SPEAKING
Writing Wild Talk
An hour long talk
This book has been adapted into an acclaimed narrative designed for speakers’ series at botanical gardens, museums, libraries, universities, and garden clubs. A lively and intelligent portrait of women and nature in the wider changing culture, like other talks by Kathryn Aalto, Writing Wild is visually rich with a soundscape that transports people to different worlds. The journey begins with a climb up England’s tallest mountain following in the 1818 footsteps of Dorothy Wordsworth, the lesser-known diarist, poet, and inspirational sister of William Wordsworth. Moving to America where Susan Fenimore Cooper, America’s first nature writer, lived and wrote, audiences learn about barriers that “dame scribblers” faced in nineteenth-century publishing.
To book please email publicity@kathrynaalto.com
The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh
An hour long talk
A. A. Milne’s classic stories Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner have delighted parents and children for nearly a century. The real landscape that inspired Milne and his illustrator E. H. Shepard was Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Part travelogue and natural history, this talk weaves history with humor, and birdsong with booklore. Kathryn Aalto tells the story of the real places and the rare flora and fauna in the forest that inspired Milne to create the Hundred Acre Wood, arguably the most beloved setting in children’s literature. Learn about Milne’s extraordinary childhood and remarkable writing career as well as his creative partnership with Shepard that captured generations of readers. Leave with a new understanding of how the Winnie-the-Pooh books are field guides for 21st-century Christopher Robins — hymns to those days of doing nothing yet learning everything.
To book please email publicity@kathrynaalto.com
Writing Workshops
An hour long talk
To book please email publicity@kathrynaalto.com
SPEAKING ENDORSEMENTS
“Not only was Ms. Aalto thoroughly prepared and professional in her presentation, she was completely charming and engaging to our audience. As a rule, we have a very smart crowd. Ms. Aalto left the crowd delighted and satisfied with their evening out, something that does not always happen with an author presentation! We would gladly have her back for future programs…in fact it cannot be soon enough!” — Jacques Lamarre, Director of Communications, The Mark Twain House and Museum, Connecticut
“I directed Kathryn for a short ‘taster’ film for a pitch of the documentary version of her book ‘The Natural World of Winnie the Pooh’ for BBC Four. I couldn’t have asked for more from a presenter – she was extremely well prepared with excellent, engaging delivery and the ability to take direction and think on her feet. I very much hope we get to work together in the future.”— Jake Hayes, BBC Producer
“Kathryn Aalto’s event at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina drew a packed house and ranks as one of our Top 5 in 34 years. Her talk about The Natural World of Winnie the Pooh was very informative and at times laugh out loud funny. Her slides kept the audience interested. She discussed the real Hundred Acre Wood, A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin, and E. H. Shepard’s illustrations. The audience had fun and lots of folks thanked us for having her here. And we sold lots of books!” — Helen Stewart, Floor Manager, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, North Carolina
“I’ve conducted many on-air interviews throughout the last 20 years. You don’t always know what you’re going to get until you’re actually into the interview. Within 10 seconds of my first question with Kathryn, I knew my audience was in for a real treat. Kathryn was engaging, informative, very much at ease, and immediately sucked me into Winnie-the-Pooh’s world. I now have this penchant to play Poohsticks, and I’ve updated my bucket list to include a visit to Ashdown Forest.” — Bryan Earl, Host of the Zesty Garden, Utah Public Radio
past venues
- Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, MA
- United States Botanic Garden, Washington, D.C.
- Hillwood Estate and Gardens, Washington, DC
- National Press Club Book Fair, Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, D.C.
