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Join us for two special programs with best-selling author Amy Tan as she discusses her new #1 New York Times Bestseller, The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

1:30 – 2:15: Join Amy Tan for an exclusive tour of her drawings and nature journals on view in Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds. Tickets are $100, and include light refreshments and reserved seating for the 2:30 program. Limited to 25 attendees.

2:30 – 3:15: Amy Tan will join RTPI curator Maria Ferguson in a conversation about The Backyard Bird Chronicles, and the important roles of both art and birds in her life. Tickets are $25. Limited to 75 attendees.

Following the programs, Tan will sign copies of The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

About Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds

Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds, presented by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, is the first exhibition to feature Tan’s sketches and journals, which form the basis for her 2024 book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles. The exhibition illustrates Tan’s deep connection with and curiosity about the natural world, as told by the cast of feathered characters found in her own backyard. With her art and writing, Tan reminds us that the key to appreciating nature lies in close observation of the world around us.

About #1 NY Times Bestseller, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, by Amy Tan, foreward by David Allen Sibley

In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world. In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. But what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired. The Backyard Bird Chronicles maps the passage of time through daily entries, thoughtful questions, and beautiful original sketches. With boundless charm and wit, author Amy Tan charts her foray into birding and the natural wonders of the world.

Unexpected and spectacular” —Ann Patchett, best-selling author of These Precious Days

The drawings and essays in this book do a lot more than just describe the birds. They carry a sense of discovery through observation and drawing, suggest the layers of patterns in the natural world, and emphasize a deep personal connection between the watcher and the watched. The birds that inhabit amy tan’s backyard seem a lot like the characters in her novels.” —David Allen Sibley, from the foreword

About Amy Tan

Tan is the author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and The Valley of Amazement, all New York Times bestsellers, as well as two children’s books and the nonfiction books The Opposite of Fate and Where the Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir. Her work has been translated into 35 languages and adapted for film, television and opera. For her work, Tan has been nominated for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the International Orange Prize. She is also the recipient of the Commonwealth Gold Award, the 2005 Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service, the 2021 Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and other honors. In March 2022 she was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was also awarded the 2021 National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden in a ceremony at the White House.

The exhibition and Tan’s appearance complement a lecture Tan will present at the Chautauqua Institution on Tuesday, August 6. CLICK HERE for more information.