Robert Macfarlane

This is the show Wordfest has been waiting all year to announce. Join us for an exclusive opportunity to see British writer, naturalist, and Nobel Prize contender Robert Macfarlane. He’s coming to Calgary as part of his North American tour to celebrate Is a River Alive?, which is not just Macfarlane’s latest literary masterpiece, but a rallying cry and a catalyst for change. It is a book that will open hearts, spark debates and challenge perspectives. A clarion call to re-centre rivers in our stories, law and politics, it 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. No one understands that better than Albertans, and we are thrilled to have Canadian writer and naturalist Kevin Van Tighem hosting the conversation, which will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing fuelled by Shelf Life books. You can pre-order your copy of Is a River Alive?, as well as Macfarlane’s extensive back list (which includes the international publishing phenomenon The Lost Words), here.

“I’ve poured all I have into it. My notebooks were always thirsty; I filled over 20 of them while on fieldwork,” Macfarlane says of his new book. “It’s become the most political, personal & (possibly) poetic book I’ve written.”

You won’t want to miss this incredible evening, and we are grateful to Penguin Random House Canada for making it possible.