Favorite Nature Books and Nature Poetry Collections
September 29, 2021 8:00 AM Subscribe
In preparation for our vacation in the woods by a river, I'm looking for everyone's favorite 1) non-fiction books that meditate on nature, and 2) collections of nature-focused poetry.
A couple examples of books I love or already know: Annie Dillard's Pilgrim At Tinker Creek (this is a top 10 book for me), Bill Bryson's books, John Vaillant's The Golden Spruce, Mary Oliver's poetry, Whitman of course, etc. I've also already read Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and Cheryl Strayed's Wild, so no need to recommend those.
Open to all suggestions; the more "meditative on nature" the better. Lyrical writing style is a plus!
Thank you in advance!
A couple examples of books I love or already know: Annie Dillard's Pilgrim At Tinker Creek (this is a top 10 book for me), Bill Bryson's books, John Vaillant's The Golden Spruce, Mary Oliver's poetry, Whitman of course, etc. I've also already read Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and Cheryl Strayed's Wild, so no need to recommend those.
Open to all suggestions; the more "meditative on nature" the better. Lyrical writing style is a plus!
Thank you in advance!
For lyrical writing, you might try Robert MacFarlane. Underland comes to mind.
Since you are near a river, you might also enjoy Fresh Water. not so lyrical but extremely interesting
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:24 AM on September 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Since you are near a river, you might also enjoy Fresh Water. not so lyrical but extremely interesting
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:24 AM on September 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
I think you might enjoy Bernd Heinrich's books very much! I've only read one or two but they're lovely, full of wonder but not in a cloying way.
posted by mskyle at 8:25 AM on September 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by mskyle at 8:25 AM on September 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
Henry Beston's The Outermost House is essentially a meditative journal of his year living in the dunes on the far reaches of Cape Cod.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:29 AM on September 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 8:29 AM on September 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Sky’s Time in Gray’s River: Living for Keeps in a Forgotten Place is a book I’m enjoying right now.
posted by Ostara at 8:41 AM on September 29, 2021
posted by Ostara at 8:41 AM on September 29, 2021
2) collections of nature-focused poetry
Get some W.S. Merwin stat
posted by thelonius at 8:50 AM on September 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
Get some W.S. Merwin stat
posted by thelonius at 8:50 AM on September 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
+1 for MacFarlane - I read Underland and The Old Ways recently and really enjoyed both of them. He has a great feel for landscape and how humans create meaning out of it.
posted by crocomancer at 8:51 AM on September 29, 2021
posted by crocomancer at 8:51 AM on September 29, 2021
The Forest Unseen seems to tick your boxes. The author is a naturalist who visits the same patch of old-growth forest through the course of a year, commenting/meditating on what he sees. His writing is gorgeous.
posted by DrGail at 8:59 AM on September 29, 2021
posted by DrGail at 8:59 AM on September 29, 2021
You might like Gary Snyder. My favorite collection of his poems is Regarding Wave which contains the wonderful poem Long Hair.
Another poem of his I enjoy:
For Nothing
Earth a flower
A phlox on the steep
slopes of light
hanging over the vast
solid spaces
small rotten crystals;
salts.
Earth a flower
by a gulf where a raven
flaps by once
a glimmer, a color
forgotten as all
falls away.
A flower
for nothing;
an offer;
no taker;
Snow-trickle, feldspar, dirt.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 9:28 AM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Another poem of his I enjoy:
For Nothing
Earth a flower
A phlox on the steep
slopes of light
hanging over the vast
solid spaces
small rotten crystals;
salts.
Earth a flower
by a gulf where a raven
flaps by once
a glimmer, a color
forgotten as all
falls away.
A flower
for nothing;
an offer;
no taker;
Snow-trickle, feldspar, dirt.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 9:28 AM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Louise Gluck’s The Wild Iris, for sure!
posted by bluebird at 9:49 AM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by bluebird at 9:49 AM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I am a big fan of Sigurd Olson for stories and essays about nature and canoeing.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:51 AM on September 29, 2021
posted by wenestvedt at 9:51 AM on September 29, 2021
Home Ground: A Guide to the American Landscape, edited by Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney. "... revitalized a descriptive language for the American landscape by combining geography, literature, and folklore in one volume..." "...brings together 45 poets and writers to create more than 850 original definitions for words that describe our lands and waters. The writers draw from careful research and their own distinctive stylistic, personal, and regional diversity to portray in bright, precise prose the striking complexity of the landscapes we inhabit..."
