Birders’ Night: Visions of Desert Life with Alan Contreras

Visions of Desert Life with Alan Contreras

Long-time Oregon birder and writer Alan Contreras will present an unusual program of poems, stories and images related to birds, wildlife and the human experience of eastern Oregon. He will read from his own work and the work of other writers including Ursula K. Le Guin, Ada Hastings Hedges, Ellen Waterston, C.E.S. Wood and others. These readings will be accented with images by visual artists and photographers working in eastern Oregon and perhaps excerpts from music inspired by eastern Oregon.

Alan L. Contreras, a fourth-generation Oregonian, has published several books about the natural world as well as professional work in higher education, poetry and essays. His recent work includes A History of Oregon Ornithology (senior editor, OSU Press 2022), Edge of Awe: Experiences of the Malheur-Steens Country (editor, OSU Press 2019), and Collected Poems of Ada Hastings Hedges (ed. with Ulrich Hardt, OSU Press 2020). He is currently working on a book on the Oregon desert as a source of creative inspiration. He will have books for sale at the meeting.