In Praise of Floods: The Untamed River and the Life It Brings by James C. Scott. This is an unusual book featuring an intensely detailed geological and hydrological argument about rivers universally and the Ayeyarwady River specifically–by a political scientist. The argument is that the lateral movements of rivers–their seasonal floods, their meanders, their natural processes of depositing silt and organic material–are as important to the life of a river as its current from source to sea, and these movements have been curtailed by human activities such as farming, damming, and building cities along rivers. While I don’t agree with all of the author’s conclusions, I thought more than once that the book might be a useful source for writers researching early civilization for their worldbuilding.—Sara
In a Body by Emily Hockaday. How do chronic pain and fatigue isolate a person? Can nature provide the connection to temper this isolation? The brief but lyrically charged poems in Emily Hockaday’s collection In a Body finds resonance between pain and chronic illness and living in a sickened ecosystem. —Stephanie
April is National Poetry Month, so we enjoyed revisiting some of our favorite nature poems during the last few weeks—and have been sharing them on Bluesky and Facebook. 30 days, 30 different poets… and we’ve already started a list for next year. Who did we miss?
What have you been reading this month?
Discover more from Buried Creek Collective
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.