posted by Mo Nickels at 10:26 AM on September 29, 2021
posted by Mo Nickels at 10:26 AM on September 29, 2021
For something a little different, Derek Jarman's Modern Nature.
posted by praemunire at 10:34 AM on September 29, 2021
posted by praemunire at 10:34 AM on September 29, 2021
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is a 2013 nonfiction book by American professor Robin Wall Kimmerer. I've been meaning to read this, its been highly recommended to me.
posted by j810c at 10:39 AM on September 29, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by j810c at 10:39 AM on September 29, 2021 [9 favorites]
Orion Magazine has put together 11 recommended collections by Latinx poets on nature/environment.
posted by Pineapplicious at 10:58 AM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Pineapplicious at 10:58 AM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
+2 for MacFarlane. I really loved Underland and have been picking through some of his older stuff. Also seconding Snyder. I'm also partial to Wendell Berry. He's not unproblematic but I like his stuff. Very agrarian. Here's a list of his non-fiction. If you ever like newsletters, I really have enjoyed Field Notes from Christopher Brown an author who lives in a sort of "edgelands" in Austin Texas and goes for walks and writes newsletters weekly about what he's found. Great writing, some pictures and it's lot more about nature than you'd think.
posted by jessamyn at 11:36 AM on September 29, 2021
posted by jessamyn at 11:36 AM on September 29, 2021
Siddharta. I was so taken by his meditations by the river that it inspired me to quit my job and spend 6 weeks walking along a river myself. Back when I actually did crazy things like that.
posted by widdershins at 12:33 PM on September 29, 2021
posted by widdershins at 12:33 PM on September 29, 2021
Seconding Braiding Sweetgrass, it's terrific. I read Ecology of a Cracker Childhood not long ago and thought it was also excellent. I'll also recommend either printed volume of Emergence. They're beautiful to hold, but not exactly back-pocket-friendly.
For poetry, it's tough go to wrong with anything by Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir might be a good choice.
posted by jquinby at 12:36 PM on September 29, 2021
For poetry, it's tough go to wrong with anything by Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir might be a good choice.
posted by jquinby at 12:36 PM on September 29, 2021
One more, as you'll be near a river: How to Read Water by Tristan Gooley was a hell of a lot of fun to read. You'll never see a puddle, ditch, stream, or surf zone the same way again!
posted by jquinby at 12:38 PM on September 29, 2021
posted by jquinby at 12:38 PM on September 29, 2021
The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild by Craig Childs. A series of essays about various critters that the author has come across, with a perspective both wry and poetic, and some interesting natural history facts woven through.
posted by thataway at 12:51 PM on September 29, 2021
posted by thataway at 12:51 PM on September 29, 2021
I'll limit myself to the watery:
At the Loch of the Green Corrie by Andrew Grieg - a poet's book about fishing
Salmon: A Fish, the Earth, and the History of Their Common Fate by Mark Kurlansky
The Frayed Atlantic Edge by David Gange - kayaking down the West Coast of Britain and Ireland talking to dolphins and people.
Waterlog by Roger Deakin - he swims across the sunken field systems of the Scilly Isles and then across the rest of Britain.
Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie - wild islands explored by a poet [exquisite choice of words]
Another wild swimmer is Kerri ní Dochairtaigh but her Thin Places is too edgy for holiday reading.
Pomes:
Death of a Naturalist, 2nd anthology by Seamus Heaney: "Trout", "Waterfall" and "Storm on the Island" are all pretty wet. As is the eponymous poem
But best of all was the warm thick slobber
Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water
In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring
I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied
Specks to range on window sills at home,
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:18 PM on September 29, 2021
At the Loch of the Green Corrie by Andrew Grieg - a poet's book about fishing
Salmon: A Fish, the Earth, and the History of Their Common Fate by Mark Kurlansky
The Frayed Atlantic Edge by David Gange - kayaking down the West Coast of Britain and Ireland talking to dolphins and people.
Waterlog by Roger Deakin - he swims across the sunken field systems of the Scilly Isles and then across the rest of Britain.
Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie - wild islands explored by a poet [exquisite choice of words]
Another wild swimmer is Kerri ní Dochairtaigh but her Thin Places is too edgy for holiday reading.
