Words and Wilderness: An Eco-Reading

Shuswap author Deanna Barnhardt Kawatski has a remarkable number of published books under her belt. Her nine books vary in genre from fiction to memoir to children’s books to travel writing, but a theme that rises often through her work is an intentional respect for the land. All are invited to the Nelson Public Library on Wednesday, July 17th, 7pm to hear the author read from an assortment of her books around the theme of love of nature. Included will be her newest book called My Life is in Your Hand, a historical novel based on the life of her great-grandmother who made her way from Norway to the Shuswap in the 1800s.

The author’s intense experiences tree-planting during the 1970s, and then working as a forestry lookout attendant in Northern BC, and finally raising a family in the northern wilderness for fourteen years, has given her a unique perspective on land. This perspective informs her work and helps her make connections between living on the land and her concerns around climate change. Barnhardt Kawatski reflects on the hope she still has despite the challenge we face: “What I have done consistently is honour nature and I think our great failure, which has led to the climate crisis, is not doing that as a society. I’d like to think it isn’t too late and awareness and respect for the natural world has certainly grown.”