Schlow Library to Host Virtual Event with Author Elizabeth Rush

Acclaimed author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elizabeth Rush will make a virtual visit to the Centre Region on Wednesday as part of activities recognizing the 50th anniversary this year of Earth Day.

Rush’s book, ‘Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore,’ bears witness to the extreme impact of coastal changes on individuals, communities and economic well-being. It was nominated for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction.  

“An Evening with Elizabeth Rush” begins at 6 p.m. in Schlow’s Zoom Room. Advance registration for this free event is required here (Zoom link will be provided). Pre-signed bookplates are available on a limited basis. Indicate interest at registration, and arrangements will be made for pickup.

Rush was originally scheduled to visit Schlow in March but the event was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Rising’ offers a glimpse into Rush’s travels across the country with firsthand testimonials from those living in areas most affected by climate change, including a Staten Islander who lost her father during Hurricane Sandy and the remaining members of a Native American community on a drowning Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana. The Chicago Tribune called it “the book on climate change and sea levels that was missing.”

A featured speaker at the 2019 Chautauqua Institute, Rush received her MFA in nonfiction from Southern New Hampshire University and teaches creative nonfiction at Brown University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, National Geographic, The Guardian, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, among other publications. 

“An Evening with Elizabeth Rush” is presented in collaboration with The Sustainability Institute at Penn State and the Schlow Library Foundation. Funding for the event is provided by the Ruth E. Rishel Charitable Fund at Centre Foundation, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.

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