Hosted by the Museum of Jewish Heritage, actor Sarah Podemski and I will be in conversation at 11:30. A book signing will follow. Details heres://mjhnyc.org/new-york-jewish-book-festival/festival-schedule-2024/.
I’m thrilled to be offering a keynote lecture at the Lakota Nation Education Conference in Rapid City, South Dakota. Details here.
I’ll be speaking at Lewis & Clark as part of their Spring 2025 Visiting Writer’s Series. Smith Hall. Details here.
I’ll be reading from THE COST and in conversation with local reporter Kirbie Bennett. Author Event & Book Signing. Details here.
Lecture and Book Signing
I’ll be giving a talk about THE COST OF FREE LAND on the festival’s first day in Founder’s Recital Hall. I’ll be signing books from 4:30-5:15. All details here.
Brunch & Learn: Hosted by the Jewish Federation of Nebrask and held at the JCC, this morning conversation will be open to the public. We’ll be discussing the Jewish teachings described in THE COST OF FREE LAND that helped me to grapple with America’s treatment of Native peoples.
A Community Conversation at the JCC Theater. Open to the public.
Offered through Humanities North Dakota, this on-line class is open to people everywhere who want to deepen their understanding of the Great Plains, learn how to do family research and how to find themselves in the story of America’s dispossession of Native lands. Details below. Register here.
In this book club style course, participants will read two to three chapters a week and attend our 90 minute classes prepared to discuss, question and learn. I’ll be sharing stories behind the stories and photographs featured in the book, explaining how I did my research, and offering tips for how to conduct your own family history, and how to find yourself in this American history of Native land dispossession. In several classes, special guests who appear in the pages of The Cost, will join us for a conversation.
Course and Reading Schedule:
Sunday, September 15, 3:30-5 p.m. CDT. (In advance of class, please read the prologue and Chapter 1)
Sunday, September 22, 3:30-5 p.m. CDT. (In advance of class, please read Chapters 2, 3, and 4)
Sunday, September 29, 3:30-5 p.m. CDT. (In advance of class, please read Chapters 5 and 6)
Sunday, October 6: NO CLASS.
Sunday, October 13, 3:30-5 p.m. CDT. (In advance of class, please read Chapters 7, 8, and 9)
Sunday, October 20, 3:30-5 p.m. CDT: (In advance of class, please read Chapter 10, the Epilogue and the Author’s Note. We will be discussing the Resources for Further Research Section which is in the back of the book and also available as a free download on my website.
Homework:
The only homework is to read along with the group in prep for our discussions. Bring any and all questions and comments to class. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
In-class activities:
Typically, we will begin each class with a short piece of writing that inspired me during the creation of The Cost of Free Land. Then, we’ll split into small groups for 15 minutes to discuss questions that I’ll provide. After reconvening, we’ll share in the larger group any of our gleaned insights and I’ll be glad to answer any of your questions. In each class, I’ll share a few slides of maps, family and archival photographs to help deepen your understanding of those chapter’s content. We’ll be joined in at least two, possibly three classes by Jewish and Lakota leaders to help us grapple with the book’s content. On the alternate days, I’ll be offering guidance for the following: 1. How to do family research? How to write about your family, reveal hard family secrets, and maintain your relationship. 2. How to make this American history of Native land dispossession personal to you? What are the specific research tools that might help you find yourself, find the ways you and your family have benefited from the taking of Native lands? 3. How do we go on from here? Once we’ve learned a more nuanced and complicated history than we were taught in school, what do we do with this information? What might the future look like?
I’ll be joining other local writers such as Karen Russell to help build support for Street Books: Portland's bicycle-powered mobile library, serving people who live outside. Come at 6 pm for the bike ride and stay for the readings happening around 7 pm. More details here.
Join us for a virtual book club with the wonderful non-profit Jewish Women’s Archive. Free and open to the public. 8 pm ET. Register here.
Rebecca will be sharing tips from a 25-year-long career as a journalist and writer of the American West, with a specific focus on how she reported The Cost of Free Land. Free and open to the public. 12 ET. Here’s a link to register.
Hosted by the Jewish Congregation of Falmouth, this Jewish Book Council lecture is virtual and free to the public. It does require advanced registration. Here’s a link.
Join Doug White Bull and Rebecca Clarren for a discussion of the making of THE COST OF FREE LAND. Open to the public, the event will be held at the Santee Sioux Tribe Care Center in Flandreau, SD at 2 pm.
Sponsored by two Washington DC-area synagogues, and open to the public, this Meet-the-Author event will be open to the public. Details and links to register coming soon. 7 pm Eastern.
This free public lecture, hosted by the Samuel Bak Museum, has exceeded all expectation and now has more registrants than can fit in the museum. This event will now be held at the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center, in room 201. Clarren will be reading from her book THE COST OF FREE LAND, and having a conversation with Dr. Susana Geliga, assistant professor of the Department of History and Native American Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha as well as with Mikal Eckstrom, who has a doctorate in history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is one of only a handful of North American academics who has studied the connection between Jewish homesteaders and Native Nations.
Books won’t be available for sale at the event but Clarren is happy to sign books purchased beforehand.
Clarren will be speaking at the dinner of the annual Great Plains Conference from around 7 pm until 8:15. Tickets are required. Registration and details here.
A special lecture in Sioux City where Clarren’s family lived before homesteading. Here’s a link to more details about the event where she’ll be joined in conversation with Karen Mackey, Sioux City Human Rights Director.
Sponsored by the Lancaster Jewish Community Alliance and the Jewish Book Council. Here’s the link to register. Please note this event is 7 pm Eastern.
A free lecture for residents of Cedar Sinai Park’s Rose Schnitzer Manor.
This virtual event, hosted by the Jewish Community Center of Contra Costa, California and the Jewish Book Council is free and open to the public. Here’s a link to register.
This event is free. Please register here.
To help launch the paperback of the superb book WOLFISH by Erica Berry, Clarren will be in conversation with author Erica Berry as well as Sierra Crane Murdoch, author of YELLOWBIRD, to discuss entangled genres, writing and the nature of fear. Here’s a link for more information.
