Deer have been an important part of the world that humans occupy for millennia. They’re one of the only large animals that can thrive in our presence. In the 21st century, our relationship is full of contradictions: We hunt and protect them, we cull them from suburbs while making them an icon of wilderness, we see them both as victims and as pests. But there is no doubt that we have a connection to deer: in mythology and story, in ecosystems biological and digital, in cities and in forests. Why do we look at deer in the ways we do, and what do these animals reveal about human involvement in the natural world? Howsare will read from her book, discuss her research process, and take questions and comments on our intimate relationship with deer.

Born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania, Erika Howsare earned a BA at Oberlin College and holds an MFA from Brown University. Erika is also the author of two books of poetry and her essays, reviews, and interviews are found at places like The Rumpus, The Los Angeles Review of Books, LongReads, and The Brooklyn Rail. One of her essays was named a notable mention in The Best American Food Writing of 2020 and The Best American Science and Nature Writing of 2020. Along with her husband and two daughters, she lives in the Blue Ridge of central Virginia, where I work in local journalism and teach writing in the community.

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Presented in collaboration with the Cary Memorial Library of Lexington and other area libraries.