Brooke Williams' ENCOUNTERING DRAGONFLY In Store Event And Book Signing

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Friday, April 18 when noted author and naturalist Brooke Williams comes to the store to share his new book Encountering Dragonfly: Notes on the Practice of Re-Enchantment. Brooke will be joined in conversation by Toby McLeod and will sign copies of his book after the presentation.

A glittering gem of a book!"—Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus

Two decades ago, naturalist and environmental writer Brooke Williams had a powerful dream about a dragonfly, a dream that cracked open his world by giving rise to a steady stream of dragonfly encounters in his waking life.

In the years since, he has delved deeply into the fascinating biology and natural history of dragonflies and made pilgrimages to see them (he now has 38 species on his life list) while also exploring their symbolic meaning and cross-cultural significance.

Encountering Dragonfly is his account—related in a series of odonate encounters—of being drawn into a different kind of relationship with the natural world. By opening himself to the personal and mytho-poetic meanings of dragonfly, and patiently courting an understanding of these creatures that is built upon, but also transcends, a naturalist’s observation, Brooke has come to believe in the importance of ‘re-enchantment.’

Brooke’s personal re-enchantment has required of him a faith that material, biological reality isn’t the only reality; it recognizes symbols and archetypes as remnants of a different understanding, which may—as perhaps they always have—play a role in our long-term survival.

BROOKE WILLIAMS has spent the last forty years advocating for wilderness and has served on the board of multiple environmental organizations including Western Environmental Legal Center, Center for Humans and Nature, and Utah Rivers Council. His writing about evolution, consciousness, and his own adventures exploring both the inner and outer wilderness has appeared in Orion, Outside, Huffington Post, and numerous other publications, and has been anthologized in Best American Essays. Brooke’s books include Open Midnight: Where Wilderness and Ancestors Meet , Mary Jane Wild: Two Walks and a Rant and Encountering Dragonfly: Notes on the Practice of Re-Enchantment (Uphill Books, 2025). He lives with the writer, Terry Tempest Williams, and two cats near Moab, Utah, where they watch light and wait for rain.

TOBY MCLEOD has been project director of Earth Island Institute’s Sacred Land Film Project since 1984. In 2013, he completed the four-part series Standing on Sacred Ground, which aired on PBS in 2015. McLeod produced and directed In the Light of Reverence for PBS’s POV in 2001. His other award-winning, PBS documentaries include: The Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area? (1983) and NOVA: Poison in the Rockies (1990). McLeod has a master’s degree in journalism from U.C. Berkeley, a B.A. in History from Yale, and received a Student Academy Award and Guggenheim Fellowship. He’s been working with Indigenous communities as a filmmaker, journalist, and photographer since 1977.

THIS EVENT is free but registration is requested. Registration ends at 6:00 pm on April 18

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Mrs Dalloway's, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, United States