A noted author and environmentalist will hold a reading Tuesday night on the UNC Campus.
Terry Tempest Williams is an author, environmentalist, and activist. She is also the 2015 Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at UNC.
Williams says, coming from the Western United States, North Carolina is a blast of nature.
“From the mountains, to the piedmont, to the coast, I don’t know of any state that has kind of stratigraphy of change,” she says. “I have such respect for the history that is here, the arts, [and] the music. I think it’s just a stunning place.
“And as a Westerner, it’s just extremely exotic. Seeing the dogwood, the forsythia, this is like going to Eden.”
Among the issues Williams says she holds near and dear to her heart is the accessibility of clean drinking water. She says she was thrilled to hear about UNC’s “Water in Our World” campaign.
“You hear the adage, ‘you don’t talk about politics or religion.’ In the West, you don’t talk about water,” she says. “It’s that controversial, and it’s that essential.”
Williams speaks not only of clean drinking water globally, but also domestically where she says she has seen fracking leave behind a trail of contaminated water.
“Coming from a state, and a neighboring state of Wyoming, where fracking has been going on for a long time, I can tell you the consequences are not pretty,” she says. “I know that it’s about jobs, and economies, and cheap energy. But the fact is there’s a town in Wyoming called Pavillion, and the simple story is this – they can no longer drink their water.”
Williams was a panelist on Monday afternoon for a discussion on the future of water in our world. She says conversation is a key to solving major problems we face as a society.
“I think that we are so polarized, that we have stopped listening to one another,” she says. “I think that if we can really have those hard conversations; look each other in the eye and say, ‘What concerns you? What do you care about? What binds us together?’ rather than what tears us apart.
“Then I think we can come to those essential facts that without water we do not exist.”
Williams will also hold a reading at 7:30 Tuesday evening in the auditorium of the Genome Sciences Building.
“I get nervous even thinking about it,” she says. “I will be reading new work about America’s national parks.”
The reading is free and open to the public.
Finally, Williams will be part of a panel discussing the role of naturalist in a world of environmental threats at 3:30 Wednesday afternoon. That panel will meet in Donovan Lounge.
Related Stories
‹

Lawsuit Alleges UNC Broke Open Meetings Laws When Hiring Bill BelichickA lawsuit filed by former UNC provost Chris Clemens against the school alleges the university’s Board of Trustees violated the state of North Carolina’s open meeting laws when it – among other things – hired head football coach Bill Belichick in December. Clemens’ lawsuit takes aim at several violations by the Board dating back to […]

Former UNC Provost Sues Board of Trustees Over 'Pattern' of Closed Session ViolationsChris Clemens, a former provost of UNC, is suing the university and its Board of Trustees over allegedly violating open meeting laws.

UNC Ranked as No. 1 Best Value Public University by U.S. News & World ReportThe U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Colleges list ranks UNC No. 1 for best value among public institutions and No. 4 overall among public universities in the United States. UNC has been ranked among the top five public universities for 24 consecutive years, and its No. 4 ranking represents a step up from […]

UNC Men's Basketball's Blue-White Game Scheduled for October 4The UNC men’s basketball team will host its annual Blue-White scrimmage in the Dean Smith Center on Saturday, October 4. The game will begin approximately one hour after the conclusion of the UNC vs. Clemson football game, which kicks off at 12 p.m. in Kenan Stadium. 🚨 Blue-White Scrimmage is official 🚨 🗓️ Saturday, October […]

Rapper Ludacris to Perform Morning Concert Before UNC vs. Clemson Football GameGrammy-award winning rapper Ludacris will perform as part of UNC’s Chapel Thrill concert series prior to the UNC vs. Clemson football game in Chapel Hill on October 4. UNC announced Ludacris as the performer earlier in September, and has now confirmed the performance time to be 10 a.m., before the Tar Heels and Tigers kick […]

Chansky's Notebook: Unconventional OpticsThe growth and standards of social media is one of the reasons Bill Belichick’s personal life is getting so much coverage these days.

UNC Having a Bad Football Team Isn't New. The Price It's Paying Is.Mack Brown often noted the spending gap between UNC and powerhouse programs in the SEC and Big Ten. Now, money can't be used as an excuse.

UNC Field Hockey Cruises Past Cal and Stanford to Open ACC PlayCarolina defeated both Cal and Stanford at Karen Shelton Stadium during the weekend to continue its perfect start to the 2025 season. The two games were the first ACC contests of the season for the Tar Heels. Against Cal Friday evening, Ryleigh Heck paced the UNC offense by assisting Charly Bruder for the Tar Heels’ […]

UNC Men's Soccer Draws With SMU; 3rd Draw of ACC PlayA penalty kick goal for each side ensured UNC and SMU would play to a 1-1 draw at Dorrance Field Saturday evening. Carolina’s Gabriel Bracken Serra opened the scoring in the fourth minute, earning his penalty kick after being taken down by the SMU goalkeeper inside the Mustangs’ 18-yard box. He converted to give the […]

UCF Stifles UNC Football, Sends Tar Heels to Second Loss of 2025 SeasonUCF held UNC to just 217 total yards of offense on its way to a 34-9 win over the Tar Heels in Orlando Saturday afternoon. Carolina managed just two total yards in the opening quarter and 97 in the first half, during which time quarterback Gio Lopez threw two interceptions. Both provided major sparks for […]
›