By Daniel G. Payne, SUNY College at Oneonta

The ninth biennial “Sharp Eyes” Nature Writing Conference was held at SUNY College at Oneonta from June 6-9, 2016, and drew approximately sixty participants and guests including eighteen students enrolled in the associated undergraduate seminar. The theme of this year’s conference, which was ASLE-affiliated, was “Local, Regional, Global: The Many Faces of Nature Writing” which inspired a wide range of presentations and numerous lively discussions.

The multidisciplinary aspect of environmental literature was fully evident at the conference, which featured presentations from scholars in scientific disciplines such as biology and geology in addition to the humanities. Once again the conference drew participants from distant places to Oneonta, including Dr. Susan Hanson from Texas State University at San Marcos, Dr. Ufuk Ozdag from the Haceteppe University in Ankara, Turkey, and Dr. Erika Lemmer from the University of South Africa.

The keynote address was delivered by former ASLE president Dr. John Tallmadge. Dr. Tallmadge’s presentation was entitled “The Spiritual Path of American Nature Writing,” which explored three imaginative currents that shape the American tradition of literary environmentalism: the poetics of adventure, the poetics of conversion, and the poetics of reconciliation. In this context, Dr. Tallmadge discussed the work of writers including Clarence King, John Muir, Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, Aldo Leopold, and Terry Tempest Williams. He concluded his talk by examining the work of two outstanding nature poets, Gary Snyder and Mary Oliver. The presentation concluded with Snyder’s poem “For the Children,” whose final three lines were chosen for the ASLE motto: “stay together/ learn the flowers/ go light.”

Woodchuck Lodge

As always, the conference included outdoor events, including a trip to John Burroughs’s “Woodchuck Lodge,” located on the land where he was born in Roxbury, New York in 1837. Bill Birns, president of the the nonprofit preservation group John Burroughs’ Woodchuck Lodge, gave tours of the house to conference participants, who also walked to nearby “Boyhood Rock,” where Burroughs is buried on the farm where he spent his early years.

The next “Sharp Eyes” Conference is scheduled for June 2017. More information will be posted at http://www.oneonta.edu/academics/english/conferences/johnburroughs.asp, the conference website, as we draw closer to the next conference.