This in-person event is a part of the 2026 Virginia Festival of the Book and will take place at the shop.
The particulars of the Great Auk, or garefowl, or pinguinus impennis. That is all Ignatius Green, a nineteenth century ornithologist and widower, intends to focus on during his time on a rugged, rocky County Donegal island. But his plans are upended when the Irish townsfolk, desperate from the deprivations of famine, pillage his belongings. Even more disappointingly, a small girl is deposited like rubbish: a dirty, abandoned wild-child whom Green must now care for. What’s worse, he hears word of an ominous presence on the island, a woman feared by locals.
Field Notes From an Extinction, a story written in the form of nineteenth century ornithological notebooks, is a fast-paced and witty read, as much of a story of unrest, ferocity, and survival as it is of reckonings, tender and vulnerable.
Join author Eoghan Walls as he visits the Virginia Festival of the Book on tour for his new novel.
For more information, visit vabook.org.
Order the Book Ahead of Time from New Dominion Bookshop
Shop local and support your community bookshop! You can order your books ahead of time for the 2026 Virginia Festival of the Book by filling out the contact form below. Please make sure that you list the book title(s) that you would like to order. We will give you a call when your order is ready. There is no need to pre-pay. We will collect your payment when you pick up your order or when your order is shipped. Books will also be for sale on-site at the event. (There is no need to place an order if you plan to attend the event and purchase books there in person.)