Copperfield’s Books: Author Meet & Greet – Obi Kaufmann

We’re delighted to welcome back fan and staff favorite author Obi Kaufmann to Santa Rosa in celebration of his remarkable new book – California Inside Out: Mapping an Ecology of Mind!

A beloved friend of Copperfield’s and one of California’s most distinctive voices, Obi has inspired readers across the state with his breathtaking blend of art, natural history, conservation, and storytelling.

Blending manifesto, philosophy, and ecological inquiry, Obi Kaufmann challenges readers to reimagine humanity’s relationship with the living world.

Join us for a reading and warm discussion followed by an audience Q&A and book signing with photo opportunities.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required for seating.

From the acclaimed author of The California Field Atlas and The State of Fire, a mind-expanding manifesto on belonging to the land called California.

For more than 250 years, the story of California has been told through conquest, self-reinvention, novelty, and riches. Beneath that mythology lies another reality: the erasure of Native histories, the exploitation of natural systems, and a deepening separation between people and place. As climate breakdown intensifies and natural disasters escalate, bestselling author Obi Kaufmann challenges us to see the Golden State anew–not as a commodity or fantasy, but as a living, interconnected world.

With wonder and urgency, California Inside Out reflects on the boundless intricacies of the world that surrounds, prompting bold, imaginative questions: What words might connect us more deeply with the places where we live? What if a watershed can think? What if a forest has a mind of its own? Across five chapters full of wisdom and heart, Kaufmann shares poignant personal stories and ecological insights from five decades of life in California. Illustrated throughout with his signature watercolor artwork drawn from across Kaufmann’s celebrated career, this naturalist’s treatise is a call for awe and action.

Author: Obi Kaufmann is an artist, conservationist, and the bestselling and award-winning author of The California Field Atlas series. Kaufmann is a former board member of the California Wilderness Coalition and winner of the 2019 Mark Dubois River Protection Award. Notable recent illustration projects include a 2022 residency with the National Wildlife Federation as the illustrator for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing and a 2025 writing and painting residency for the National Gallery of Art in Yosemite. In 2026 he will participate in an authors’ residency in Stockholm with the Swedish Institute. When he is not backpacking, the painter-poet can be found at home in the East Bay, posting trail paintings @coyotethunder on Instagram.

Praise:

“Obi Kaufmann’s books are like bibles to me. They explain California’s natural beauty better than anything I’ve read before.” —DAVE EGGERS

“A full immersion into the astonishingly varied natural worlds. Gorgeous.” —CBS SAN FRANCISCO

“Obi leaves no leaf unturned in his quest to capture the wonder and fragility.” —SUNSET

“Kaufmann’s gaze easily ranges from the micro to the macro. As a reader you are invited to join him on a journey of discovery—not as a passenger but as an active partner.” —SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“An original contribution to the genre … Immersive.” —LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS

“Put together in an accessible, visual way, Kaufmann’s approach helps to encourage a love of place, which is often the first step toward wanting to protect and preserve it.” —AMERICAN SCIENTIST

“Kaufmann is brilliant, articulate and engaging, providing hope for the state’s future.” —TAHOE LITERARY GUIDE

“Transcend[s] the genre of nature writing.” —MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY