Shakespeare & Co. is pleased to host Darby Minow Smith and Fern Thompsett in conversation on the release of Seeds of Diaspora, a collection of essays and artwork exploring the role played by plants in the establishment of homelands around the world, especially in times of change and upheaval. This free event will be held on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 6:00pm.

About Seeds of Diaspora:
Seeds of Diaspora traces the intertwined histories of humans and plants as they unfold amid radical cultural and climatic change. Through literary, visual, and research-based essays, the book explores how seeds bear witness to migration, resilience, and transformation. From postwar landscapes reclaimed by spontaneous plant life to the mythic travels of fruit trees across continents, from seeds in glacial ice to those carried along routes of labor and exile, Seeds of Diaspora reimagines the map of human settlement as a living “route of roots.” The contributors—writers, artists, and researchers from architecture, ecology, anthropology, and the humanities—invite readers to see the built and natural worlds as coevolving fields of meaning. At once poetic and scholarly, the book asks how plants and people sense, shape, and sustain one another in an age of environmental upheaval. It offers not only stories and images of deep connection, but also a vision for future practices—where architecture, art, and ecology meet to cultivate new forms of understanding.

With contributions by Anelise Chen, Lucas Mertehikian, Naeem Mohaiemen, Dorothy M. Peteet with Thad Russell, Darby Minow Smith, Owen Taylor, Fern Thompsett, Sam Van Aken, Wendy S. Walters, and Lynnette Widder.

Author Biographies:
Darby Minow Smith is a writer, educator, and fifth-generation Montana rancher. As the longtime editor of the environmental magazine Grist, she managed a newsroom of early-career and established journalists and produced a National Magazine Award-nominated package on civic engagement. After Grist, Smith received her MFA from Columbia University, where she went on to teach workshops and interdisciplinary classes in the undergraduate and graduate creative writing programs. In 2025, Smith received the North American Agricultural Journalists’ Story of the Year Award for her essay on returning to her family’s cattle ranch, and her role as the night calver. 

Fern Thompsett is a sociocultural anthropologist and teaches environmental studies at the University of Montana. She was raised on Kabi Kabi country in southeastern Queensland, Australia, where she developed a deep love of the outdoors and a curiosity about how people relate to place. In 2025, she earned her PhD from Columbia University, for which she conducted research with members of the anti-civilization movement in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. She is the coauthor of Transforming Universities in the Midst of Global Crisis, and a cofounder of the Brisbane Free University. She lives and works in Missoula.

Darby Minow Smith

Fern Thompsett