Join us Saturday, October 5^th at 2 p.m. for the next installment of the NW Authors Series. Author Josephine Woolington will discuss her book “Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest,” which won the 2024 Oregon Book Award for General Nonfiction. A musician as well as a journalist, Woolington also will play a few original tunes. Watch her presentation in person at the library, or online via Facebook.

Her book is an essay collection that concentrates on the natural and cultural history of Pacific Northwest plants and animals, their current survival trends and their likely future. Among the elements she writes about are camas, sandhill cranes, western bumble bees, moss and the gray whale. She weaves in the relationships these species play in the lives of the Northwest’s tribes. She says, “I strive for narratives that show how communities—both human and non-human—persist after decades of colonialism, habitat degradation, exploitation and broken treaties with tribal nations.”

Josephine Woolington is a writer, musician and educator. She is a member of the Indigenous Journalists Association and the Society of Environmental Journalists, and her work has been supported by the Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources. She writes stories about Pacific Northwest Indigenous affairs and the environment for High Country News and other publications, and also teaches at a nonprofit music school in North Portland that makes music lessons affordable to kids and adults.. Woolington has toured nationally and internationally and also writes, records and performs her own music. Her artistic, mindful perspective and curiosity about all living things guide her creative endeavors. When not writing or playing music, you can find her looking at birds, trees, rocks and clouds and wondering. She lives in Portland with her love and their fluffy feline companion.

“In a series of beautiful essays on the foraging western bumble bee, the stunning sandhill crane, the long-lived yellow-cedar, and more, ‘Where We Call Home’ takes us on a journey to explore the natural histories of ten native species in the Pacific Northwest. It is a powerful meditation on the past, present, and possible future of this land, its inhabitants, and our own relationship with nature.”  —Lauren E. Oakes, author of “In Search of the Canary Tree”

“This book is about listening to the voices of plants, animals, Indigenous leaders, scientists, and artists to find and nourish something we all need: an enduring sense of place.”  —Scott Freeman, author of “Saving Tarboo Creek: One Family’s Quest to Heal the Land”

“Josephine Woolington’s first book is part natural history and part human history, offering unique insights that shed light on the threats facing some of the Pacific Northwest’s most iconic species. Its lyrical language and delightful descriptions illuminate scientific and Native American perspectives, providing context for understanding where people fit into the natural world.”  —Todd McLeish, author of “Saving Narragansett Bay” and “Return of the Sea Otter”

“Josephine Woolington leaves no stone unturned in these explorations of iconic Northwest lifeforms. She does not flinch in the face of degradation and future threats, she understands that tribal knowledge plays a crucial role in our larger story, and she offers a path forward based on meticulous attention. We should listen.” —Jack Nisbet, author of “Sources of the River,” “The Collector,” and “Visible Bones”