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In Conversation with Robert Macfarlane

British nature writer, essayist, lyricist, and author of Is a River Alive?

Jason Allen, broadcaster, publisher, and environmental advocate in conversation with celebrated writer, observer, and naturalist Robert Macfarlane about Macfarlane's perspective-shifting new book Is a River Alive? 

At the heart of Is a River Alive? is a single, transformative idea: that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but living beings, who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law. Macfarlane takes the reader on a mind-expanding global journey into the history, futures, people and places of the ancient, urgent concept.  A clarion call to re-centre rivers in our stories, law and politics, Is a River Alive? invites us to radically re-imagine not only rivers but life itself. At the heart of this vital, beautiful book is the recognition that our fate flows with that of rivers—and always has.

A Different Drummer Books will be on site with books for sale and signing after the talk.

Presented in partnership with Random House Canada and A Different Drummer Books

Please note: The event location is Port Nelson United Church, 3132 South Drive, Burlington.

About the Author

Robert Macfarlane is internationally renowned for his writing on nature, people and place. His best-selling books include Underland, Landmarks, The Old Ways, The Wild Places and Mountains of the Mind; they have been translated into more than thirty languages, won many prizes around the world and been widely adapted for film, music, theatre, radio and dance. He has also written operas, plays, and films including River and Mountain, both narrated by Willem Dafoe. In 2017, he was awarded the E.M. Forster Prize for Literature, and in 2022 he was the inaugural winner of the Weston International Award for a body of work in the field of non-fiction.

Explore Robert MacFarlane in our collection

Jason Allen is a city builder, community leader and environmentalists with a long history of changing organizations and communities for the better.  He is believer in the potential in humans to change and the power of nature to entrance and transform us.

Accessibility

If you need an accessibility accommodation during this program, please register early so we can confirm arrangements a few days before your visit.