Amy Tan is the author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, and countless other books, essays, and stories. Her writing has appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar, and The New York Times, and has been translated into thirty-five languages. She has written an opera, a screenplay, and even serves as lead rhythm dominatrix, backup singer, and second tambourine with the literary garage band, the Rock Bottom Remainders. In 2016, Amy began taking nature journaling classes with John Muir Laws. During the pandemic shutdown, she spent long hours observing the behavior of wild birds in her backyard. The pencil sketches, colored portraits and journal notes from those sessions make up her latest work, an illustrated book called The Backyard Bird Chronicles.
John Muir Laws is a scientist, educator, and author, who helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. His work intersects science, art, and mindfulness. Trained as a wildlife biologist and an associate of the California Academy of Sciences, he observes the world with rigorous attention. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connections in all he sees. Attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but skills that grow with training and deliberate practice. As an educator and author, Jack teaches techniques and supports routines that develop these skills to make them a part of everyday life.
Tickets include a copy of Tan’s new book The Backyard Bird Chronicles