“Thoreau: Knowing Nature”
Henry Thoreau did not “flee” to nature to escape the human world, but rather used his observations of patterns and phenomena in the landscapes around him to reflect upon the human condition. The presentation also addresses the political and cultural history of Henry Thoreau’s New England, with a focus on Concord’s early Black inhabitants.
Zoë Pollak received her PhD from Columbia University, where she wrote her dissertation on 19th-century American Northeastern and pre-Harlem Renaissance nature poetry. She helps design exhibits for The Concord Free Public Library, Thoreau Farm, and the Thoreau Society. Her academic and creative writing has appeared or is forthcoming in AGNI, The American Sonnet (Iowa, 2023), Callaloo, ELH, ESQ, The Hopkins Review, Now Comes Good Sailing: Writers Reflect on Henry David Thoreau (Princeton, 2021), and Women’s Studies.
Please check the link for up-to-date details including registration.
About the Thoreau Society Speakers Bureau
The Thoreau Society offers free educational programs to public libraries, community centers, senior centers, and other groups and organizations in Massachusetts about the life, works, and legacies of Henry David Thoreau. If you live outside of Massachusetts, please contact us about a speaker near you.
If you are interested in hosting a Thoreau Society presentation, please email membership@thoreausociety.org.
This series is supported in part by a Mass Humanities Staffing Recovery Grant (2023-2025) that provides for our Membership and Program Coordinator. Funding from Mass Humanities has been provided through the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
