Green Series: Dara McAnulty's Diary of a Young Naturalist, hosted by Jess Turner

Join Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center for our June Green Series with winner of the Wainright prize for UK nature writing, Dara McAnulty. He'll discuss his new book Diary of a Young Naturalist with Jess Turner.

Diary of a Young Naturalist chronicles the turning of a year in Dara’s Northern Ireland home patch. Beginning in spring—when “the sparrows dig the moss from the guttering and the air is as puffed out as the robin’s chest”—these diary entries about his connection to wildlife and the way he sees the world are vivid, evocative, and moving.

Diary of a Young Naturalist not only captivates Dara's intense connection to the natural world, but also his perspective as a teenager juggling exams, friendships, and a life of campaigning. We see his close-knit family, the disruptions of moving and changing schools, and the complexities of living with autism. 

“At once a lush and moving mediation and an electric clarion call to action, Diary of a Young Naturalist is a kaleidoscope of sensory delights. McAnulty’s year of observing barn owls, cowslips, bracket fungus, springtails, corncrakes, and the exquisite rendering of summer’s first blackberries (just to name a few)—make for a superbly rendered peek into a most extraordinary life. Each page vibrates with a hum of tenderness and bright possibilities for readers to take stock and joyful note of the world around them. This book will change your life if you let it. Go on, let it.” —Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

Dara McAnulty is the youngest winner of the Wainwright Prize and a globally renowned figure in the youth climate activist movement.

Jess Turner is an herbalist, gardener and educator whose work is centered on helping people of color communities who experience the “first and worst” impacts of climate change - repair through connection to the land and plants growing around them.

Please register for this free Zoom event. Registered audience members will receive a Zoom link prior to the event. Questions? Email athompson@bklynlibrary.org

Copies of Diary of a Young Naturalist may be borrowed here and purchased at Word bookstore.