The Alchemy of a Novel: An Evening with Laura Resau
Date: Wednesday, November 4
Location: East Tennessee History Center
Time: 6 pm
How do writers take real-life experiences, imagination, and research . . . and transform it all into a captivating story? Acclaimed author Laura Resau will give you a fascinating, behind-the-scenes peek at the inspiration for The Alchemy of Flowers and The River Muse. You’ll hear about goddess mythology across cultures, medicinal flowers, hunting for truffles with dogs, the South of France, tiny off-grid homes, her journey to motherhood, and more. She’ll share her decades-long writing adventure and offer insights about the writing and publishing process. You’ll feel enlightened and inspired by the alchemy of story!
Laura Resau is the author of The Alchemy of Flowers, The River Muse (May 2026), and eleven acclaimed books for young people. Her books have won five Colorado Book Awards and spots on “best-of” booklists from Oprah, the American Library Association, and more.
Trilingual, she’s lived in Provence and Oaxaca, and studied cultural anthropology and languages. She teaches graduate creative writing at Western Colorado University.
You might find her writing in her cozy vintage trailer in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she lives with her rock-hound husband, musician son, wild husky, and a hundred house plants.
Register for your free ticket below.
Since 1986, Friends has brought authors, poets, musicians, and filmmakers to Knoxville to inspire, inform, and entertain. Those appearing since 2013 include the following:
2025
April 16: Terry Roberts and Halle Hill, 2025 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
May 9: Jeff Zentner
October 17: Audra McElyea
2026
January 8: Dr. Joshua Cunningham
February 10: Kerri Maniscalco
February 26: Joy Harjo, 2026 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
2027
2024
February 29: Carolyn Finney, 2024 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
April 2: Patti Callahan Henry
May 13: Erik Larson
2023
February 28: Ashley York and Elaine McMillion Sheldon in conversation during the 2023 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
June 14: Julia Franks
September 12: Jerry Craft
September 15: Lauren Groff
2022
March 3: Kathleen Dean Moore, a virtual conversation with WUOT’s Chrissy Keuper during the 2022 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
May 6: Adriana Trigiani
2021
March 9: Wiley Cash and Frank X Walker, a virtual presentation of the 2021 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
2020
February 11: Michael W. Twitty, 2020 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
February 25: Erik Larson
2019
February 7: Jessica Wilkerson and Ginny Savage Ayers
March 14: Silas House, 2019 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
April 8: Barbara Brown Taylor in conversation with Dr. William Pender, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church
May 21: Rick Bragg
2018
March 8: Elaine Weiss
April 5: Nikki Giovanni, 2018 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
July 8: Jon Meacham in conversation with Senator Lamar Alexander
August 7: Vince Vawter
2017
March 23: Amy Greene, 2017 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
April 9: Anne Lamott
May 16: Nathaniel Philbrick
September 19: Kerri Maniscalco
October 5: Denise Kiernan
October 10: Sharyn McCrumb
November 12: Julia Watts, James E. Cherry, Mahayla Smith, Melanie Haws, Tom Ray, David Hunter, and Charles Dodd White, speaking about Unbroken Circle: Stories of Cultural Diversity in the South
2016
March 22: Erik Larson
April 7: Robert Morgan, 2016 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
May 25: Sharyn McCrumb
August 4: Dan Zak
September 11: Jim and Dykeman Stokely, sons of the late Wilma Dykeman Stokely, speaking about her posthumous memoir, Family of Earth: A Southern Mountain Childhood
2015
March 12: Dom Flemons, 2015 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
June 2: Steve Inskeep
2014
March 4: Ron Rash, 2014 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture
April 9: Amanda Ripley
September 23: Robert Reich, Fifth Annual Anne Mayhew Distinguished Honors Lecture at the University of Tennessee
October 9: Sharyn McCrumb
October 19: Vince Vawter
2013
February 18: Jon Meacham
May 19: Rick Atkinson
May 21: Denise Kiernan
September 25: Abraham Verghese, Fourth Annual Anne Mayhew Distinguished Honors Lecture at the University of Tennessee
November 2: Elizabeth Gilbert
These events were made possible by our many community friendships:
Knox County Public Library
Knox County Public Library Foundation
University of Tennessee Libraries
John C. Hodges Society of UT Libraries
Union Ave Books
WUOT
East Tennessee History Center
East Tennessee Historical Society
Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature (CCYAL)
UT’s Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education
First Presbyterian Church
Tennessee Theatre
Bijou Theatre
Knoxville Museum of Art
The Press Room
Keurig Green Mountain
Knox Education Foundation
The Episcopal School of Knoxville