Derrick Jensen Speaking Event

Wed, Mar 29
7:30-9:30 pm
$5-$20 & up (sliding scale-no one turned away)

WRITER/ACTIVIST DERRICK JENSEN TO PRESENT LECTURE

"All across the country, I ask activists and others, 'Do you believe =

our Culture will undergo a voluntary transformation to a sane and =

sustainable way of living?' Out of hundreds of people I've asked, =

not a single one has answered even remotely in the affirmative." - =

Derrick Jensen

As an activist, writer, journalist, and philosopher, Derrick Jensen =

explores the complexities of violence, the nature of responsibility, =

and the power and necessity of _expression.

Jensen is a new American voice, writing in the tradition of Henry =

David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, and Audrey Lorde. In his book, A =

Language Older Than Words, he examines how humans retreat into =

silence, denial, deception, and self-reproach in the face of deep =

injustice. In a series of essays, he relates his life experiences as =

a small farmer and bee-keeper, a creative writing instructor in a =

Federal prison, and as an activist opposing the logging industry and =

the decimation of wild salmon.

But underpinning his distinctive writing lies the fact that he was =

severely abused as a child by his father and that he has experienced =

the physically debilitating effects of Crohn's Disease. Jensen's =

radical honesty about personal and state violence, the decimation of =

human and natural resources, and the psychological and spiritual =

processes leading to change, are deeply relevant to understanding and =

acting in our changing world.

His speaking engagements in recent years have packed university =

auditoriums, bookstores, churches - you name the place. A typical =

Jensen event is multidimensional and feels a bit like traveling =

beneath the earth among tree roots, as they twist their way into =

soil, rock, river beds and accompany fish, insects, discarded tires, =

cellophane wrappers, animal minds, history, and human instinct on a =

strange and interlocking journey.

Speaking in an almost improvisational style, Jensen explores the =

nature of injustice, of what civilizations do to the natural world. =

Showing how, in the face of the resulting horror of grave injustice, =

civilized human beings create intricate systems of denial, silence, =

abnegation, deception and self-hatred that perpetuate our own social =

dysfunction.

He also reaches back to our collective childhoods, to the reality of =

magic in life, to discuss how nature has spoken to us and how we must =

remember all the conversations we've had with her and renew them. =

It's his antidote to cynicism and apocalypse. That there is a =

language much older than the language we use daily, without being =

aware, to dispel the horrors of modern living and dying.

It is indeed a heart rending, mind expanding, and ultimately healing =

exercise to explore Jensen's root system, with him not so much as a =

guide, but an experienced fellow traveler.


Books:
Welcome to the Machine: Science, Surveillance, and the Culture of =

Control
Walking on Water: Reading, Writing, and Revolution
Strangely Like War: The Global Assault on Forests
The Culture of Make Believe
A Language Older than Words
Listening to the Land

CDs:
2004: The Other Side of Darkness
2003: Standup Tragedy

Formal Education:
B.Sc. in Mineral Engineering Physics from the Colorado School of =

Mines -- May 1983
M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University -- June =

1991

Awards:
2003: The Culture of Make Believe was a finalist for the Lukas Prize =

Project Award for Exceptional Works of Nonfiction, sponsored by the =

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman =

Foundation at Harvard
which cited it as a "passionate and provocative meditation on the =

nexus of racism, genocide, environmental destruction and corporate =

malfeasance, where civilization meets its discontents."
2002: An interview Ramey Wood did of Jensen on KSUA in Anchorage =

Alaska won the Alaska Broadcaster's Association Goldie Award for Best =

Public Affairs Program
2000: Hackensack, NJ, Record declared Language its best book of the =

year.
2000: Language was nominated for Quality Paperback Book Club's New =

Vision Award.
1995: Critics' Choice for one of America's ten best nature books of =

1995, for Listening to the Land: Conversations About Nature, Culture, =

and Eros.
1998: Second Prize in the category of small budget non-profit =

advertisements, as determined by the Inland Northwest Ad Federation, =

for the first ad in the "National Forests: Your land, your choice" =

series.

Positions:
December 2001 - Present: Member of Advisory Board of Del Norte =

Association for Cultural Awareness
June 1997 - Present: Member of Advisory Board of the Native Forest =

Network
March 1997 - Present: Member of the Drafting Committee for the =

articulation of a new food production ethic, sponsored by the Center =

for Respect of Life and Environment
1996 - Present: co-founder and member of the Railroads and Clearcuts =

Campaign.
1990 - 2001: Associate Editor of the magazine Transitions


Praise for A Language Older Than Words:

Jensen's book accomplishes the rare feat of both breaking and mending =

the reader's heart.
-Publishers Weekly

The primordial language of the universe is the language expressed in =

the night sky, in the dawn and the sunset, in the flight of the =

eagle. It resonates in the song of the meadowlark, in the fragile =

bloom of the orchid. . . the mountains, the valleys and the =

rivers . . . and this book.
--Father Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of the Earth

Jensen has achieved the impossible: a book that is simultaneously =

horrifying and uplifting, terrifying and beautiful. I could not put =

it down.
-Frances Moore Lapp=E9, author of Diet for a Small Planet

A Language Older Than Words is what Franz Kafka said a book should =

be--an axe for the frozen sea within us. The reader should be advised =

that this is both high praise and sincere warning: Dangerous reading =

here. Proceed at your own risk.
--Daniel Quinn, author of Ishmael and Beyond Civilization

A Language Older than Words is must reading for anyone in the least =

concerned about the nature of our common future.
-Ward Churchill, author and activist

The Culture Of Make Believe:

Derrick Jensen takes no prisoners in The Culture of Make Believe, his =

brilliant and eagerly awaited follow-up to his powerful and lyrical A =

Language Older Than Words. What begins as an exploration of the lines =

of thought and experience that run between the massive lynchings in =

early twentieth-century America to today's death squads in South =

America soon explodes into an examination of the very heart of our =

civilization. The Culture of Make Believe is a book that is as =

impeccably researched as it is moving, with conclusions as far- =

reaching as they are shocking.

Chelsea Green Publishing, for a selection of published works: http:// =

www.chelseagreen.com/

Venue:

The Veterans Memorial Building
846 Front Street
Santa Cruz
831-454-0478
http://vetshall.org/

http://vetshall.org/

Additional Info:

831-454-0478
http://derrickjensen.org/