Join a virtual event with Sitka residents

In the free Zoom event on November 5th, you’ll hear from the following Sitka residents: Craig See an ecosystem scientist interested in how carbon and nutrients move through forest landscapes. His current research focuses on the ways that mycorrhizal fungi, which live symbiotically with tree roots, influence carbon storage in soils. Grace Munakata is a …

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Upcoming Virtual Event: Women Writing the Natural World

Here’s an excellent event coming up this Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom and Facebook. The event features writers Corinna Cook, Marybeth Holleman, Adrienne Lindholm and Nancy Lord, moderated by Libby Roderick. More info below… Women Writing the Natural World Oct 19, 2020 6:00 PM Alaska (7:00 PST) Join the Zoom Meeting here:https://zoom.us/j/94709301572 Meeting ID: 947 0930 1572

Maverick: A life among animals, reconsidered

At the opening of the essay collection Maverick, Laura Jean Schneider writes: I’m in the third generation of butchers in my family. As a family, we slaughtered and butchered most of the meat we eat ourselves. While this was not without conflict it seemed that once animals flesh was cooked, we were absolved of the …

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Building Reuse: Why your old house may be more environmental than you think

I live in an old house. So old that it tilts off to one side and you can feel a winter breeze coming up through the floorboards. When we had it renovated several years ago, I wondered if it would have made more sense, environmentally, to tear it down and build a LEED-certified (whatever exactly …

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Book Review: The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals by Becky Mandelbaum

While the title of Becky Mandelbaum’s The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals may indicate this is a novel about animals, it is very much more a human novel. Set primarily in a small, conservative town in St. Clare, Kansas, just after the 2016 election, the book focuses mainly on two characters: Mona, a sanctuary owner …

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Book Review: World of Wonders; In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

No one sees nature quite like a poet and Aimee Nezhukumatathil proves that in World of Wonders, her first book of prose. This collection of essays centers around Nezhukumatathil’s lifelong interactions with and observations of the natural world. Born to a Filipina mother and a father from South India, Nezhukumatathil grew up all over the United States due to the demands of her mother’s job as a psychiatrist, and was immersed in landscapes from New York to Arizona. She writes from both the poet’s perspective and as a person of color in a white-privileged world.

New and upcoming book releases

Sadly, we cannot review everything we receive here at EcoLit Books — but I did want to highlight a few new and newly republished works… The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animalsby Katy M. GuentherStanford University Press For the Birds: Protecting Wildlife through the Naturalist Gazeby Elizabeth CherryRutgers University Press Butterfly: Poems by Miriam Sorrel …

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Book Review: The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun

Eco-tourism has become increasingly popular in recent years, travel intended to help conserve and contribute to remote communities and delicate ecosystems, but…disaster tourism? We’re all familiar with rubbernecking drivers, and South Korean novelist Yun Ko-Eun escalates our morbid curiosity with catastrophe into a full-blown industry in The Disaster Tourist. This is Yun’s second novel to …

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Upcoming online writing workshops at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology

If there is an upside to this pandemic (and I realize I’m grasping) it is that there are a wealth of online writing programs now available. I wanted to draw your attention to two upcoming programs at the wonderful Sitka Center for Art in Ecology in our home state of Oregon: Changing in PlaceInstructor: Nancy …

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Terrain’s 11th annual writing contest closes September 7

A quick reminder that Terrain is accepting submissions in poetry, nonfiction, and fiction until September 7 The first-place winner in each genre will be awarded $500 plus publication. Finalists in each genre will also receive publication and a $100 prize. All submissions are considered for publication. Winners will be announced no later than December 2020. …

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Book Review: Dark Side of the Ocean

If you are one of those for whom solid scientific information is a balm for environmental anxiety, Dark Side of the Ocean is the book for you. Albert Bates, the author of 18 books on climate, history, and ecology, provides a torrent of information in easy to understand language. It is technical but not thick. It …

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Book Review: OYO The Beautiful River

Mark Hamilton’s forthcoming poetry collection, “OYO The Beautiful River,” to be released in print in October of 2020, explores the Ohio River from the vantage point of an individual in a row boat. Separated into two distinct sections, “Spring” and “Summer,” the collection documents a journey down the Ohio and the varying landscapes and mannerisms …

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Book Review: The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here

In 1989, Robert Fulghum published All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Three decades later, reading Hope Jahren’s new book, The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here, I found myself thinking about Fulghum and his lessons learned. Number one: Share everything. It’s an …

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Green Stories Writing Competition: Stories for children

If you’ve got a children’s story focused on making this world a better place, check out this free writing competition: We are looking for stories for children that in some way touch upon ideas around building a sustainable society. We will consider all genres, and the story doesn’t have to be about sustainability or climate …

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EcoLit Books is now on Bookshop.org

Bookshop.org is a new way to support local bookstores. Started less than a year ago, Bookshop has already raised more than five million dollars for local bookstores. Bookshop is an alternative to Amazon. Booksellers that refer you to the Bookshop site receive a percentage of revenues from each book you purchase. We’ve created a page …

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