Authors Robin Wall Kimmerer and Ross Gay to deliver keynote addresses at the 2023 Perennial Farm Gathering

The virtual gathering for perennial agriculture enthusiasts will be hosted December 6th – 8th

Madison, Wis – The Savanna Institute will host its Perennial Farm Gathering virtually this year from Wednesday, December 6th to Friday, December 8th, 2023. For eight years running, the event has served as a vital networking opportunity for farmers, growers, foresters, and others who practice perennial agriculture and agroforestry, the integration of trees on farms. The nonprofit organization is currently accepting sponsorships for the event, and early bird tickets will go on sale Wednesday, September 20th.

This year, author and scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer will deliver the keynote: “The Fortress, the River and the Garden.” Dr. Wall Kimmerer is a mother, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants has earned her worldwide acclaim. She is also the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. She is interested in restoration not only of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land.

Joining the keynote speakers for the 2023 Perennial Farm Gathering is poet and orchardist Ross Gay, who will deliver his talk “Cultivating Sustainable Joy.” Dr. Gay is an award-winning author and creative writing professor, publishing four books of poetry—Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude—and three collections of essays—The Book of Delights, Inciting Joy, and The Book of (More) Delights. He is a founding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard, a non-profit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy project.