Pomes:
Death of a Naturalist, 2nd anthology by Seamus Heaney: "Trout", "Waterfall" and "Storm on the Island" are all pretty wet. As is the eponymous poem
But best of all was the warm thick slobber
Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water
In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring
I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied
Specks to range on window sills at home,
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:18 PM on September 29, 2021
You can sample some of Tom Cox's writing here (which is not strictly about nature but nature is never far away) and if you like it then I recommend Ring the Hill and 21st Century Yokel. They are funny and there is swearing, which apparently some people really object to that when discussing rivers and seas and woods, so FYI.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2021
posted by oneirodynia at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2021
Seconding Braiding Sweetgrass and Kimmerer's other book Gathering Moss. Both made me ache with nature and learn so much about native ways and treatment of the land. She has an amazing way with words, and narrates both audiobooks herself - I highly recommend listening to them in her own words, it's beyond inspiring.
Fun historical/nature/nautical books I've enjoyed are Blue Horizons and Tania Aebi's Maiden Voyage. Might not work on the woods or might work better...?
Hidden Life of Trees, Entangled Life, or any book about trees, the mycelial network, and the way they communicate are fascinating
posted by danapiper at 9:13 PM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Fun historical/nature/nautical books I've enjoyed are Blue Horizons and Tania Aebi's Maiden Voyage. Might not work on the woods or might work better...?
Hidden Life of Trees, Entangled Life, or any book about trees, the mycelial network, and the way they communicate are fascinating
posted by danapiper at 9:13 PM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Loren Eisley’s collected essays, such as The Unexpected Universe. Some of his essay collections include poetry as well.
posted by acantha at 4:36 AM on September 30, 2021
posted by acantha at 4:36 AM on September 30, 2021
As I read the first part of your question, I got excited hoping to turn you on to one of my all-time faves by Annie Dillard... but I see there's no need.
Another I loved (despite the author's problematic pre-WWII sentiments) is Gift From the Sea.
posted by scorpia22 at 5:22 AM on September 30, 2021
Another I loved (despite the author's problematic pre-WWII sentiments) is Gift From the Sea.
posted by scorpia22 at 5:22 AM on September 30, 2021
Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. Lyrical and just so beautiful. Dillard is also in my top ten.
posted by stinker at 6:22 AM on September 30, 2021
posted by stinker at 6:22 AM on September 30, 2021
+1 to Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. She has a lovely essay about serviceberries that has an audio option if you'd like to listen to it.
Books of poetry:
Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry Edited by Camille T. Dungy
Anything by Joy Harjo, the current US Poet Laureate
Online collections:
Orion Magazine focuses on nature writing and includes nonfiction and poetry. Highly recommend.
Poetry Foundation's Poetry and the Environment collection
Online index to Yearly Best American Science and Nature Writing
Emergence Magazine: online publication with an annual print edition connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality
posted by wicked_sassy at 7:16 AM on September 30, 2021
Books of poetry:
Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry Edited by Camille T. Dungy
Anything by Joy Harjo, the current US Poet Laureate
Online collections:
Orion Magazine focuses on nature writing and includes nonfiction and poetry. Highly recommend.
Poetry Foundation's Poetry and the Environment collection
Online index to Yearly Best American Science and Nature Writing
Emergence Magazine: online publication with an annual print edition connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality
posted by wicked_sassy at 7:16 AM on September 30, 2021
John R. Stilgoe's Shallow Water Dictionary is meditative & knowledgeable & gorgeous. It's quite short and unfortunately kinda hard to find--Princeton Architectural Press reissued it in a small hardcover, and on a quick search I see used copies online for under $20. (His Outside Lies Magic is better known & also great, but it's more about human landscapes.)
posted by miles per flower at 10:26 AM on September 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by miles per flower at 10:26 AM on September 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
Seconding Robin Wall Kimmerer's other book, Gathering Moss, and adding Roger Deakin's other book, Wildwood (preview).
I also really love Things That Are by Amy Leach, and everything by Sue Hubbell (note: not all of her writing is about nature; some of it is about pie).
posted by kristi at 12:12 PM on October 1, 2021
I also really love Things That Are by Amy Leach, and everything by Sue Hubbell (note: not all of her writing is about nature; some of it is about pie).
posted by kristi at 12:12 PM on October 1, 2021
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posted by The otter lady at 8:21 AM on September 29, 2021 [1 favorite]