Priyanka Kumar

Molly Wagoner

Priyanka Kumar is an acclaimed naturalist and author of "Conversations with Birds," a landmark book that could help people rewild their hearts and souls, according to Psychology Today. Kumar’s newest work "The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild through a Beloved American Fruit" has been called environmental writing at its best. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Review of Books. She has been featured on CBS, Oprah Daily, Yale Climate Connections, and NPR's Living on Earth.

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Awards: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science Writing Award, John Burroughs Medal finalist, New Mexico/New Visions Governor's Award, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Fellow, International Center for Jefferson Studies Fellow, CLMP Firecracker Award Finalist, Aldo & Estella Leopold Fellow

Communities: Asian American

Writing Across Landscapes

Journey with Craig Childs, Priyanka Kumar, and Caroline Tracey as they explore vanishing lakes, darkened skies, and wild orchards. Blending adventures, memoirs and natural history, this panel reveals how rediscovering fragile places, and the stories they hold, can reconnect us to wonder in a rapidly changing world.

National Park Experience Stage (Seats 146, Wheelchair accessible)  
Sat, Mar 14, 1:00 pm - 1:55 pm
Nature / Environment
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - National Parks (following presentation)  

Panelists: Craig Childs, Priyanka Kumar, Caroline Tracey
Moderator: Teresa Noon

Workshop: Searching for Solitude

The poet Rilke exhorted writers to cultivate a great solitude. In this session, Pryanka Kumar will reveal where to find solitude in a tech-saturated age.

Integrated Learning Center Room 119 (Seats 60)  
Sun, Mar 15, 10:00 am - 10:55 am
Multigenre

Panelist: Priyanka Kumar

Books:

The Light Between Apple Trees

Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit
Nature / Environment
Island Press
September 2025
ISBN 9781642833638
252 pages
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Conversations with Birds

Nature / Environment
Milkweed Editions
September 2023
ISBN 9781639550807
304 pages
Buy now