Aspen Winter Words lineup includes ‘Powder Days’ author Hansman, Pulitzer winners Doerr and Powers

After going virtual last season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Winter Words author series will return with a six-event mix of in-person and virtual talks for 2021-22. It includes Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists Anthony Doerr and Richard Powers, both of whom have acclaimed new books out, and the ski journalist Heather Hansman.

The series, now in its 25th year, opens earlier than normal with a virtual talk by Doerr on Nov. 3. The author’s new book, “Cloud Cuckoo Land,” is a finalist for the National Book Award. His previous release, “All the Light We Cannot See,” won the Pulitzer in 2014.

The first in-person event will feature Paula McLain, author of the bestseller “The Paris Wife” and the new book “When the Stars Go Dark,” in conversation with Aspen Words executive director Adrienne Brodeur at Paepcke Auditorium on Dec. 7. That talk, and all in-person events, will also be livestreamed.

On Jan. 12, Outside magazine columnist and ski journalist Heather Hansman will discuss her book “Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns, and the Future of Chasing Snow.” Due for publication on November, the book examines the history of skiing in the U.S. and how the sport is evolving in the face of climate change.

A three-author panel will gather to discuss memoir in a virtual event on Feb. 15 with Ashley C. Ford (“Somebody’s Daughter”), Eleanor Henderson (“Everything I Have Is Yours”) and Michelle Zauner (“Crying in H Mart”). It will be moderated by fellow memoirist Dani Shapiro.

Atlantic staff writer Clint Smith, author most recently of “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America,” will discuss the book in-person at Paepcke on March 15.

The series will close with novelist Richard Powers at Paepcke on March 29. A fiction writer whose work centers on the natural world, Powers’ new novel is “Bewilderment,” his follow up to the 2019 Pulitzer-winning “The Overstory.”

“We’re thrilled to present an extraordinary lineup of literary talent this season that represents a distinctive range of voices and genres,” Brodeur said in Friday’s announcement. “Between new fiction from two Pulitzer Prize winners, to an unforgettable tour of American monuments and landmarks with connections to slavery, a deep dive into modern-day ski-town culture, a crime novel based on real missing person cases and a trio of provocative memoirs, this season promises to provide readers with insight and inspiration.”

Tickets and series passes are on sale the Wheeler Opera House box office and at aspenshowtix.com. Tickets are $12 for virtual events, $25 for in-person. A full pass, which includes three books of the attendee’s choice, is $300. More info at aspenwords.org.