Book tour part 3: events, hangouts, baseball, and drafting the past
Welcome back everyone, and hallo new readers!
If you’re new to this newsletter, my new book, HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY, just out from the University of California Press, is available with a 30% discount via the IndiePubs website (type the code UCPSAVE30 at the checkout).
For discount ordering info from outside North America and additional buying links, check out the book’s webpage here. The book is available wherever books are sold. If it’s not in stock at your favourite store, they will usually order it for you.
There’s a print version and an ebook out already; the audiobook follows on May 13 and is available for preorder.
Today’s newsletter:
New York City adventures
Upcoming live YouTube interview on the Peculiar Book Club, the best book club show ever, April 24
Final tour dates: Philadelphia Thursday April 17; London UK Sunday April 27 and Mon April 28
An interview on the ultimate history nerd podcast
A mention in a great essay about … baseball!
NYC hangouts with authors and fans!
I spent last week in New York City where I got to hang out with historian of medicine and nonfiction and murder mystery author Brandy Schillace!
Brandy hosts the Peculiar Book Club - more on this below.
I did some public talks and a couple of informal sessions about creative and narrative nonfiction writing with grad students and faculty. A gang of Fordham MA students taking a Science, Religion, and Magic class came all the way to the West Village for my talk at New York University. Many thanks go to Prof. David Myers for doing such great publicity work for HUMANS, and for coming along with his students! What fun that the students wanted a photo of us all afterwards:
At Columbia University, I was in conversation with Tamara J. Walker author of Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad and Eli Cumings, a literary scholar and Fellow at the Society of Fellows. We talked about the art, craft, and ethics of creative and narrative nonfiction - of nonfiction writing for general audiences.
My overarching goal for my art and craft - for how I turn ideas and findings into words on the page - is to write things that cultivate curiosity and, by extension, empathy in readers. Science writer Ed Yong has talked about how empathy and curiosity undergirded how he approached understanding animal senses when working on his wonderful book, An Immense World. Yong tried to put himself in the shoes (as it were) of animals and to write about the worlds that they experienced. Empathy and curiosity resonated immediately with me as not just foundations for ethical research but also as mindsets that I hope my writing encourages in readers. The goal of prompting empathy and curiosity sews together the art, craft, and ethics of writing.
I also signed copies of HUMANS at McNally Jackson bookstores (Rockefeller and Soho branches) and Book Culture (UWS Broadway and 112th St branches). More signed copies are lurking at Vroman’s Bookstore (Pasadena, CA), R. J. Julia (Middletown, CT), Politics & Prose (Washington DC, CT Ave branch), Amherst Books (Amherst, MA) and the Harvard Book Store (Cambridge, MA).
A VIP show appearance on the Peculiar Book Club
Author and podcast host Brandy Scillace produced a wonderful trailer for an upcoming live YouTube interview on HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY on April 24 at 7pm ET. The interview is part of the Peculiar Book Club author interview show. I cannot recommend this book club highly enough!
My episode is a VIP show, one in which a Peculiar Book Club alum interviews a new PBC author. This episode for members only - but you can join for as little as $5 here (you can unsubscribe at any time; membership tiers start at $5/month).
I’ll be in conversation with the zoologist and guest host Bill Schutt, author of BITE and CANNIBALISM. Bill will join the show’s usual hosts, Brandy Schillace and Davey Berris (inventor of the terrifying author quiz, one of the show’s regular segments).
If you’re interested in anything science-y, history-ish or strange - anything from whales to ghosts to dinosaurs - these shows will be addictive. If you join the virtual show live, you can ask the author questions. Watch recordings of some of the shows here. The gorgeous stop motion animation opening credits are Brandy’s handiwork.
Livestreamed lecture at the Science History Institute, Philadelphia, PA
My US tour is drawing to a close! The final public event is an in-person and livestreamed lecture at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia on Thursday April 17 at 6pm. A reception and book signing follows; do join me if you can; register at this link!
My first festival appearance! HistFest 2025, at The British Library and livestreamed
I’m going to be talking to author and journalist Kate Lister on Sunday April 27 at 3pm UK time. For in-person or virtual tickets to this event, day tickets, or weekend tickets, check out the festival website.
HUMANS book talk and conversation with science writer Philip Ball - King’s College London and livestreamed
I’m finishing up the book tour with a lecture at King’s College, London on Monday April 28 at 5:30pm UK time. I’m beyond thrilled that the lecture will be followed by a conversation with acclaimed author and former Nature editor Dr. Philip Ball, who has written All The Books about nature, physics, chemistry, and the human.
Our convo will be followed by audience q and a and a reception - sign up now for in-person or virtual tickets!
Podcast episode
I spoke with Kate Carpenter on Drafting the Past about HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY. We talked about: leaving academia for authoring; analogue & digital writing tech; writing habits; how I came up with the scope and structure of my book, and the alternatives I didn't choose; literary agent convos; and how my free newsletter became a space of fun and self-discovery as well as a way to connect with readers regularly.
HUMANS in the news!
My fave bit of press so far is being cited in New York Magazine in a delightful essay about.... baseball! In a story about automation and umpires, sports and culture writer Adam Elder quoted this line from a book excerpt that came out in Lit Hub: “By deciding what robots are for, we are defining what humans are.“
You can also find me on www.surekhadavies.org,
BlueSky (@drsurekhadavies.bsky.social),
and Instagram/Threads (@surekhadavies).