Author of 'Wild' to speak at Numerica in Wenatchee

Author and Pacific Crest Trail hiker Cheryl Strayed will come to Wenatchee in April for a Numerica Performing Arts speaking engagement sponsored by the North Central Regional Library.

NCRL is encouraging everyone to read her book “Wild,” which chronicles Strayed’s experiences solo-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in California and Oregon. It was made into a movie in 2015.

Strayed will speak at the Numerica Performing Arts Center on April 13. Free tickets to the event will be available starting March 1.

This is the third year for NCRL’s Columbia River Reads program, where the five-county library district asks readers to tackle the same book, talk with people about it, and possibly attend a book discussion at their local library.

The library district chose Strayed this year because she is a Northwest author and because her book is a memoir and a hiking account that may appeal to the many outdoor enthusiasts in this region of the state.

Copies of her book are available at all 30 NCRL branch libraries in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Okanogan and Ferry counties or by mail order. You can also reserve a copy at ncrl.org.

Last year, people read Timothy Egan’s “The Big Burn” as part of a focus on local history and wildfire, and the author came to speak in April. In 2015, Daniel James Brown gave a talk in Wenatchee on his book “The Boys in the Boat.”

NCRL’s branch libraries will also host programs this spring about the Pacific Crest Trail, hiking and other outdoor pursuits. A complete list of programs will be announced in the near future.