On Being with the Land: Author Talk and Creative Writing Session

With Tonya Lailey, Writer & Poet

When Tonya wrote Farm : Lot 23, she went back into her childhood memories of the farm where she grew up: “I let myself drop into the smells, sounds, feelings and the mystery of that place. In doing this work I was reminded that when we are anywhere, we are in relationship to all that is there. We are never only on the land, or working the land or extracting resources from it. We are with it and however we are with it affects us, just as it affects the land and all that lives there. I believe that we are always with the land in ways that fall outside of the narratives the dominant culture gives us.”

Tonya will share some poems and talk a little about her understanding of her relationship to the farmland where she grew up.

Then Tonya will invite those in attendance to spend time remembering and writing about a childhood relationship to land. Maybe it's one memory in particular, the way an apple eaten off the tree tasted, or the mourning doves that woke you up, the sticky feeling of dandelion milk drying on your fingers? 

Tonya will be leading this event virtually via Zoom.

This event is free to join. Find more details and save your spot on our Grow@ the Homestead webpage.

Seeds of Change: Agricultural History Speaker Series

Discover how evolving agricultural technology has changed the way we grow, harvest, and sustain our food, and also shaped our relationship to our food and the people who grow it, over a series of thoughtful and engaging conservations.