about by the changing status of the world’s most controversial plant.
Bruce Barcott, author of “The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw” and “The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier,” is a contributing editor at Outside magazine. His feature articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, Sports Illustrated, Harper’s, Utne Reader, and other publications. He contributes reviews to The New York Times Book Review and the public radio show “Living on Earth,” and is a former Ted Scripps Fellow at the University of Colorado. He lives in Seattle with his wife and their two children.
Friday, April 24, 7:00 p.m.
Robert Arthur Stayton, “Power Shift”
The world is transitioning from energy to power, a change that is setting human civilization on a new course for the future. “Power Shift” is the first book to describe this fundamental change in the human relationship with energy. For two hundred years human society has mined caches of fossil energy to build and run our mechanized civilization. Now we have reached the limits of fossil fuels because of their unintended consequences—climate change and ocean acidification. Our next step is not to dig up a new energy source, but instead to tap into the vast dynamic power sources that flow all around us, sources that derive their power from the Sun. This shift is so fundamental that it defines a new historical epoch, and looms as large as the discovery of fire, the development of agriculture, and the exploitation of fossil fuels. Today few are aware that this new epoch has already begun. Written for a general audience, Power Shift explains this insight by retelling the story of humans in terms of energy. It clearly outlines our current energy dilemma, and the way forward. Bill McKibben, author of “Eaarth and Oil and Honey,” says “Solar is surging all of a sudden, and if you read this comprehensive book you’ll understand why!”
Robert Arthur Stayton lives in Santa Cruz County, California. He has a Masters Degree in Physics and has taught college courses in physics, energy, and solar energy. He completed the Graduate Program in Science Communication at UC Santa Cruz, and has had articles published in Popular Science and Science Notes. In 1997, Robert and his wife built a passive solar home in Santa Cruz County and outfitted it with an off-grid solar photovoltaic system. He has been living with solar energy since then, always looking for new ways to apply solar in his daily life. He drives a solar-charged Plug-in Prius, heats his water with a solar water heating system, and bakes his bread in his solar oven. He has served as host to hundreds of people who have toured his home to see his solar efforts.
Saturday, April 25, 7:00 p.m.
Ned Brown, “Geology of the San Juan Islands” — Slide Show
Nestled in the heart of the Salish Sea lie the picturesque San Juan Islands, an archipelago molded by eons of tectonic and glacial activity. Over the course of his nearly five-decade career, WWU geology professor Ned Brown has led countless research teams to decode this complex terrestrial heritage. In “Geology of the San Juan Islands,” Brown provides detailed, approachable, full color photos and diagrams to illuminate the complexities of these iconic islands.
Ned Brown is an Emeritus Professor of Geology at Western Washington University. He was raised in Minnesota, and went on to receive higher education at Dartmouth College, University of Otago, and U.C. Berkeley. He came to Bellingham in 1966, attracted by the landscape and mountain-building geology. In his nearly five-decade career, Ned, together with students, traversed and sampled much of the bedrock in the Cascades, San Juan Islands, and southern British Columbia Coast Mountains. This lifetime work is the basis for numerous student theses and professional reports.
Thursday, April 30, 7:00 p.m.
Ashley Rodriguez, “Date Night In”
It happens to the best of couples. The leisurely romantic meals at a favorite restaurant quickly become a memory as your lives change, kids enter the picture, and the responsibilities of work and family take over. When Ashley Rodriguez and her husband Gabe found themselves deep into marriage and child-rearing, spending most of their evenings staring at their individual computer screens, they were determined not to let their relationship deteriorate into that of “roommates with children.” The solution: institute a weekly date night where they pour each other cocktails, sit down for a full-on date night dinner, and reconnect. “Date Night In” tells their story and features twenty-five date-worthy occasions, spread out among the four seasons, with more than 120 tantalizing delicious recipes. Couples can rekindle their romance while sautéing and roasting in their own kitchen, making such simple but thoughtful dishes as Pasta e Fagioli with Crispy Prosciutto; Fennel-Crusted Lamb Chops; and Crème Fraîche Panna Cotta with Ginger-Roasted Rhubarb. It is the perfect book for any couple who wants to spice things up with special seasonal meals at home, at a table for two.
Ashley Rodriguez is a Seattle-based food consultant, cooking instructor, food photographer, writer, wife, and mother of three young children. Her blog, “Not Without Salt,” has earned accolades from Saveur.com (Best Food Blog 2013), the Times Online, Babble.com, RealSimple.com, Brides.com, BonAppetit.com, Glamour.com, GourmetLive.com, Food52.com, MarthaStewart.com, and TheKitchn.com for her writing and original photography. Ashley’s work has also been featured in Martha Stewart Living, Glamour, Sunset, and Edible Seattle. Before the success of the blog and photography Ashley worked in several professional kitchens including Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Beverly Hills. Now Ashley teaches cooking and food photography in and around Seattle at various locations including The Pantry and The Book Larder.
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