I have heard that “Greetings, Earthlings,” is the most appropriate salutation for a fellow human, because we all call this planet home. Space exploration notwithstanding, the vast majority of us will never leave, and, so I have also heard, planetary resettlement will be limited to a privileged few.
One could hope that this means those privileged people who control our economy and all three branches of government will be among those who settle elsewhere. The thought gives me comfort, despite their specious claims that the rest of us would have nothing without them.
That is a far stretch from today’s topic, the literary naturalist. I once authored a column on this topic for The Hellbender Press in Knoxville. “Nature’s Bookshelf” saw its demise when The Hellbender Press ceased publication of the print edition in 2008. A few years ago, it was reborn as a digital publication.
I have authored a few articles for the new version of The Hellbender Press, including some reviews, and have published numerous reviews on Goodreads and here on Substack. Most of my reviews are of nature books, so book reviewing is part of my naturalist persona. Today, I have comments on a few recent reads.
The Glorians
The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary
Terry Tempest Williams
Grove Atlantic
https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-gl...
Terry Tempest Williams is well known among literary naturalists, particularly for her titles, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, When Women Were Birds, Ersoion, and The Open Space of Democracy. Her books are stories of human struggles and encounters with the divine, particularly through relationships with the natural world.
This most recent nonfiction collection begins in 2020 with the onset of COVID-19 and her hurried departure from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she serves as Writer-in-Residence at the Harvard Divinity School. Harvard had moved classes online mid-semester and sent everyone home.
The stories continue, from her home in Utah to her return to Cambridge, and with further travels between the two. She addresses the difficulties of living in two places over a period of years.
In a dream, Williams is challenged to fulfill a promise to write “The Epic Documentation of the Glorians,” but what is a Glorian? In the introduction, Williams gives one answer.
A Glorian is an encounter.
A Glorian is a meeting with elan vital.
A glorian is a moment of grace.
The Glorians she encounters are both humans and visitors from the more-than-human world. One is a bear cub fleeing a fire. A coyote makes an appearance, and Williams makes an anigmatic reference to the Coyote Clan. This reference will be familiar to readers of her past books. Buffalo (American Bison) play a significant role.
The “Divinity Oak,” a venerable and beloved dweller on the Harvard Campus, is central to the story. The oak was already there when Ralph Waldo Emerson visited the campus. It must be cut for a new project to proceed, and this proposal results in protests, letters, and pronouncements.
The humans she encounters include the nature writer Barry Lopez, a lifelong friend, and Bell Hooks, whom she meets only through a brief message. Those encounters have a sense of homage, particularly in her description of Georgia O'Keeffe's series of paintings of the Sacred Datura.
I have read this book, and I reread sections from time to time. Despite the turmoil addressed, I find great comfort in this book.
How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature's Revolutionaries
Penguin Viking
David George Haskell
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
I have read this book and return to it from time to time. I reviewed it for The Hellbender Press. https://hellbenderpress.org/news/new-...
A previous article in The Hellbender Press was intended to be a review of Haskell’s book, Sounds, Wild and Broken. It became a roundup of all of his books published up to that date, which was appropriate. I began reading Haskell’s works with his first book, The Forest Unseen, and continued the literary journey with The Songs of Trees. I thoroughly enjoyed Thirteen Ways to Smell a Tree, which was published in the UK but is also available here in the US. Each of David Haskell’s books is a delight.
The Ecopoetry Anthology
https://tupress.org/9781595349293/the...
Attached to the Living World: A New Ecopoetry Anthology
https://tupress.org/9781595343086/att...
Trinity University Press
Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street
I have read poems from both of these lovely volumes and continue to read them. I hope to say more about them in a future article.
Craft and Current
Craft and Current: A Manual for Magical Writing
Janisse Ray
Privately Published
https://janisseray.com/product/craft-...
This book is essential for anyone who writes about nature. It is available from the author.
One could hope that this means those privileged people who control our economy and all three branches of government will be among those who settle elsewhere. The thought gives me comfort, despite their specious claims that the rest of us would have nothing without them.
That is a far stretch from today’s topic, the literary naturalist. I once authored a column on this topic for The Hellbender Press in Knoxville. “Nature’s Bookshelf” saw its demise when The Hellbender Press ceased publication of the print edition in 2008. A few years ago, it was reborn as a digital publication.
I have authored a few articles for the new version of The Hellbender Press, including some reviews, and have published numerous reviews on Goodreads and here on Substack. Most of my reviews are of nature books, so book reviewing is part of my naturalist persona. Today, I have comments on a few recent reads.
The Glorians
The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary
Terry Tempest Williams
Grove Atlantic
https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-gl...
Terry Tempest Williams is well known among literary naturalists, particularly for her titles, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, When Women Were Birds, Ersoion, and The Open Space of Democracy. Her books are stories of human struggles and encounters with the divine, particularly through relationships with the natural world.
This most recent nonfiction collection begins in 2020 with the onset of COVID-19 and her hurried departure from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she serves as Writer-in-Residence at the Harvard Divinity School. Harvard had moved classes online mid-semester and sent everyone home.
The stories continue, from her home in Utah to her return to Cambridge, and with further travels between the two. She addresses the difficulties of living in two places over a period of years.
In a dream, Williams is challenged to fulfill a promise to write “The Epic Documentation of the Glorians,” but what is a Glorian? In the introduction, Williams gives one answer.
A Glorian is an encounter.
A Glorian is a meeting with elan vital.
A glorian is a moment of grace.
The Glorians she encounters are both humans and visitors from the more-than-human world. One is a bear cub fleeing a fire. A coyote makes an appearance, and Williams makes an anigmatic reference to the Coyote Clan. This reference will be familiar to readers of her past books. Buffalo (American Bison) play a significant role.
The “Divinity Oak,” a venerable and beloved dweller on the Harvard Campus, is central to the story. The oak was already there when Ralph Waldo Emerson visited the campus. It must be cut for a new project to proceed, and this proposal results in protests, letters, and pronouncements.
The humans she encounters include the nature writer Barry Lopez, a lifelong friend, and Bell Hooks, whom she meets only through a brief message. Those encounters have a sense of homage, particularly in her description of Georgia O'Keeffe's series of paintings of the Sacred Datura.
I have read this book, and I reread sections from time to time. Despite the turmoil addressed, I find great comfort in this book.
How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature's Revolutionaries
Penguin Viking
David George Haskell
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
I have read this book and return to it from time to time. I reviewed it for The Hellbender Press. https://hellbenderpress.org/news/new-...
A previous article in The Hellbender Press was intended to be a review of Haskell’s book, Sounds, Wild and Broken. It became a roundup of all of his books published up to that date, which was appropriate. I began reading Haskell’s works with his first book, The Forest Unseen, and continued the literary journey with The Songs of Trees. I thoroughly enjoyed Thirteen Ways to Smell a Tree, which was published in the UK but is also available here in the US. Each of David Haskell’s books is a delight.
The Ecopoetry Anthology
https://tupress.org/9781595349293/the...
Attached to the Living World: A New Ecopoetry Anthology
https://tupress.org/9781595343086/att...
Trinity University Press
Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street
I have read poems from both of these lovely volumes and continue to read them. I hope to say more about them in a future article.
Craft and Current
Craft and Current: A Manual for Magical Writing
Janisse Ray
Privately Published
https://janisseray.com/product/craft-...
This book is essential for anyone who writes about nature. It is available from the author.
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