Palm Springs Speaks presents...
Author Robin Wall Kimmerer
Tuesday, Feb 23, 2027
7:30pm
The Plaza Theatre
128 S. Palm Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
TICKETS:
– $65 Preferred Seating (taxes and fees not included)
– $45 General Admission (taxes and fees not included)
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. Robin’s newest book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World (November 2024), is a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
Robin tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. In 2022 she was named a MacArthur Fellow.
Robin launched her movement, Plant, Baby, Plant in 2025 as a way for individuals to be involved in loving the natural world around us. She lives on an old farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild. Learn more about her at: robinwallkimmerer.com
In Conversation With...
Wade Rouse
Wade Rouse is the USA TODAY and #1 internationally bestselling author of 22 books, including five memoirs and two novels under his own name, and 15 novels written under his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, a pen name he chose to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life. Wade’s books have been translated into over 30 languages, selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Indie Next Picks by the nation’s independent booksellers as well as Michigan Notable Books of the Year. His work has been featured on Good Morning America, NPR and Chelsea Lately. His novels, The Clover Girls, A Wish for Winter and most recent novel, The Bluff, have been optioned for film and TV. Wade was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards in Humor (he lost to Tina Fey) and was named by Writer’s Digest as “The #2 Writer, Dead or Alive, We’d Like to Have Drinks With” (Wade was sandwiched between Ernest Hemingway and Hunter Thompson). His 2026 novels That’s What Friends Are For and The Bluff, were national bestsellers. That’s What Friends Are For, set in Palm Springs and inspired by The Golden Girls, was named the “Feel Good Book to Read” in March by the Today show and Kwame Alexander, and his Christmas novel, The Bluff, set on Mackinac Island, was featured in OprahDaily, Katie Couric Media and named the Reader’s Digest December Book Club Pick. Wade’s next novel, Lake Como Fomo – his first romance – will publish June 8.
A former journalist, magazine writer and People reporter, his writing has appeared in a diverse range of publications and media, including Time, Newsweek, All Things Considered, Parade, Coastal Living, Good Housekeeping, Salon, Forbes, Writer’s Digest and Publisher’s Weekly. Wade earned his B.A. from Drury University and his master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He divides his time between Saugatuck, Michigan, and Palm Springs with his husband, Gary, and their desert rescue dog, Gerti, and hosts the popular Facebook Live literary happy hour, “Wine & Words with Wade,” every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET on the Viola Shipman Facebook page. For more, please visit www.violashipman.com or www.waderouse.com
ASL Interpreting Services
- Guests may request an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter by contacting us at palmspringspeaks@gmail.com at least two (2) weeks prior to the event date to schedule an ASL interpreter. Requests made with less notice will be subject to availability and not guaranteed.
- Specific seats are designated for interpreting. In addition to securing an interpreter, our team will partner with the box office to invoice you directly the correct seats for purchase. Please do not purchase seats on your own if you require the use of interpreting services.