John Yunker 
In Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, Carl Safina sets out on a global journey to listen to and understand animals on their terms and not ours. By the end of this book, I can guarantee that readers will come away with a greater appreciation for the self-awareness, intelligence, and empathy of the animals we share this planet …
Chatham University literary journal The Fourth River is now accepting poetry, fiction and nonfiction for a special supplement addressing climate change: The Fourth River wants to hear how writers approach the concept of “climate change” in a theme insert to be included in our 13th print issue, scheduled for spring, 2016. We want to hear your …
It’s always exciting to see a new literary journal launch with a focus on environment writing. So please welcome Zoomorphic, a new online journal founded by James Roberts and Susan Richardson and “dedicated to writing that deepens our connection with wildlife and the more-than-human world.” I recently conducted a brief Q&A to learn a bit more. Here …
Orion Magazine has announced its 2015 Book Award winners: Non-fiction winner: Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life, by George Monbiot (University of Chicago Press), Finalists: A Country Called Childhood, by Jay Griffiths (Counterpoint) The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert (Henry Holt and Company) > See the EcoLit Books Review by Midge Raymond Windfall, by …
The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics has issued an important report that calls for the “de-normalisation of animal experimentation.” The report is backed by numerous scientists, scholars, theologians and writers, such as Coetzee. You can view the report here. According to the report: The deliberate and routine abuse of innocent, sentient animals involving harm, pain, suffering, …
The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment has announced the finalists for their bi-annual book awards: Creative Award Finalists: Bitten: My Unexpected Love Affair with Florida by Andrew Furman (memoir/essays) The Small Heart of Things: Being at Home in a Beckoning World by Julian Hoffman (creative nonfiction) Dark. Sweet. by Linda Hogan (poetry) …
In A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm by Dave Goulson, insects are given the respect they are due. For it is insects, in all their weird and wild ways, that keep this planet, and us, alive. The book tells the story about the author’s adventures after having purchased a French farm …
The Chain: Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food, by Ted Genoways, is an important work of reporting. Based on years of interviews and tireless research, the book spans the length of our food system, focused largely on Hormel Foods, the makers of Spam. It covers the tragically interconnected plight of the workers and of the animals. …
The literary journal Fourth River is now accepting submissions for a special issue themed Queering Nature: Guest-edited by Dakota Garilli and Michael Walsh, The Fourth River’s second online issue, to launch in Fall of 2015, will focus on Queering Nature, and we’re looking for your best, most innovative nature and place-based writing in any genre or …
Halfway through reading The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod by Henry Beston, I came across the following passage: A new danger, moreover, now threatens the birds at sea. An irreducible residue of crude oil, called by refiners ‘slop,’ remains in stills after oil distribution, and this is …
