Phoenix Public Library will host a free author reading with Peggy Shumaker from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, at Burton Barr Central Library, 1221 N. Central Ave.

Shumaker will read from her book “Just Breathe Normally,” a memoir that recalls her painful recovery from a bicycle accident in 2000. The book explores the human desire to understand the fragmented self. An author signing will follow the reading; books will be sold at the program.

Shumaker is professor emerita at University of Alaska in Fairbanks and the author of several books of poetry, including “Blaze” and “Underground Rivers.” She teaches at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.

For more information, call 602-534-0603 or visit phoenixpubliclibrary.org.