Officials with the Ozarks Heritage Research Center (OHRC) at Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) will host a book launch and author signing for “Kill all the Chickens: Grief and memory on an Ozark Farm” by Amy Olberding. The event is scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 17, at the OHRC, located inside MSU-WP’s Garnett Library, 304 W. Trish Knight St., in West Plains.
Free and open to all, this event is sponsored by the OHRC and West Plains Council on the Arts . Refreshments will be provided.
More about the Presentation
Olberding will discuss what happens when a philosopher who is committed to writing a scholarly book about ancient Chinese and Roman death consolations ends up in charge of her family’s farm and living in the traces of her Ozark ancestors. The scholarly book never got written, but the talk will draw from the book that did: a mosaic of reflections on loss and tradition that draws freely from both ancient philosophy and life on a family farm.
Olberding will have books available to sign and for purchase.
About Olberding
Olberding is a soon-to-be-retired Presidential Professor of Philosophy at University of Oklahoma. She is also the fourth-generation owner of her family’s Century Farm in southern Howell County and lives there with her husband and dog. Her books include “The Wrong of Rudeness” and her most recent work, a collection of essays blending Ozark family stories and philosophy of death and grief, “Kill All the Chickens.”
For more information about the event, contact Rebekah McKinney at 417-255-7949 or RebekahMcKinney@MissouriState.edu. Visit WP.MissouriState.edu/Ozarks for additional information and upcoming events hosted by OHRC.