Explore the Natural World with Writer & Ethnobotanist Dale Pendell

Novelist, poet, ethnobotanist. Regardless of how you come to know the work of Dale Pendell, you learn pretty quickly that the environment plays a major role in his inspiration to write. Whether you’re reading his post-apocalyptic novel, The Great Bay, or delighting in his poetic descriptions of the effects of certain psychoactive plants in his Pharmako trilogy, you get the sense that to Pendell, the relationship we have with the Earth is as fundamental to life as our relationships with one another — perhaps more, even. This month, Pendell celebrates the Earth with readings across California from some of his most well-known books.

Los Angeles, CA:

Poetry in Motion
Eve Brandstein hosts a night of spoken word, music, refreshments and more, with readings by Susan Suntree and Dale Pendell.

April 15
Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
681 Venice Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291

More info here: http://www.laweekly.com/events/poetry-in-motion-1241001/

WINNER, Best Science Fiction, 2010 Green Book Festival! Based in scientific reality, The Great Baypresents a powerful fictional vision of a fast-approaching future in which sea levels rise and a decimated population must find new ways to live. The Great Bay begins in 2021 with a worldwide pandemic followed by the gradual rising of the seas. Pendell’s vision is all encompassing—he describes the rising seas’ impact on countries and continents around the world. A “great bay” forms in California’s Central Valley and expands during a 16,000-year period. As the years pass, and technology seems to regress, even memory of a “precollapse” world blends into myth.

Sebastopol, CA:

Bringing Back the Green ~ Stories & Poems on Sacred Ecology
An evening of exploration of plants and consciousness & a fundraiser for the Sonoma County Herb Exchange. Drumming and audience participation with Kim Atkinson before the program, readings by Dale Pendell and Ralph Metzner. Food and drink for purchase, $25 suggested donation.

April 29, 6 pm
Masonic Center
373 N. Main St.

More info here: http://www.waccobb.net/forums/showthread.php?78835-Dale-Pendell-and-Ralph-Metzner-Stories-amp-Poems-on-Sacred-Ecology

An encyclopedic study of the history and uses of psychoactive plants and related synthetics first published between 1995 and 2005, Dale Pendell’sPharmako trilogyform an interrelated suite of works that provide the reader with a unique, reliable, and often personal immersion in this medically, culturally, and spiritually fascinating subject. All three books are beautifully designed and illustrated, and are written with unparalleled authority, erudition, playfulness, and range. Now available in paperback and hardcover!

Other upcoming events with Dale Pendell:

Nevada County Poetry Series
Featured Reader with Open Mic to follow
Thursday May 19, 2011
The Center for the Arts
Grass Valley, CA
7:30 pm

10th International Herb Symposium
Celebrating the Healing Powers of Plants
June 24-26, 2001
Wheaton College
Norton, MA