What an Owl Knows

We are delighted to have New York Times Best Selling Author Jennifer Ackerman visit with us on Sunday, August 6 at 2:00 pm for a special lecture.

Jennifer Ackerman has been writing about science, nature, and health for more than three decades. Her work aims to explain and interpret science for a lay audience and to explore the riddles of the natural world, blending scientific knowledge with strong storytelling. She has won numerous awards and fellowships, including a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts, a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a Silver Medal Award for Nature Writing from the International Regional Magazine Association, and fellowships at the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College (now the Radcliffe Institute), Brown College at the University of Virginia, and the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University.

Jennifer’s most recent book is What an Owl Knows: The new science of the world’s most enigmatic birds. In pre-publication reviews, Publisher’s Weekly called the book “a masterful survey,” and Kirkus, “fascinating food for thought for owl seekers.” Jennifer also recorded the audiobook for What an Owl Knows. Her previous book, The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think (Penguin Press, 2020; paperback, 2021), was a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and was nominated for numerous other awards. It’s published in more than a dozen languages. Her New York Times bestseller, The Genius of Birds (Penguin Press, 2016; paperback 2017), has been translated into close to 30 languages. The book was named one of the 10 best nonfiction books of 2016 by The Wall Street Journal, a Best Science Book of 2016 by National Public Radio’s “Science Friday”, a Best Book of the Year by The Spectator and the National Post, and a Nature Book of the Year by the London Sunday Times. It was a finalist for the 2017 National Academies Communication Book Award and for the 2017 Smart Book Award in Poland.

Other books include Birds by the Shore: Observing the Natural Life of the Atlantic Coast (a 2019 reissue by Penguin Press of her first book, Notes from the Shore); Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold (Twelve, 2010), which was named a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award’; and Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream:  A Day in the Life of Your Body (Houghton Mifflin, 2007; Mariner Paperbacks, 2008), which explores the biological events we experience over the course of a day. The latter was selected as a New York Times “Editor’s Choice” and was chosen as a main selection for the Scientific American Book Club.  It has been published in 13 languages. Ackerman’s book Chance in the House of Fate:  A Natural History of Heredity (Houghton Mifflin 2001; Mariner Paperbacks 2002) was named a New York Times “New and Noteworthy” paperback and was selected as a Library Journal Best Book of the Year in 2002. She is the editor of The Curious Naturalist and the co-author with Dr. Miriam Nelson of The Social Network Diet and The Strong Women’s Guide to Total Health. 

Jennifer’s essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, National Geographic, Natural History, Parade, and many other publications. She has written on subjects ranging from the work of Chuck Close to the microbiome of the human body, the evolutionary origin of birds, the sexual habits of dragonflies, the neural nature of dyslexia, the biology of cranes, parasites as agents of evolutionary change, ocean circulation, the wildlife of Japan, and the work of Nobel laureate and developmental biologist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. Her writing has been collected in several anthologies, among them, Flights of Imagination:  Extraordinary Writings About Birds, ed. Richard Canning (Greystone, 2010), The Penguin Book of the Ocean, ed. James Bradley (Penguin Australia, 2010), Best American Science Writing, ed. Alan Lightman (Perennial, 2005), Shorewords (University of Virginia Press, 2003), Stories from Where We Live—the North Atlantic Coast, ed. Sara St. Antoine (Milkweed, 2001), The Beach Book, ed. Aleda Shirley (Sarabande Books, 2000), The Seacoast Reader, ed. John A. Murray (Lyons Press, 1999), From the Field, ed Charles McCarry (National Geographic, 1997), The Nature Reader, ed. Daniel Halpern and Dan Frank (Ecco Press, 1996), and Best Nature Writing (Sierra Club books, 1996).

We are grateful to our Graves Library Snack Team for providing treats for our program.  We are also grateful to The 1802 House for sponsoring this event!  Doors open at 1:30.  Parking is available at the Village Fire Station (North Street) and Consolidated School (School Street).  Please call the Library for more information (967-2778).  Copies of the book will be for sale and signing after the program.

The Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport, Maine.