A huge thanks to everyone who came to my reading at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History last week. I will tell you, I was pretty nervous about this appearance. Who would come? And would my talk be of interest? Well, I must say that the audience was one of the warmest and most welcoming ever. It was a diverse audience: regular museum-goers, book clubs (The Wine Press Book Club pictured here), patrons of the literary arts, writers and parents and individuals interested in the Mixed experience. I was buzzing with excitement by the night's end. So thank you Heather Moffat and Easter Moorman for the invitation! I had a great time.
You can download and listen to the audio of the presentation here: I Am A Story: Heidi Durrow Reading & Talk at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Sept. 8, 2011(mp3 file). Or listen below.
What a cool night! Writer 
I can't stop buzzing about the wonderful experience I had last week as a participant on CNN Dialogue's inaugural discussion in Atlanta. I was more than little nervous that I would flub the whole thing up. The panel, which was moderated by CNN's Wolf Blitzer, included fellow panelists Kris Marsh, Yul Kwon, Dana Young and Edward James Olmos. I was there as the author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky-- talking about the Census and the New America. I wish I could give you a whole play-by-play but it all went by in a kind of blur. There were some interesting highlights --like when Wolf joked that I didn't "sound black" and then I didn't sound Danish -- well, until I busted on with some Danish on stage--I never get to do that. I also really enjoyed hearing from the young people in the audience. Two in particular stood out -- a young woman who clearly got her hackles raised when I said kids didn't necessarily know enough history (she obviously did--and she will definitely be a force) and another young woman who lamented that despite having the best education and access possible, she still found colorism to be so confounding. I wish I had an answer for her--all I could say was "Girl, I wish I knew. I straightened my hair this morning!" We came up with zero answers, but it was a spirited dialogue and I was so excited to be a part of the discussion. There's talk that it will be webcast on the CNN website. I'll keep you posted!
I'm excited to be a part of this new series CNN Dialogues on Race moderated with Wolf Blitzer on August 31 at 7PM in Atlanta. Other panelists include actor Edward James Olmos, Survivor winner Yul Kwon, and Professors Kris Marsh, and Dana White. For ticket information visit the 
It's official! I am beyond thrilled and honored that Portland has picked The Girl Who Fell From the Sky for its city-wide read, 
Algonquin is giving away 20 copies of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky in honor of the upcoming Algonquin Book Club event on 8/18 at 7pm. The awesome, best-selling writer, Terry McMillan will interview at Book Passage in Corte Madera. Can't make it? Well, it's going to be webcast LIVE! Just add a comment to the Algonquin blog 
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