Winding Roads and Messiness: talking about the work of Rebecca Solnit

Author, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit has had a tremendous impact on the reading, writing and organising of more than one member of the Lighthouse team.

From the seminal Men Explain Things to Me to A Paradise Built in Hell and the ever worthy-of-revisiting Hope in the Dark, her writing has influenced the way many of us think about feminism as well as resistance to despair and how we respond to crisis.

With resistance, and resilience, being more necessary than ever, May sees the publication of No Straight Road Takes You There : Essays for Uneven Terrain. Here, Solnit explores responses to the climate crisis, as well as reflections on women's rights, the fight for democracy, the trends in masculinity, and the rise of the far right in the West. Reflecting the author's explorative approach to life, writing and activism, the title of the collection reminds us that it's in untrodden places and along pathless routes, embracing imperfection, that we find the possibility for real change.

Join us to celebrate the arrival of No Straight Road Takes You There by spending an hour in the company of other Solnit readers!

This informal discussion group will dive into Solnit's work as a whole and we encourage you to bring your enthusiasm for older as well as more recent books.

Inspired by the title of the new book, we'll use the idea 'of windy roads' and 'messiness' as a way of talking about how Solnit's writing may be of particular use when facing the combined challenges of today.

We also have a special treat in store for the evening - a first screening of a video recorded by Rebecca especially for Lighthouse, which will later be posted to our Read Think Act series.

This discussion group has a limited number of slots available, so do book a space if you'd like to attend.

The ticket price can be used as a voucher toward a copy of No Straight Road Takes You There, but it's not necessary to have read the new book before attending - the discussion will explore Rebecca's work as a whole.