Science + Literature: Curiosity, Connection & Coexistence

Mycologist Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian blends science writing and memoir in her debut work of nonfiction Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature, a 2026 Science + Literature selected title. Join Kaishian for a reading and conversation about the often overlooked creatures and fungi that helped her understand the natural world, her connection to a career in science, and her own identity as a queer, neurodivergent person. Moderated by Katharine Coles, poet, Distinguished Professor, and co-Director of the Utah Symposium in Science and Literature.

Limited free copies of Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature will be available at the event, first come, first served. The program will be followed by a book signing.

Presented in partnership with the School of Biological Sciences and the Symposium on Science and Literature at the University of Utah and the National Book Foundation.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian is the curator of mycology at the New York State Museum, as well as faculty with the Bard Pr*son Initiative. Kaishian earned her PhD from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She lives in the Hudson Valley.

Katharine Coles has released ten collection of poems, including Time and Chance and Ghost Apples. She has also published a collection of essays, The Stranger I Become: On Walking, Looking, and Writing; a memoir, Look Both Ways; and two novels. A Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah, she has received grants and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the U.S. National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writer Program, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The National Book Foundation’s Science + Literature program identifies three books annually, across genres, that deepen readers’ understanding of science and technology, and focuses on highlighting the diversity of voices in contemporary science and technology writing. Science + Literature is made possible by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Read more about the Science + Literature program on the National Book Foundation's website.

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