Essays and Prose
An essay on the killing stories we’ve collected, at LongReads. **This one is a Notable Mention in The Best American Food Writing of 2020 and The Best American Science and Nature Writing of 2020.**
I have an essay in Ecotone about identifying plants.
Magnificent Field has the extended interview I conducted with the brilliant Sarah Gridley. Also available as a print chapbook.
A review of Brad Edmondson’s A Wild Idea, on conservation in the Adirondacks, at Terrain.org.
Scroll down at the Dark Mountain Project to read my prose poem, “The Breaker Boy,” about coal and fracking and family history.
I reviewed Cole Swensen’s new book Art in Time, along with an exhibition catalog called Critical Zones, at the Boston Review.
The DMQ Review‘s special craft issue has my essay about the collage technique in poetry.
I reviewed Ben Ehrenreich’s new book on the desert and the end of time at The Brooklyn Rail.
Entropy published my essay about a hunter-gatherer game my daughters used to play.
The Los Angeles Review of Books has my review of Floating Coast, Bathsheba Demuth’s book about the Arctic.
A new essay/review on Frances Richard’s book about artist Gordon Matta-Clark, at the Chicago Review of Books.
My review of Amity and Prosperity, Eliza Griswold’s Pulitzer-winning book about fracking in my hometown, at the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Tupelo Quarterly has my review of Emmalea Russo’s book, G.
Conjunctions 72: Nocturnals includes my essay about deer and other targets of nighttime hunters.
The Lit Pub published my review of Lynn Lurie’s new novel.
A review of Hazel White’s Vigilance Is No Orchard at PANK.
Jen Tynes and I spoke about my new book and many other things at The Magnificent Field.
Essay on cat videos, babies, and the rest of nature at The Millions.
Interview with garden-poets Hazel White and Denise Newman at The Rumpus.
I have published two essays in Taproot, one on houses and one on botanical art.
A little piece on a groundhog song at Coldfront.
Two contributions to the Encyclopedia Project, in Vols. I and II; one with Merrill Gilfillan, the other on the island of California.
Musings on a line by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, at Lost Roads Press.
Selected articles in the C-VILLE Weekly, my hometown newspaper: On Mary Ellen Mark, on Sally Mann, on jail, on architecture, on shamanism.
Also available: essays on children, wineberries, and football.
Poetry Online
Michigan Quarterly Review‘s Why I Write issue is out for fall 2021, including my piece “Etude (poetics).”
“The Caught Early of Birds” in the Spring 2021 issue of the Seneca Review
“The History of Creation / December 14″ at DMQ Review
“The Darwin” at Dream Pop Journal
excerpts from Vista With Offspring and Grasses at Elderly
and more of those at BlazeVOX
a video of me reading from Several Circles, hosted by the New Orleans Poetry Festival
“Is It Twice As Big?” in Conjunctions
“Threshold” in EOAGH
“Words for an Oasis” and “Pours” at No Tell Motel
“Song,” “Bridge: Bridge’s location,” and “Arrows Flocking” in Aufgabe
Other Kinds of Things
I invite you to my blog for photos of the ground and a few bits of writing.
In 2005 I walked across Rhode Island while taking notes, photographs, compass readings, garbage counts, and other measures. Artifacts went into a museum, which had Curators; meanwhile, the Walker evolved into a performative being who disdained documentation and wished to purely walk. A productive battle ensued.
In 2006 I spent a week walking, writing, and moving things around to create a poetry/art installation at The Land in Mountainair, New Mexico.
I followed the path of Lewis and Clark across the country, writing each day based on a randomly chosen clue and the expedition journals.
For many years I wrote down a single observation each day.