Thank you to everyone who came out for the 2018 Fort Collins Book Festival! Please take a moment to complete our brief online survey. Your responses and suggestions help us continue to improve the festival and to secure future funding so we can keep the event going for free. All responses are anonymous.
The survey will be open until November 20, 2018.
Clean energy expert, author of “Powering Forward,” and former Colorado Governor to discuss the energy transition in America toward decarbonization
(FORT COLLINS, Colo., Sept. 12, 2018) — Poudre River Public Library District today announced that Bill Ritter, Jr., a clean energy expert, author, and former Colorado Governor, will present the opening keynote at the free 2018 Fort Collins Book Festival, The Big Think. His presentation, “The Energy Transition in America,” will focus on why states, local governments, and businesses continue toward decarbonization.
Ritter’s keynote presentation and audience discussion is scheduled for Saturday, October 20 from 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. at Block One Events*. A book signing will follow hosted by Old Firehouse Books, the official bookseller of the festival.
Following the morning keynote, Ritter will participate in a discussion on human ingenuity and innovation from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at the CSU Powerhouse. He will be joined by author Richard Munson (Tesla: Inventor of the Modern), Colorado State University professor Ellen Brinks, local artist-inventor Jennifer Spencer, and others.
“We are very excited to have Bill Ritter opening the book fest this year. His passion for clean energy solutions, from as far back as when he was Colorado’s governor, has made a significant impact on energy innovation and advocacy in our region,” says Anne Macdonald, director of Fort Collins Book Festival and librarian at Poudre River Public Library District.
Bill Ritter, Jr. is the founder and director of the Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) at Colorado State University. The Center works directly with governors, legislators, regulators, planners, policymakers, and other decision makers. It provides technical assistance to help officials create the policies and practices that will facilitate America’s transition to a clean-energy economy. Ritter authored the 2016 book Powering Forward – What Everyone Should Know About America’s Energy Revolution. He is the chair of the Board of Directors of the Energy Foundation and a senior fellow and member of the board of directors of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute. Ritter previously served as Colorado’s 41st governor.
Book presentations feature inventor Nikola Tesla, the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, wormholes and warp drives, quantum physics, and much more.
We’re excited to announce additional authors for the 2018 Fort Collins Book Festival. These eight authors are set to present their books over the festival weekend, October 19 and 20, at venues throughout Old Town Fort Collins. The full lineup of authors presenting at the 2018 festival will be released in September.
Dr. Adam Becker is an astrophysicist and author. The New York Times praised his recent debut, What Is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics, as “a thorough, illuminating exploration of the most consequential controversy raging in modern science.”
Dr. Amanda Hendrix is a Senior Scientist with the Planetary Science Institute, based in Boulder. She worked for twelve years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was the Deputy Project Scientist for the Cassini–Huygens mission (2010-2012). She co-authored the book Beyond Earth: Our Path to a New Home in the Planets.
Dr. Sheila Rowan is an experimental physicist, professor, and director of the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow in the UK. She pioneered research on aspects of the technology of gravitational wave detectors which were responsible for picking up the first gravitational wave signals from colliding black holes in 2015.
Michael Benson is an artist, writer, and filmmaker who works at the intersection of art and science. His book Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece was published in April.
Sam Kean is the New York Times bestselling author of Caesar’s Last Breath, The Dueling Neurosurgeons, The Disappearing Spoon, and The Violinist’s Thumb.
Nicholas (Nik) Money is a mycologist and professor at Miami University (Ohio). He will present his most recent work, The Rise of Yeast: How the Sugar Fungus Shaped Civilization, along with Mushrooms: A Natural and Cultural History.
Richard Munson is an author, businessman, and activist in the field of clean energy and industrial energy efficiency. He directs the Environmental Defense Fund’s clean energy efforts in the Midwest. His most recent book, Tesla: Inventor of the Modern, was released in May.
Carolyn Collins Petersen is a Colorado-based science writer who specializes in astronomy and space-science topics. She is the author of Space Exploration: Past, Present, Future along with Astronomy 101: From the Sun and Moon to Wormholes and Warp Drive, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Facts about the Universe.
This year’s festival, The Big Think, includes more than 35 authors, storytellers, scientists, and creative visionaries participating in writing workshops, author readings, panel discussions, and much more. Learn more about the authors online at www.FoCoBookFest.org.
“The Big Think” Features Storytellers, Scientists, and Creative Visionaries
We’re excited to announce that this year’s Fort Collins Book Festival has been expanded to two days to accommodate the growing interest from the community, sponsors, authors, and speakers. The free event will be held October 19-20 at venues throughout Old Town Fort Collins and will explore the confluence of science, technology, literature, and society.
“The community’s enthusiastic support for the book festival has made it possible for us to continue to expand and bring in notable authors and speakers,” says Anne Macdonald, Fort Collins Book Fest director and librarian at Poudre River Public Library District. “We’re excited to offer additional opportunities for attendees to connect with their favorite authors and to elevate their own creativity and writing practice.”
The 2018 festival theme, The Big Think, arises from curiosity and is designed to engage the community in an exchange of ideas and knowledge at that unique intersection where science, technology, and community collide.
“The Big Think asks the most fundamental questions: ‘why?’ ‘what if?’ and ‘what else?’” says Macdonald. “They’re simple enough questions, but contained within them is a real depth of curiosity, exploration, and possibility that has launched humans into space, developed driverless cars, and created amazing works of art and literature.”
The third annual Fort Collins Book Festival will include expanded writing workshops, panel discussions, author readings, speaker presentations, book sales and signings, and other activities. The event features local, national, and international authors, poets, and big thinkers.
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