Literature

Free Author Talk with Environmental Writer Heather Hansman

July 21, 2020  • Aspen Words

Join us for a virtual talk with environmental writer Heather Hansman, whose book, “Downriver: into the Future of Water in the West,” is about her trip down the length of the Green River, and the water system in the Western U.S. She’s currently working on a new book, about the past and future of ski bums and the sustainability of ski towns. 
Heather will discuss her work with local author and residency partner Daniel Shaw. Through their Catto Shaw Foundation, Daniel and his wife, artist Isa Catto, partner with Aspen Words to host our Writers in Residence program.

Heather Hansman is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Atlantic, Smithsonian and many others. She’s Outside magazine’s online environmental columnist, where she covers the intersection between public land, environmental policy, and human impact. Her recent book “Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West,”  which is about the Green River, and the future drought, climate change and water policy in the western U.S., has been called “a worthy updating of a core library containing such works as Marc Reisner’s ‘Cadillac Desert,'” and was named one of 2019’s best environmental books of the year by the Chicago Review of Books.

Daniel Shaw (moderator) is a freelance writer and musician living in Woody Creek, Colorado. He has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Grist.org, and recently finished a book on Snowmass, CO-based Anderson Ranch Arts Center. He has reviewed music for Daily Variety and the LA Weekly, was a Washington, D.C. bureau chief during the second Clinton administration, was a staff writer for The American Lawyer magazine and served as press secretary for the Navajo Nation. As a blues, rock and country harmonica player, Daniel has played live with numerous acts and recorded albums and commercials. Through their Catto Shaw Foundation, Daniel and his wife Isa Catto host a writers’ residency with Aspen Words. He currently chairs the board of trustees at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies and co-chairs the Leadership Council at Conservation International.

In the spirit of supporting literary community during these challenging times, there is no charge for this virtual panel. However, we do need support to carry out our mission and sustain literary arts programming. If you are in a position to give, please consider a donation to Aspen Words!