The UCR Palm Desert Center on Wednesday will host a virtual conversation with memoirist Maggie Downs about topics touched on in her new book, including travel, memory, grief, fear and family.
The Palm Springs writer, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, was previously a reporter for the Desert Sun. Her latest book “Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime” was published this month by Counterpoint Press and chronicles her journey coping with the loss of her mother through travel.
“Over the course of one year, Downs backpacked through seventeen countries — visiting all the places her mother, struck with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, could not visit herself — encountering some of the world’s most striking locales while confronting the slow loss of her mother,” according to a release from the university.
The discussion is part of the Arts & Letters event series and will also feature Tod Goldberg, program director for UCR Palm Desert Center’s low-residency MFA in creative writing.
The free webinar will take place at 6 p.m. To register, visit ucr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dJAkowlgS7e79Pq2ljxlCA.