Date: August 21st, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM.
Location: Bright Side Bookshop, 18 N. San Francisco St.
Join us in conversation with author Steven Law, celebrating his book Gone. Encounters with Awe, Wonder and Reverence While Exploring the American West . The event will begin at 6:00 PM with a reading and Q&A then a book signing at 7:00 PM.
About The Author:
Steven Wesley Law has been exploring and writing about the American West for more than 30 years. He’s the author of "Polished", a collection of poems about exploring the Colorado Plateau by foot and by raft. He’s a Contributing Writer for Panorama: the Journal of Intelligent Travel. His travel writing has won numerous Gold and Silver awards at the Travelers Tales Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing. He is host and co-producer of Poetry Snaps!, a radio segment highlighting poets of the Colorado Plateau and American Southwest, for KNAU, Flagstaff, Arizona's NPR station. He has worked as a farmer, short-order cook, waiter, journalist, travel writer, newspaper editor, magazine editor, Grand Canyon river guide, overland guide, and public relations coordinator. He lives in northern Arizona with his wife and two daughters.
About the Book:
“Steven Law is an observant and lyrical writer who evokes the wilderness experience in clear clean prose that is sometimes amusing, sometimes profound, and always delightful."
—Tim Cahill, founding editor of Outside magazine
"In Gone, Steven Wesley Law captures the essence of the American wilderness with a voice that merges the precision of a journalist and the soul of a poet."
—David Anthony Martin, founding editor of Middle Creek Publishing & Audio, author of The Ground Nest and others.
Through activities like backpacking, snowshoeing, sea kayaking, surfing, rafting, and fishing, Law transports readers to the heart of nature’s splendor. His essays, infused with personal reflections and vivid descriptions, offer a visceral experience of America’s diverse landscapes, from the arid deserts to the misty coasts.
Law’s storytelling invites readers to slow down and savor the beauty of the natural world. His desert excursions, highlighting the practice of Sabaku Yoku, or Desert Bathing, are particularly evocative. Here, one can almost feel the cool relief of shade beneath a juniper, the pulse of ozone in the air, and the soothing warmth of the sun. His narratives make you reach for your water bottle and relish in the scent of coffee brewing on a camp stove.
The sea kayaking sections envelop you in the mists and rains of the Pacific Northwest, where you encounter black bears, orcas, and the formidable power of the sea. Law’s detailed accounts make you feel your muscles straining against the wind, seeking refuge in the lee of a small island. His surfing tales echo the freedom and exhilaration of a teenage beach-bum dream, where the pursuit of the perfect wave takes precedence over all else. In his backpacking adventures, Law’s meticulous division of gear into Essentials & Transcendentals reveals a thoughtful approach to embracing the wild. Gone is not just a tribute to the American West’s beauty and serenity but a celebration of its spiritual power. Law’s writing encourages readers to reconnect with nature, offering a path to discover their own moments of reverence and adventure.
There is a refinement of power in the relation of the awe Law finds in the wild, what might be considered by some to be its spiritual or sacred power—that of unity and connection— encouraging readers to reconnect with the natural world and discover their own moments of reverence and adventure. Steven Wesley Law’s Gone is a masterful exploration of awe, wonder, and reverence, making it a must-read for anyone seeking to experience the transformative power of nature.
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