Sven Birkerts has written extensively about the threat posed by fast-paced and analysis-driven data and information on the art of contemplative thought and reading. Not too surprising for an acknowledged devotee of book stores, among other places in Ann Arbor, MI, where Birkerts worked closely with the Borders' brothers in their first booksellers' venture.

As the editor of the --mostly-- on-line literary magazine, AGNI, published by Boston University, Birkerts doesn't shy away from cyberspace but does review, and regularly rings the alarm bell about, unintended consequences of the inescapable digital imperative and electronic surround of our lives.

In addition to his many articles on the subject, including Resisting the Kindle (2009), Reading in a Digital Age (2010) and You Are What You Click (2010), Birkerts has written eight books, including The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age, The Electric Life: Essays on Modern Poetry, and a memoir, My Sky Blue Trades: Growing Up Counter in a Contrary Time.

His latest collection of essays, The Other Walk, came out in paperback recently, with many of its pieces set in and around Boston, where Birkerts lives with his family, and some in Latvia, where he was born.

The author will be introduced by South End resident and writer, Sue Miller, who invited the author as part of The South End Writes series, sponsored by The Friends of the South End Library.