Bees and Books: From backyard hobbyist to novelist
Little did I know the day I received my first package of bees that beekeeping would change my life in unimaginable ways. In this talk I’ll describe how my hobby of backyard beekeeping led to writing a novel about beekeepers that became a national bestseller— The Music of Bees. Over the past two years, I’ve spoken to hundreds of audiences about The Music of Bees. I’ll discuss how readers’ curiosity about beekeeping has been an unexpected education of its own.
Eileen Garvin is the author of the national bestselling novel The Music of Bees and the acclaimed memoir How to Be a Sister. Her new novel, Crow Talk, will be published in April 2024. The Music of Bees was named a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, a Good Housekeeping Book Club Pick, a People Magazine Best New Book, a Christian Science Monitor Pick, a Library Reads Pick, a Washington Post Best Summer Read, an IndieNext Pick, and more. Garvin’s essays have appeared with Medium, The Oregonian, Oregon Humanities Magazine, PsychologyToday.com, and Creative Non-Fiction Magazine. Eileen and her husband share their Hood River home with one fearless calico, a passionate mutt, four chickens, and about 180,000 honey bees.