Literary Journalist and Poet Discuss Climate Change Through the Eyes of Literature on Nov. 13

What role can literature and the literary imagination play in addressing climate change? What sorts of questions do writers ask that scientists and others don’t – and what kinds of answers do they provide?  

Literary journalist and essayist Marybeth Holleman and poet Linda Bierds will visit Colorado State University to address these questions and read from their work on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Lory Student Center North Ballroom.

This is the fourth presentation in the 2008-09 public lecture series, "Climate Change: What We All Need to Know." All the lectures are free and open to the public.

Holleman’s books include "The Heart of the Sound: An Alaskan Paradise Found and Nearly Lost," and most recently she co-edited "Crosscurrents North: Alaskans on the Environment."  Her writings have appeared widely in such places as The North American Review, Orion, Christian Science Monitor, National Wildlife and National Public Radio. She lives in Anchorage and has taught creative writing and women’s studies at the University of Alaska.

Bierds is focusing her writing on climate change and has published eight books of poetry, most recently "Flight: New and Selected Poems." She often writes about science and scientists; her book, "First Hand," explores the work of the early geneticist Gregor Mendel. She has received many major literary awards and grants from the MacArthur Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation and the Poetry Society of America. She lives near Seattle and teaches English and writing at the University of Washington.

For more information, contact John Calderazzo at john.calderazzo@colostate.edu or (970) 491-6896. For the complete series schedule, see http://changingclimates.colostate.edu.

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