Terry Tempest Williams (left) will sit down with President Karen R. Lawrence (right) for a conversation about finding beauty and imagining renewal amid environmental and civic erosion. [Huntington Library photos]The desert taught Terry Tempest Williams to look for beauty in what burns. On Thursday, she brings that practice to a region that knows something about fire.
Williams, the New York Times bestselling author and conservationist whose latest book, “The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary,” explores finding grace amid ecological crisis, will join Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence for a free public conversation at 7 p.m. May 14 at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The event, part of The Huntington’s “Why It Matters” conversation series, will explore how our relationship to nature has shaped our national history — and why that relationship must be preserved as part of a shared democratic future.
The conversation arrives as The Huntington, whose 207-acre campus sits at the edge of Pasadena in San Marino, deepens its role as a civic forum for the communities it serves across the San Gabriel Valley. The event is one of several public programs accompanying the institution’s THIS LAND IS… initiative, a multiyear project marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The initiative’s anchor exhibition, also called “This Land Is…,” opens June 14 in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery.
Williams, who is also a contributor to the exhibition’s companion publication, “This Land Is…: Field Notes on American Ground,” is the author of numerous books of creative nonfiction, including the environmental classic “Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place.” She is a Guggenheim fellow, a recipient of the Sierra Club’s John Muir Award, and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters. She currently serves as writer-in-residence at the Harvard Divinity School, where she teaches a course called “Finding Beauty in a Broken World.”
Her newest work, published in March by Grove Press, has been named a national bestseller, according to the publisher. The book was named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by The New York Times Book Review, Literary Hub, and Book Riot. In the book, Williams writes of searching for what she calls “Glorians” — ordinary, overlooked presences in the natural world that reveal shared vulnerability and interconnectedness.
“Whether we believe it or not, rapid change is upon us,” Williams writes in the book’s opening. “I am searching for grace.”
Lawrence, who has led The Huntington since 2018, launched the “Why It Matters” series during the institution’s centennial year. The series has featured guests including filmmaker Ava DuVernay, former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, former JPL Director Charles Elachi, and critic Hilton Als. In each conversation, Lawrence explores the enduring relevance of the arts and humanities with a distinguished guest, according to The Huntington.
“At a time when the public places trust in cultural institutions to help navigate complex issues, we are committed to honoring that responsibility as we reflect on the nation’s founding,” Lawrence said in a statement announcing the THIS LAND IS… initiative.
The event takes place in Rothenberg Hall at The Huntington, 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino. It is free, but reservations are required. There is no waitlist, but additional tickets may be released, according to The Huntington. Limited quantities of pre-signed copies of Williams’ books “The Open Space of Democracy” (2004) and “The Glorians” will be available for purchase in Rothenberg Hall from 6:30 to 7 p.m. before the program and from 8 to 8:30 p.m. after it ends. For more information, call 626-405-2100.
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