We’re thrilled to host poet and biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle at NBLA Saturday, February 22nd at 5pm.

Iris will share images and reflections from her book-length erasure project, which radically transforms The Grapes of Wrath. In her new biography, Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb, Dunkle reveals how Steinbeck appropriated material from Sanora Babb. As she worked on the biography, Dunkle was inspired to remake Steinbeck’s text, reclaiming her own family history in the process. Perfect for anyone interested in where poetry, history, and rebellion intersect.

Iris Jamahl Dunkle is the author of two biographies, Charmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer (University of Oklahoma Press, 2020) and Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb(University of California Press, 2024), and four collections of poetry, including West : Fire : Archive, published by The Center for Literary Publishing, Interrupted Geographies and Gold Passage by Trio House Press and There’s a Ghost in This Machine of Air by Word Tech. She was the 2017-18 Poet Laureate of Sonoma County.

FREE and open to the public. Your RSVP helps with planning.