Presentations by several authors highlight the 10th annual Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness and the Environmental Imagination, which begins Sunday, March 30, at Iowa State University.
The symposium’s 2014 theme, "Resilience Thinking in Dystopic Times," includes discussions on population growth, language revitalization, global warming and other topics. The symposium is sponsored by ISU’s M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Environment program in the Department of English.
This year’s theme developed from the attention given to natural disasters and how people respond to times of distress or tragedy, said Debra Marquart, professor of English and a symposium organizer. The symposium includes lectures, a panel discussion, readings and opportunities to meet authors and other speakers. All events are free and open to the public.
Symposium and related events schedule:
–Panel discussion: "Rescuing the World: Ecological Disaster in the Young Adult Novel" Sunday, March 30, 2:00-3:30 pm, Sun Room, Memorial Union
–Flyway magazine’s “Home Voices” reading Sunday, March 30, 3:30-4 pm, Sun Room, Memorial Union A reading of the “Home Voices” Award Winners from Flyway: A Journal of Writing & Environment.
–Author Kevin Brockmeier: "The Brief History of the Dead" Sunday, March 30, 7:00 pm, Sun Room, Memorial Union
–Poet Natalie Diaz: "Language, Poetry, and Resilience" Monday, March 31, 3:30-4:30 pm, Sun Room, Memorial Union A moderated conversation about the process of writing poems and about the place of myth in writing.
–Writers Natalie Diaz and K. L. Cook, "Interior Mythologies: Literary Readings and Discussion" Monday, March 31, 8:00 pm, Sun Room, Memorial Union
–Informal Conversation with author Elizabeth Kolbert Thursday, April 3, 3:00-4:00 pm, 212 Ross Hall An informal conversation with journalist and environmental writer Elizabeth Kolbert on uncovering, researching and writing large environmental stories.
–Elizabeth Kolbert: "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History" Thursday, April 3, 8:00 pm, Great Hall, Memorial Union
–Related event: 2014 Thompson Memorial Lecture Lawyer and tribal judge Walter Echo-Hawk, "In the Light of Justice" Monday, March 31, 6:30 pm, Great Hall, Memorial Union
Full symposium schedule