November 10, 2009 — This year's Brown College Visiting Environmental Writers and Scholars Lecture Series at the University of Virginia features free public readings by four writers, including Wendell Berry on Dec. 3 and Gary Snyder in April.

Berry, a poet, essayist and novelist, will give a public lecture on "Simple Solutions, Package Deals and a 50-Year Farm Bill" at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 in the auditorium of the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture/Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. A reception will follow. The doors will open at 4:30 p.m. for attendees on a first-come, first-seated basis.

Berry is the author of more than 40 books, from poetry to essays on environmental topics such as the local food movement.

His new book of poems, "Leavings," was recently released. He also has a collection of previously published essays, "Bringing It to the Table: On Food and Farming," which includes an introduction by Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto."

Berry's other volumes of poetry include "Given," "The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry," "A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997" and "Entries: Poems." His novels include "Andy Catlett: Early Travels," "Hannah Coulter," "Jayber Crow" and "A Place on Earth." Berry's essay collections include "The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture," "Another Turn of the Crank," "Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community," "Standing on Earth: Selected Essays" and "A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural."

Berry has received numerous awards, including the T.S. Eliot Award, the Lyndhurst Prize and the Aitken-Taylor Award for Poetry. He lives and works with his wife, Tanya Berry, in Kentucky.

The schedule of public events for the visiting writers is still to be determined, but the writers and dates of appearance are set.

Michael Lundblad, Feb. 4

Lundblad is assistant professor of English at Colorado State University and director of animality studies, an interdisciplinary approach to studying the animal nature of humans and the cultural and literary treatment of animals.. He specializes in 20th-century American literature and culture, with particular interests in cultural studies and critical theory and ecocriticism, along with animality studies. He is the co-editor of the forthcoming book "Species Matters: Humane Advocacy and Cultural Theory." His articles and reviews have appeared in such journals as American Quarterly, PMLA, American Literature and Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and the Environment.

Rebecca Solnit, Feb. 23-26

Solnit is a contributing editor at Orion Magazine and the best-selling author of 10 books of essays, among them her latest, "A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster," "River of Shadows," "Wanderlust," "Savage Dreams" and "Hollow City." In 2003, she won the Lannan Literary Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Gary Snyder, April 13-14

Snyder is the author of more than 20 collections of poetry and prose. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1975 and a finalist for the National Book Critics Award in 1992 and 2005, he has been awarded the Bollingen Poetry Prize, the Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2004 Japanese Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Grand Prize. He has lived in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada since 1970.

For information, contact Sean Borton at seanborton@virginia.edu or 434-924-7859, or visit www.virginia.edu/browncollege/ViEWS/.