- Garden Club of Mountain Lakes, Rockaway River Country Club, NJ
- Bethlehem Garden Club, PA
- Burlington Garden Club, VT
- Yale Peabody Museum, Ostrom Program Series, CT
- Williamsburg Book Festival, VA
- Garden Club of Macon, GA
- Atlanta Botanic Garden, Atlanta, GA
- U.C. Berkeley Botanic Garden, CA
- Ball State University, Muncie, IN
- The Limberlost State Memorial, Geneva, IN
- Piedmont, Orinda, and Marin Garden Clubs, CA
- Bookshop Santa Cruz, CA
- Titcomb’s Books, Cape Cod, MA
- Summer Authors Series with Tower Hill Botanic Garden and Berkshire Botanic Garden, MA
- Virtual Bird Fair, Nature Writing Panel
- Modesto Garden Club, CA
- Boulder Book Store, CO
- Woodside Atherton Garden Club, CA
- Whatcom Horticultural Society, Bellingham, WA
- “Conversations with Eden” at Bellevue Botanical Garden with Heronswood Garden,WA
- Findlay University, Findlay, OH
- Mazza Museum, Findlay, OH
- Lexington Council of Garden Clubs & the University of Kentucky Extension Master Gardeners Association, Fayette County Extension Office, KY
- University of Tennessee Arboretum Society, TN
- Fort Worth Garden Club, Fort Worth, TX
- The New York Public Library, New York, NY
- Beaconsfield Garden Club, Montreal, Canada
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
- ESRI Auditorium, University of Redlands, CA
- Resurgence Magazine, Monthly Book Group
- Plymouth Public Library, MA
- Little Garden Club of Rye, Garden Club of America, NY
- Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden, Rockford, IL
- Reynolda Gardens of Wake Forest University, NC
- North Country Garden Club with Old Westbury Gardens, NY
- Fort Orange Garden Club, Albany, NY
- Cornell University Botanic Garden, NY
- Farmington Garden Club and Farmington Library, CT
- New London Garden Club, NH
- Weeders and Diggers Garden Club, Montreal, Canada
- Beaconsfield Garden Club, Montreal, Canada
- The Preservation Society of Newport County, RI
- Hamilton College, Hamilton, New York
- Lexington Community Education, Lexington, MA
- Baldwin Library Speakers Series, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX
- The Garden Club of Houston, TX
- Children’s Literature Series, Faculty of Education, Cambridge University
- Rural Writing Institute, Cumbria, UK
- Bedford Garden Club, MA
- New London Garden Club, NH
- Ridgefield Library, CT
- New Dominion Bookshop, Charlottesville, VA
- Mary C. O’Keefe Arts and Cultural Center, Oceanside, MS
- Louisiana Book Festival, Baton Rouge, LA
- LSU Hilltop Arboretum and Baton Rouge Herb Society, Baton Rouge, LA
- Garden District Bookshop, New Orleans, LA
- University of Tennessee Arboretum Lecture Series
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
- Winchester Writers’ Festival, Winchester, UK. Teaching “The Art of Narrative Nonfiction” and “Writing a Winning Proposal”
- Cincinnati Museum Center, Insights Lecture Series, Lloyd Library & Museum, Ohio
- Carmel Clay Public Library, Carmel Clay, Indiana
- Kingwood Center Gardens, Mansfield, Ohio
- Environmental Literature Institute, Phillips Exeter Academy, NH
- Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA
- Rakestraw Books, Danville, CA
- Laguna Beach Garden Club, Laguna Beach, CA
- Ramona Garden Club and Ramona Library, CA
- Mission Hills Garden Club, San Diego, CA
- Vromen’s Bookstore, Pasadena, CA
- University of Redlands, Esri Auditorium, Redlands, CA
- Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK
- The Gardens at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
- State Arboretum of Virginia, Blandy, VA
- Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, UK
- St. John’s Outdoor University, Collegeville, MN
- Twin Cities Book Festival, Minneapolis, MN
- Pratt Library & Cylburn Arboretum, Baltimore, MD
- Georgia Center for the Book, Atlanta, GA
- Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, GA
- State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, GA
- The Taft School, Watertown, CT
- Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH
- Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge, MA
- Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Bolyston, MA
- Harvard Bookstore, Boston, MA
- Titcomb’s Bookstore, Sandwich, MA
- Water Street Bookstore, Exeter, NH
- WORD, Jersey City, NJ
- Hunterdon Library/The Book Garden, Frenchtown, NJ
- Spotty Dog Books and Ale, Hudson, NY
- Bookworm/Bernardsville Public Library, NY
- Doylestown Bookshop, Doylestown, PA
- The Union League, Philadelphia, PA
- The Acorn Club, Philadelphia, PA
- Westport Library, Westport, CT
- Mark Twain House, Hartford, CT
- Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC
- Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC
- McIntyre’s, Pittsboro, NC
- Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, VA
- The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL
- The Newberry Library Chicago, IL
- Bartholomew County Library, Columbus, IN
- Hudson Library & Historical Society, Hudson, OH
- The Town Club, Pasadena, CA
- Laguna Beach Garden Club, CA
- Village Books, Bellingham, WA
- Monroe Public Library, Monroe, WA
- Third Place Books, Seattle, WA
- Inland Empire Gardening Club, Spokane, WA
- Everett Community College, Everett, WA
- Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle, WA
- Toby’s Garden Festival, Powerderham Castle, UK
- Penzance Literary Festival, UK
- The Gilbert White House, Selbourne, UK
- Swanwick Writers’ Summer School, UK
- Ashdown Forest Centre, UK
- The Garden Museum’s Literary Festival, Hatfield House, UK
- Devon Wildlife Trust Wildlife Ambassadors
Listen to Kathryn launch the book Wild Spectacle by Janisse Ray
