Nature writer Rick Bass coming to U.Va. April 20-21

Writer and wilderness activist Rick Bass will visit the Grounds April 20 and 21. He will read from his work at the University Bookstore on Thursday at 8 p.m. He will talk about wilderness preservation, among other topics, at the Ivy Creek National Area Friday at 7:30 p.m. Both events are free.

Bass lives and writes in the Yaak Valley of northwest Montana. In 16 books of fiction and nonfiction, he has explored the connections between character and landscape, wilderness and culture, and art and activism. His short stories have appeared in the Best American Short Stories and O. Henry collections. Most are set in the Yaak Valley. One of his characters describes the place as "a beautiful valley. I wake up smiling sometimes because I have all my days left to live in this place. I hike up into the hills, to a rock back in the trees, and sit there and just look. ...When dusk comes, purple light slides in from all directions."

His visit is sponsored by Brown College, which holds a year-long seminar in environmental literature and hosts leading American nature writers each semester.