This month we’re digging into some historical and contemporary reflections on nature writing in the United States.

Nature Poem by Tommy Pico (2017). A book-length poem about how an American Indian writer can’t bring himself to write about nature, but is forced to reckon with colonial-white stereotypes, manifest destiny, and his own identity as a young, queer, urban-dwelling poet. Alternately irreverent and intimate, smart-ass and achingly beautiful, this critical “nature poem” interrogates what we mean by nature and who gets to write about it.

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851). At Rewilding Our Stories, a Discord server for ecofiction readers and writers, we’re doing a low-key buddy read of this classic American novel. Moby-Dick is about many things–yes, definitely including whales–and one of those themes is the bloody and brutal industry of extracting an energy source that fuels the American economy. We’re talking about the oil industry. The whale oil industry, that is.

The Pine Barrens by John McPhee (1968). Journalist McPhee is considered a formative voice in American nonfiction writing about nature. His slim book about the Pine Barrens brings this unique natural environment to life, from its many streams to its forest fires to the distinctive culture of its sparsely populated towns. In the 1960s, plans were underway to develop the Pinelands into an airport; sixty years on, it is a relief to know that the airport never materialized and the land is protected by laws that permit recreation and agriculture (so many of our local blueberries and cranberries come from this region!) but prevent certain kinds of extraction.

What are you reading lately?