Author Program: What the Light is Hiding

Presentation What the Light is Hiding by Tamara Dean

Long before modern Dark Sky initiatives, some Wisconsinites resisted the electric lights that promised to ruin their nighttime freedom and ease among shadows. Based on Tamara Dean’s essay "Night Vision" from her book, Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless, this presentation explores rural electrification and night vision technology through the fascinating stories of nonconformists--including one rural New Lisbon woman--who over the past century have embraced or sought to conquer the darkness. A question-and-answer period will follow.

Author Bio: Tamara Dean is a widely published author whose latest book, Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless (University of Minnesota Press, 2025), invites readers to step into the Driftless Area and consider how we tend the earth in times of uncertainty, what we owe our neighbors, and ways we thrive in community. Her award-winning essays and stories have appeared in The American Scholar, The Georgia Review, the Guardian, One Story, Orion, The Progressive, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. She teaches workshops independently and with writing centers across the nation. More at www.tamaradean.media.