UPCOMING BOOK TALKS & SIGNINGS

Lexington History Museum, Lexington, KY – Driftwood lecture and closing of the traveling panel exhibit, Thursday, March 5, 2026, 6:30 PM

Henry County Public Library, Eminence, KY – Driftwood lecture and opening of the traveling panel exhibit, Thursday, March 12, 2026, 5 PM

Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling, WV – Lunch with Books presentation and signing of Driftwood, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 12 PM – MORE INFO

Harrison County Historical Society, Corydon, IN – Driftwood lecture and closing of the traveling panel exhibit

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November 14, 2025

Full house at the Portland Museum in Louisville for a viewing of the Driftwood gallery exhibit and one of Tracy Barns’ fun and engaging “Paint Like Harlan” watercolor workshops! We had an amazing time learning some basic watercolor techniques through the lens of the legacy of Harlan and Anna Hubbard.

November 1, 2025

As always, the Kentucky Book Festival was a blast. This year, I was especially thankful to be asked to lead a panel with some incredible other writers who have recently published biographies or life histories. If you have a chance, be sure to check out the work of these other great authors and their subjects. I enjoyed learning about their processes for life-writing.

October 28, 2025

Wonderful and engaged audience in my current hometown of New Albany, IN, delivering a Driftwood lecture at the Carnegie Cultural Arts Center! I always love bringing new fans of Harlan Hubbard into the fold, as well as meeting and greeting folks who were fortunate to know Harlan and Anna personally.

October 18, 2025

As part of the Ohio River Confluence Summit, I was thankful to partner with the Portland Museum on a special field trip for folks to view the Driftwood gallery exhibit and receive a little curator tour. Seeing the exhibit always brings the story to life.

October 11, 2025

I had the great pleasure to share a table at the Louisville Book Festival this year with my friend and fellow writer and curator Eileen Yanoviak. I was not only able to sell my own book, but I got to rep her incredible new book, too! It was also a joy to join my other friend, Richard Taylor, in conversation about Driftwood as part of the festival’s programming.

September 27, 2025

The Driftwood exhibit at the Portland Museum in Louisville, Kentucky is now open, on display through mid-January! The exhibit features some new artifact additions and incredible, Harlan-inspired illustrations by the Museum’s co-Director, Danny Seim. More information here.

August 26, 2025

Pick up the latest issue of Kentucky Monthly, or visit their website, to read a short meditation I wrote about Harlan Hubbard’s life wandering the landscapes of Northern Kentucky in search of creative inspiration. More information here.

August 12, 2025

I cannot fully express how honored I am that Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard has been awarded the 2025 Thomas D. Clark Medallion! The Clark Medallion recognizes books that enrich the understanding of Kentucky and its region. I am so grateful to the Thomas D. Clark Foundation and the University Press of Kentucky for recognizing the Hubbard story in this way. It means the world to me, and I know it would have meant the world to Harlan and Anna, too.

As I say in my quote in the press release, “We can all learn so much, in these days of uncertainty, from the gentle values of the Hubbards: celebrating beauty and learning, living authentically, and honoring the natural world.”

July 12, 2025

The Driftwood traveling exhibit has been at the Atheneum Visitors Center in New Harmony, Indiana, and it was my pleasure to mark the closing of the exhibit with a lecture and signing of the book. New Harmony is a remarkable place to consider the legacy of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, who created their own utopia along the banks of the Ohio River in Trimble County. I hope to partner with New Harmony more in future!

May 24, 2025

We had a phenomenal turnout for the series of Driftwood programs offered at the Fort Thomas Forest Conservancy’s Harlan Hubbard Studio and Nature Preserve! All of these programs were able to be offered outdoors, under the beautiful trees planted by Hubbard and his mother on their property in the 1920s. The Hubbard studio, built in 1938, is one of three Hubbard-designed and built buildings on the lot. Thanks to everyone who came out, bought books, and enjoyed the lovely Fort Thomas weather!

April 23, 2025

What an absolute pleasure it was to celebrate the full premiere of Daniel Gilliam’s Piano Trio No. 2: “Payne Hollow,” which we got to hear under the mural Harlan Hubbard painted over the proscenium arch at the Carnegie Library auditorium in Covington, Kentucky. I was grateful to join Daniel, and the Carnegie’s director, Matt Distel, in a Q&A about the piece, about the book, and about the Hubbards. This performance of the trio was recorded, so stay tuned for more information on the release of that recording later this year!

April 9, 2025

I was thrilled to be invited on WVXU Cincinnati Public Radio to talk about Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard with Lucy May of Cincinnati Edition. Listen here.

March 17, 2025

The traveling panel exhibit based on Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard is on display at the Trimble County Public Library in Bedford, KY. The library hosted me for a book talk and for Tracy Barnes’ “Paint Like Harlan” watercolor workshop on March 22. Learn more about the traveling exhibit’s schedule here.

March 1, 2025

On Saturday, March 1, I was thrilled to be at the Kentucky Historical Society with author and former poet laureate of Kentucky, Dr. Richard Taylor, to offer a conversation on Harlan Hubbard and other American artists and writers (like Richard) who have used journaling and sketching in nature to refine their craft and promote their deep understanding of place. Watch the full conversation here on my website.

February 26, 2025

Thank you to the wonderful Jason French, Curator of Collections at the Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington, Kentucky, for joining me at Joseph-Beth Booksellers for a great conversation about Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard. It was thrilling to be able to discuss with the caretaker of a very important collection of Harlan Hubbard materials the way those resources facilitated the writing of the book!

February 11, 2025

To kick-off the month of Driftwood release events, the Behringer-Crawford Museum kindly hosted me for an episode of their virtual Northern Kentucky History Hour. You can view a full lecture on my new biography of Harlan Hubbard here.

August 4, 2024

I’m very pleased to share that it is now possible to book my lectures and programs through Kentucky Humanities and their Speakers Bureau! Through them, I am proud to offer a program based on my upcoming biography of Harlan Hubbard, as well as a program based on my recent release for the Kentucky Derby Museum, The History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects. Both are published through University Press Of Kentucky.

For more information on booking my programs for your institution, please visit the Kentucky Humanities site. I look forward to joining you and your communities, virtually or in-person, this year!

June 12, 2024

Save the date! From September 13, 2024 to March 14, 2025, the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky will be hosting a new exhibit you won’t want to miss. Based on the upcoming, comprehensive biography, Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard, this exhibition brings to life the story of a man who, though beloved by his fellow Kentuckians, deserves broad recognition in the disciplines of American landscape painting, writing, and environmental advocacy.

Through an eclectic exhibition of paintings, photographs, ephemera, and other artifacts–many of which will be displayed publicly for the first time–step into a vivid portrait of Hubbard and the traces he left behind: books, journals, paintings, sketches, handcrafted and unique structures, and a template for a sustainable life in our modern ecological landscape. Guest curated by Jessica K. Whitehead and designed by Brooks Vessels.