credit: Steve Raymer reviews of Awe and Conservationist

In summer 2010 I will be teaching two writing workshops in nonfiction:

Wildbranch Writing Workshop, June 6-12, in Craftsbury Common, Vermont. For information: 800-648-3951 ext. 102 or www.sterlingcollege.edu/wildbranch

Hamline University Suumer Writing Workshop, July 25-30, in Northfield, Minnesota. For information: 651/523-2047 or www.hamline.edu/gls/academics/workshops/current_sww.htmlor

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In November, I delivered the Gaylord Nelson Lecture at the University of Wisconsin, as part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the UW Arboretum. I wrote a new essay for the occasion, "Speaking for the Land: Aldo Leopold as a Writer," which you can read here.

You can read another new essay, "Mind in the Forest," on the Orion website here, as well as in the print version of the magazine. And you can post comments here.

A Conservationist Manifesto was published in April 2009, on Earth Day, by Indiana University Press. The book addresses what I take to be the greatest challenge facing our society, which is to shift from a culture based on consumption to a culture based on caretaking. What would a truly sustainable economy look like? What responsibilities do we bear for the well-being of future generations? What responsibilities do we bear toward Earth’s millions of other species? In a time of ecological calamity and widespread human suffering, how should we imagine a good life? A Conservationist Manifesto seeks answers to these pressing questions, and more, in writing that’s impelled by a sense of place and a sense of hope.

You can view here a reading I gave from Conservationist, along with my discussion of the book and responses to audience questions.

The fall 2009 issue of Terrain.org carries a long, thoughtful review of Conservationist by editor Simmons Buntin, who moves outward from a discussion of the book to consider the challenges facing any effort to address serious environmental and social justice issues in the U.S. You'll find the review here.

An interview focusing on the book appears Grist.org, a website devoted to understanding our current predicament and envisioning the path toward a humane and durable way of life. You will find another recent interview here, and reviews of Conservationist here.

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I have returned to the writing of fiction in the past year. The first fruits of this effort are "Heart Wood," which appeared in the fall 2008 North American Review; "Four Winds," which appears in the winter 2009 Michigan Quarterly Review; "Mountain Weather," which appears in the spring 2009 Kenyon Review; and "River Blessing," which will appear in a future issue of Seattle Review.

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The Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature recently presented me with the 2009 Mark Twain Award for "distinguished contributions to Midwestern literature." Previous winners include Toni Morrison, Ray Bradbury, Jim Harrison, William Maxwell, Wright Morris, Harriet Monroe, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Jonis Agee. A brief interview about the award appears here.

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On the evening of 4 May 2008, I delivered a speech in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, entitled "A Citizen's View on the State of the Union." A number of people who heard me speak asked if I would post my remarks so that they could share them with friends.

I have posted recent interviews from Terrain, The Writer's Chronicle, and River Teeth.

A Private History of Awe, published in a cloth edition by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2006, is now available in a paperback edition. To read my short description of this book, click here.

Three of my earlier books have been brought out in revised editions by The Wooster Book Company—Wilderness Plots, a collection of brief tales about the settlement of the Ohio Valley; Warm as Wool, a storybook for children about a pioneer family; and Aurora Means Dawn, another children's storybook, this one about a family from Connecticut that homesteads in the Ohio wilderness in 1800. Ask for any of these books at your local bookstore or contact The Wooster Book Company online at www.woosterbook.com or by phone at 800-982-6651. You will find brief descriptions of Wilderness Plots, Warm as Wool, and Aurora Means Dawn here.

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For information about the Wilderness Plots Show, inspired by my book of short stories with the same title, go here. WTIU television in Bloomington, Indiana, released an hour-long documentary about the making of the "Wilderness Plots Show." PBS has distributed the program for national viewing in 2009. Check with your local PBS affiliate for times and dates.