Books & Books and Miami Book Fair present…

A Virtual Afternoon with 

HELEN MACDONALD

in conversation with J. Drew Lanham

discussing her new book

Vesper Flights

(Grove Press, $27) 

Sunday, September 13, 1pm

Live on Crowdcast

PURCHASE A TICKET HERE

About the Book:

Animals don’t exist in order to teach us things, but that is what they have always done, and most of what they teach us is what we think we know about ourselves.

In Vesper Flights Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep.

Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk’s poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds’ nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.

By one of this century’s most important and insightful nature writers, Vesper Flights is a captivating and foundational book about observation, fascination, time, memory, love and loss and how we make sense of the world around us.

About the Author:

HELEN MACDONALD is a writer, poet, illustrator and naturalist, and an affiliated research scholar at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of the bestselling H Is for Hawk, as well as a cultural history of falcons, titled Falcon, and three collections of poetry, including Shaler’s Fish. Macdonald was a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge, has worked as a professional falconer, and has assisted with the management of raptor research and conservation projects across Eurasia. She now writes for the New York Times Magazine.

About the Moderator:

A native of Edgefield, South Carolina, J. DREW LANHAM is the author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, which received the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Southern Book Prize, and was a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal. He is a birder, naturalist, and hunter-conservationist who has published essays and poetry in publications including Orion, Audubon, Flycatcher, and Wilderness, and in several anthologies, including The Colors of Nature, State of the Heart, Bartram’s Living Legacy, and Carolina Writers at Home. An Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Master Teacher at Clemson University, he and his family live in the Upstate of South Carolina, a soaring hawk’s downhill glide from the southern Appalachian escarpment that the Cherokee once called the Blue Wall.

Ticket Guidelines:

The purchase of this ticket admits (1) one person into the virtual event and includes (1) one copy of Vesper Flights (Grove Press, $27). Please note that a fee of $5 is included for U.S. domestic shipping of the book.

When completing your order, please make sure that you include your complete shipping address and phone number. The book will be shipped to you following the event. Please note: Due to the pandemic the post office is being challenged by increased volume, staffing issues, and safety measures. We cannot guarantee the exact date of delivery but will do our best to make it as swift as possible.

*International Customers Please Note: If you live outside of the United States, you should pick this International Viewer option. International viewers MUST purchase a ticket in order to view this event. However, this option DOES NOT guarantee you will receive a copy of the book, unless you are willing to PAY EXTRA FOR SHIPPING. Shipping charges will vary from country to country and due to the pandemic, delivery timelines will also vary. If you are an international customer and would like to pay extra for shipping of your book, please reach out to [email protected] to provide your international shipping address and we will let you know the cost of shipping. You can then confirm if you would like to go ahead with your order. Please be advised that we cannot guarantee when you will receive the book. Thanks for your understanding. We hope you enjoy the event!

Once you have registered on Eventbrite, you will receive a confirmation email with the Crowdcast link and password to where the event is being hosted.

PURCHASE A TICKET HERE

✍? How to Crowdcast!

• You will need either a computer, a smartphone, or a tablet.

• Crowdcast is a website (and/or app) that you can access with any web browser. You can use Chrome (recommended), Firefox, Safari, Opera, or Edge as your web browser.

• When you access the Crowdcast link for this event, please just enter your email and create a Crowdcast account.

• Once your account is created, you will need to enter the special password (provided in your confirmation email from Eventbrite) to the Helen Macdonald Crowdcast event page. Once entered, you’re all set! You will then see the timer on the screen that shows you when the event is scheduled to begin.

• On the day of the event, just log in using your email address.

For any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at (305) 442-4408 or you can email us at [email protected].