Name: VIRTUAL: PEM Reads: The Light Eaters
Start: 2025-11-12T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-11-12T20:00:00-05:00
Location: Peabody Essex Museum

Wednesday, November 12, 2025 from 7—8 pm
Virtual event, hosted on Zoom
Free
Register Here: https://www.pem.org/events/virtual-pem-reads-the-light-eaters?date=2025-11-13&time=07:00
Join science writer Zoë Schlanger in a discussion of her critically acclaimed book The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. This eye-opening and informative book looks at the ecosystems we share with plants and prompts us to rethink what a plant is and our own place in the natural world.
In Light Eaters, Schlanger takes readers around the globe, while digging into her own memories and into the soil with scientists who have spent their lives studying plants up close. Her probings raise questions about what we can learn about life on Earth from these living entities that can thrive, adapt, consume and accommodate simultaneously.
“A masterpiece of science writing.” ― Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass
This program is held in conjunction with Knowing Nature: Stories of the Boreal Forest, on view in The Dotty Brown Art & Nature Center through September 27, 2026.
PEM Reads celebrates the art of literature and the creative act of writing through a year-round series of collaborative book club readings and author events, both in person and online. By gathering to read and discuss world-class literature and meet authors, PEM Reads seeks to deepen our sense of community and celebrate great storytelling. We hope you’ll join us!