Luther College hosts New York Times bestselling author Jeff VanderMeer for Earth Day lecture

Luther College’s Center for Ethics and Public Engagement (CEPE) invites the public to “One Evening in Area X,” a conversation with New York Times bestselling author Jeff VanderMeer at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, in the Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall. The lecture is a free event, but tickets are required. Seating is limited.

“Whether you’re an avid reader of speculative fiction or environmental nonfiction, a keen birder, an outdoors explorer, or a climate advocate, this Earth Day event will engage and enliven you,” said Andy Hageman, the CEPE director and professor of English at Luther.

VanderMeer will discuss the social roles of fiction in uncertain times, the critical need for biology and ecological thinking, the ethics of rewilding yards, the ecstasies of birding, and more during the “One Evening in Area X” conversation. Hageman is facilitating the dialogue with VanderMeer. Following an audience Q&A session, VanderMeer’s books will be available to purchase and have signed.

“One Evening in Area X” is a rare chance to encounter Jeff VanderMeer in person in the Midwest.

VanderMeer is best known for his Southern Reach series, four novels that explore themes related to the environment and our future. The Southern Reach is a secret government agency that manages expeditions into Area X, a weird coastal zone where something has happened that totally changed its ecology. The series’ first novel, “Annihilation” (2014), focuses on four women (an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist and a biologist) on an expedition to record their observations of Area X. In their efforts to understand the terrain and avoid being contaminated by Area X, the expedition members discover a topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding.

“Annihilation” won both the Nebula Award and Shirley Jackson Award in 2014. The novel was made into a film released by Paramount in 2018. The fourth book in the series, “Absolution,” was published in 2024 and named a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. “Annihilation” and “Absolution” are available for purchase at the Luther College Book Shop.

Called “the weird Thoreau” by the New Yorker, VanderMeer has lived in Florida since he was in middle school, attending the University of Florida in Gainesville before moving to Tallahassee in 1992. He has given lectures related to climate change and storytelling at Vanderbilt University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Key West Literary Seminar, Yale University and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

“One Evening in Area X” is a rare chance to encounter VanderMeer in person in the Midwest.

“The fact that Jeff VanderMeer will be in Decorah to interact with Luther students and the broader community is an honor and a real thrill,” Hageman said.

Reserve your seat for the April 22 lecture at tickets.luther.edu or at the Luther Ticket Office in the Center for Faith and Life. Contact the ticket office at tickets@luther.edu or 563-387-1357 for more information. For those who can’t attend in person, the lecture will be livestreamed.

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