This September the North Olympic Library System (NOLS), in partnership with Humanities Washington, will host a multifaceted conversation about capital punishment in the United States. Educator, writer and activist Dorothy Van Soest — a lecturer with the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau — will lead this free, engaging discussion at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Forks Library.

The Power of Story

Capital punishment has given rise to considerable differences of opinion in U.S. society. When a moratorium on executions in Washington was announced in February 2014 by Gov. Jay Inslee, it sparked a national debate. Author and educator Dorothy Van Soest will facilitate an interactive group dialogue about the death penalty and demonstrate how the issue is multi-faceted by weaving together personal connections, scientific research, life experience and creative storytelling. Van Soest also will share stories of ordinary people facing extraordinary situations, and how they have found the courage to transform themselves and the world around them.

Van Soest is Professor Emeritus and a former dean at the University of Washington. A writer, social worker and activist, she has published nine books and more than 50 journal articles, essays and book chapters that tackle complex issues related to violence, oppression and injustice. Her 2014 novel, “Just Mercy,” personalizes the topic of the death penalty as told through the perspective of a family. The book was informed by her widely acclaimed investigation of the lives of 37 men executed by Texas in 1997 and inspired by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Victim Offender Restorative Mediation Dialogue program. Van Soest holds an undergraduate degree in English literature and a master’s and Ph.D. in social work. For more information, visit the author’s website at http://dorothyvansoest.com.

For more about the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau, visit www.humanities.org/programs/speakers.