SCW Keynote Speech: Katie Fallon

Thursday, July 19, 2018
7:00 PM
EBC, Eden Hall

"Finding Joy: Writing and Laughing in the Face of Ecological Ruin."

The news about our environment is bad and keeps getting worse. Politicians deny the science supporting global climate change, protections for our air and water are being dismantled, and even our beloved Endangered Species Act could be at risk. It is a challenging time to be an environmental writer—but it’s during challenging times that our voices are most needed. An adage says that sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying; another claims that laughter can be the best medicine. Even in dire times like the ones we’re living in—during a sixth extinction, during the hottest months ever recorded—there may be reasons to laugh. And ways for writers to use laughter to reach new audiences.

Katie Fallon is the author of the nonfiction books Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird (UPNE, 2017) and Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird (Ruka Press, 2011), which was a Finalist for the Reed Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment. Katie is also the co-author of two books for children, Look, See the Bird! (2017) and Look, See the Farm! (forthcoming 2018), both from Hatherleigh Press. She is currently Guest Faculty at West Virginia Wesleyan College, where she teaches Nonfiction in the Low-Residency MFA Program.

Location

EBC, Eden Hall


Contact Information

Kelly Kepner
412-365-1685
k.kepner@chatham.edu