National Library Week – Author Jennifer McGaha, The Radical Practice of Joy

Celebrate National Library Week 2025 with author Jennifer McGaha.

“The Radical Practice of Joy”

When we name what brings us joy, we honor and amplify what is good in our lives and in the world while fortifying ourselves for the difficult work of challenging all that is messy and imperfect. During her talk, she will explore joy seeking as a way of practicing gratitude, deepening our connections with one another, and clarifying our sense of purpose. Come ready to listen and to share during this lively exploration of the radical practice of joy.

Jennifer McGaha is the author of three works of creative nonfiction including The Joy Document: Creating a Midlife of Surprise and Delight, Flat Broke with Two Goats, a 2018 OverDrive Big Library Read, and Bushwhacking: How to Get Lost in the Woods and Write Your Way Out, a Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award finalist. Her nonfiction and creative nonfiction work has also appeared in many magazines and literary journals including Image, Still, The Huffington Post, The New Pioneer, Lumina, PANK, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Brevity, Bitter Southerner, Crab Creek Review, River Teeth, and others, and she has led writing workshops throughout the region and beyond through venues such as Hugo House, Flatiron Writers Room, the North Carolina Arboretum, Story and Song Bistro at Amelia Island, the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, Kanuga Conference Center, and the Great Smokies Writing Program at UNC-Asheville.

There will be a volunteer appreciation segment and a short Friends of the Library business meeting prior to the start of the program.