Corvus I by Martin Bridge

Writing the Land: Currents

Writing the Land: Currents is the first book of 2023.

“Writing the Land is an attempt to honor nature and our relationship with it in a way that is as equitable and transparent as it is deep and entangled. We intend to be as inclusive—to humans and places
—as we hope the mantle of protection that land trusts offer can be. Our work will never be complete but gains strength, depth, beauty, and energy in a multitude of voices.” —-Lis McLoughlin, editor

Participating Partners:

Colorado West Land Trust

Darien Land Trust

Driftless Area Land Conservancy

Friends of Lake Jackson

Great Meadows Conservation Trust

Morris-Jumel Mansion

Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute

Payette Land Trust

The Prairie Enthusiasts

Scarborough Land Trust

Wild Rivers Land Trust

Praise for Writing the Land: Currents:

“Within this anthology you will encounter sword fern, Fendler’s waterleaf, myrtlewoods heavy with moss, purple trillium, winds and sunsets, wild things. The voice of the land, and those who act to conserve land, provide a kind of keystone on which all else depends. Here is where poetry comes in—to remind us that in each blade of grass memory abides. As the poet Margaret Gibson says in this book: “Outer and inner coalesce and fuse.” Within a woodland, a waterway, a human. This is the harmony Aldo Leopold imagined—between the land and us—and Currents reminds us that we exist within circles of connectivity, as does waterleaf, fern, upland sandpiper, fine sandy loam, and mucky peat. Gratitude to these stewards of land, and to those inspired to raise a voice in harmony.”

—Scott Chaskey, author of Seedtime, and (forthcoming) Soil and Spirit.

“The Writing the Land series has become one to savor. This volume's poems, with eyes to the land and hearts to the skies, include explorations of the fraught history of land and culture.  Step into this collection with everything you’ve been given. Take it beyond with all that you can.  “  

-- Hiram Larew, poet, and founder of Poetry X Hunger

“As our relationship with Nature atrophies, what is taken from our understanding of ourselves? What’s our story now? Writing the Land: Currents is an exploration of our relationship to the world we live in, and more importantly, tells us there’s a way forward. We need to open this book and listen.”

—Ryan Dennis, PhD; Founder and Director of The Milk House: A Rural Writing Collective, Ireland