Why It Matters: Terry Tempest Williams in Conversation with Karen R. Lawrence
Thu., May 14, 2026, 7–8 p.m.
Free with reservation | There is no waitlist for this event, but additional tickets will be released as cancellations occur. We will accommodate standby guests on the night of the event on a first-come, first-served basis as availability allows. Please plan to arrive early. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Seating inside the auditorium is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the venue reaches capacity, guests will be invited to view the program from a nearby space via livestream.
THIS LAND IS...
Rothenberg Hall and livestream
One of the most lyrical and intellectually expansive thinkers at work today, Williams joins Lawrence to discuss how deep attention—to literature and history, to the natural world, and to the people around us—highlights the profound stakes of the present moment. As part of THIS LAND IS ..., The Huntington’s initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, their conversation will also explore how our relationship to nature has shaped our national history and must be preserved as part of a shared democratic future.
Limited quantities of pre-signed copies of Williams’ books The Open Space of Democracy (2004) and The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary (2026) will be available for purchase in Rothenberg Hall 30 minutes before the start of the program (6:30-7 p.m.) and 30 minutes after the program ends (8-8:30 p.m.). Unsigned copies are also available through The Huntington Store:
The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary
About Why It Matters
Celebrating The Huntington’s unparalleled opportunities for cross-disciplinary exploration of human culture and history, the Why It Matters series features Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence in conversation with distinguished guests about the enduring relevance of the arts and humanities.
About THIS LAND IS …
THIS LAND IS … is a sweeping multiyear initiative that invites visitors to reflect on the American story through the lens of land. Anchored by the tagline “Reflections for America at 250,” the initiative draws on The Huntington’s library, art, and botanical collections to spotlight relationships between land, United States history, and American identities. Discover a season of exhibitions, experiences, and conversations across the campus: www.huntington.org/this-land-is
THIS LAND IS … is made possible through major support from The Fletcher Jones Foundation and Stewart R. Smith, Robin A. Ferracone, Logan Smith, and Tracy Beetler through The H. Russell Smith Foundation. Generous support for this initiative is also provided by LeeAnn and Ronald Havner through the JCS Foundation.
About the Featured Guest
Terry Tempest Williams is an award-winning author and naturalist known for her impassioned, lyrical writing on environmental justice, ecological consciousness, and social change. Often called a “citizen writer,” she speaks and writes as an advocate for ethical engagement with the natural world and for freedom of expression.
Williams has testified before Congress on women’s health issues, camped in the remote regions of Utah and Alaska wildernesses, and worked as “a barefoot artist” in Rwanda. She is the author of numerous acclaimed books, including the environmental literature classic Refuge, as well as An Unspoken Hunger; When Women Were Birds; Erosion: Essays of Undoing; The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks; and The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary (Grove Atlantic, 2026). Her work appears widely in publications including The New Yorker, the New York Times, Orion, and The Progressive.
Her awards include the Robert Marshall Award from the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club’s John Muir Award, the Thoreau Prize for Literary Excellence in Nature Writing, and a Guggenheim Fellowship in creative nonfiction. Williams is an Emerson Collective Fellow for 2025-26 and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2025, she received an honorary degree from the University of Southern California.
Williams co-founded the Environmental Humanities Graduate Program at the University of Utah and has held academic appointments at Dartmouth College and Harvard Divinity School, where she is currently writer-in-residence. She divides her time between Castle Valley, Utah, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.