Member Bookshelf

By Rebecca A. Durham. Shanti Arts, 2022.

Chosen by Susan Howe for the Marsh Hawk Press Rochelle Ratner Memorial Award, Loss/Less is a collection that addresses grief and reverence for the natural world. These commanding yet haunting poems present an “ecstatic interpretation of the natural world that brings Emerson to mind. Her lush, vibrant language is a hymn, hypnotic—and a warning about our human impact, our ‘monstrous lust’ that threatens” (Erin Malone).

Poet, botanist, and artist Rebecca A. Durham is the author of the award-winning ecopoetry books ...

Edited by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Alexa Weik von Mossner, Frank Hakemulder, and W. P. Malecki. University of Minnesota Press, 2023.

There is a growing consensus that environmental narratives can help catalyze the social change necessary to address today’s environmental crises; however, surprisingly little is known about their impact and effectiveness. In Empirical Ecocriticism, Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Alexa Weik von Mossner, W. P. Malecki, and Frank Hakemulder combine an environmental humanities perspective with empirical methods derived from the social sciences to study the influence of environmental stories ...

By Sharon White. Cornerstone Press, 2023.

In The Body Is Burden and Delight, Sharon White crafts a poetic mosaic that examines ecological communities in fragile northern landscapes, and in the geography of the poet’s daily life. Weaving poetry and prose, White attends to the voices of women from several places (and times), including Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Shetland, and Wales, exploring the inner landscape of myth and dreams inspired by a deep connection to the earth, and the beauty and loss inherent in those ecosystems. ...

By Scott T. Starbuck. Blue Light Press, 2023.

Winner of a 2023 Blue Light Book Award, Bridge at the End of the World, New and Selected Poems complements Scott T. Starbuck’s 30 years of activism and creative writing instruction, including his Trees, Fish, and Dreams Climateblog (with readers in 110 countries) and ecopoetry workshops at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the UC San Diego Masters of Advanced Studies Program in Climate Science and Policy.

The book features new work about the climate emergency and brings together ...

By Jean-Thomas Tremblay. Duke University Press, 2022.

In Breathing Aesthetics Jean-Thomas Tremblay argues that difficult breathing indexes the uneven distribution of risk in a contemporary era marked by the increasing contamination, weaponization, and monetization of air. Tremblay shows how biopolitical and necropolitical forces tied to the continuation of extractive capitalism, imperialism, and structural racism are embodied and experienced through respiration. They identify responses to the crisis in breathing in aesthetic practices ranging from the film work of Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta to the ...

By Serpil Oppermann. West Virginia University Press, 2023.

Ecologies of a Storied Planet in the Anthropocene is an intellectually engaging piece of scholarship. With transdisciplinarity and theoretical lucidity, it rethinks the Anthropocene from a material ecocritical perspective, envisioning innovative modes of knowledge for deeper understandings of Anthropocene ecologies. Focusing on nonhuman agencies, Oppermann shows in fascinating detail how to better imagine an ecological future on our storied planet that has suffered enormously from an anthropocentric mindset.

Serpil Oppermann is the Director of the Environmental Humanities ...

By Tom Lynch. University of Nebraska Press, 2022.

Outback and Out West: The Settler-Colonial Environmental Imaginary examines the ecological consequences of a settler-colonial imaginary by comparing expressions of settler colonialism in the literature of the American West and Australian Outback. In this powerful book, Lynch examines the shared themes of exogenous domination and the parallel methodologies of settlement in these regions –from pastoralism and homestead acts to afforestation initiatives and bioregional efforts at “belonging.” Lynch pairs the two nations’ texts to show how an ...

By Alda Balthrop-Lewis. Cambridge University Press, 2021.

In “Thoreau’s Religion: Walden Woods, Social Justice, and the Politics of Asceticism,” Alda Balthrop-Lewis presents a ground-breaking interpretation of Henry David Thoreau’s seminal work, Walden. Challenging the traditional view of Walden Woods as a solitary wilderness, Balthrop-Lewis demonstrates that Thoreau’s ascetic life was a form of religious practice dedicated to cultivating a just, multispecies community. 

This insightful book makes an important contribution to scholarship in religious studies, political theory, English, environmental studies, and critical theory, by offering the ...

By Jessica Gigot. Oregon State University Press, 2022.

In “A Little Bit of Land,” Jessica Gigot explores the intricacies of small-scale agriculture in the Pacific Northwest, the evolving role of women in this traditionally male-dominated industry, and issues of sustainability, economics, and health within our food system. Gigot alternates between sharing the joys and challenges of small farm life and reflecting on her influential experiences outdoors and in classrooms throughout the region—from Ashland in southern Oregon to Washington State’s Skagit Valley. Through her ...

By Christina Gerhardt. University of California Press, 2023.

Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean is a groundbreaking work that invites readers to rethink the challenges faced by low-lying islands amid the devastating impacts of climate change. Christina Gerhardt, a distinguished professor and scholar, masterfully weaves environmental studies, environmental humanities, geography, cartography, and creative nonfiction to reveal the rich histories and cultures of frontline communities, while highlighting diverse actions undertaken to protect and preserve their islands.

Attending to the voices of Indigenous and ...