Anthologies and Collaborative Projects

Your next great read might be an anthology.

Swallowtail Kite photographed by Ray Zimmerman, Everglades National Park, 1991.

I discovered some of these books on the Southern Nature Project a website that included information about books and authors. Various sections featured biographies, reviews, and links to podcasts. Some featured authors were familiar, but others were new to me. I am enthusiastically looking for books by some of the authors.

I discovered the website while searching for information on Franklin Burroughs after reading his book, Billy Watson’s Croker Sack. Some pages depended on Flash Player, which is no longer a supported technology. The site seems to have disappeared.

The books

The Woods Stretched for Miles: New Nature Writing from the South (1999, UGA Press), edited by Jon Lane and Gerald Thurmond, was listed among the books on The Southern Nature Project. I ordered a copy and found it a delightful read. It includes essays by several talented nature writers.

Editors John Lane and Gerald Thurmond are talented authors, but they did not include any of their works in this anthology. Brief notes on the contributing authors follow:

Rick Bass is acknowledged as a master of short stories and has published several fiction and nonfiction books. His essay “Good Day at Black Creek,” set in Mississippi, is drawn from his collection of essays Wild to the Heart, published by Stackpole Books. It is the story of a backpacking trip in Black Creek Wilderness, an area proposed for protection as a designated wilderness area.

Jan DeBlieu’s essay “Hurricane” is set in North Carolina and drawn from her book Hatteras Journal which is recognized as essential reading for coastal conservationists. She has published additional books on the topic.

Wendell Berry has been called the dean of Southern writers. His essay “The Making of a Marginal Farm” is set in Kentucky and included in Recollected Essays (1980). It has since been published in other anthologies.

Eddy L. Harris contributed his essay “Vicksburg,” which is set in Mississippi. It also appeared as part of his book Mississippi Solo in which he described his canoe trip down the length of the Mississippi River.

Franklin Burroughs received the John Burroughs Medal for distinguished nature writing for his book Confluence: Merrymeeting Bay. For this volume, he contributed “Lake Waccamaw to Freelands,” chapter two of his book The River Home in which he describes a canoe trip on the Waccamaw River. The essay is set in the Carolinas.

Christopher Camuto contributed the essay “Old Growth” from his book Another Country: Journeying Toward the Cherokee Mountains. It is set in North Carolina. With a nature sensitive to the landscape, he speaks about how to recognize the transition from forest to old-growth forest. He has written extensively about fly fishing and other sports. Other books include A Fly Fisherman’s Blue Ridge and Hunting from Home.  

Susan Cerulean contributed an essay, set in Florida, about field research on Swallow-tailed Kites. She has completed a book on these rare birds and several other books on natural history.

Stephen Harrigan contributed “The Soul of the Treaty Oak,” an essay about investigating the killing of a famous live oak with herbicide. Several twists and turns of the story reveal unique aspects of the culture of Austin, Texas. 

James Kilgo was a long-time professor at the University of Georgia. His essay “Actual Field Conditions” describes the difficulties of bird research in the field and is excerpted from his book Deep Enough or Ivorybills.

Janet Lembke contributed the essay “River Time,” which first appeared as part of her book by the same title, set in North Carolina.

Barry Lopez contributed the essay “Theft: A Memoir,” which is set in Georgia and first appeared in his book, About This Life. He is the author of numerous fiction and nonfiction books.

Harry Middleton authored the essay “Bagpipes on Hazel Creek,” in which he described Hazel Creek’s value as a trout fishing stream and the appearance of a mysterious piper in the surrounding wilderness. This essay is set in North Carolina and includes a description of Horace Kephart and his efforts to preserve the Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge. Middleton died in 1993 after authoring two acclaimed nonfiction books. 

Janisse Ray is a resident of Georgia and an advocate for the Longleaf Pine Forest, the community of plants and animals it supports, and the Altamaha watershed. Her essay “Whither Thou Goest” is a rare look at her time in Montana, where she completed an MFA degree.

Bland Simpson contributed the essay “The Great Dismal,” the final chapter of his book with the same name and set in the Great Dismal Swamp.

Mary Q. Steele contributed the essay “The Living Year,” set in Tennessee. It is an excerpt from her book with the same title. She wrote natural history and children’s literature.

Archie Carr was a herpetologist and noted expert on marine turtles. His essay “Living with an Alligator” is an excerpt from his book of collected essays, A Naturalist in Florida.

Marilou Awiakta (Tennessee) is a nature writer of Cherokee and Appalachian heritage. She recently decided that the University of Tennessee library would be the home of her collected papers. Her essay “Daydreaming Primal Space” is an exposition in which the author describes Native American thought. She has three published books.

Green Heron, photographed by Ray Zimmerman at Everglades National Park, 1991.

More Anthologies and a few collaborative books.

Elemental South: An Anthology of Southern Nature Writing, edited by Dorinda G. Dallmeyer (UGA Press), includes poetry and essays by Southern Nature Writers. I enjoyed reading this one, but would have to reread it before making extensive comments. Contributors include:

Rick Bas
Bill Bellville
Franklin Burroughs
Christopher Camuto
Susan Cerulean
Jan DeBlieu
Christopher Camuto
Thomas Rain Crowe
Ann Fisher-Wirth
James Kilgo
John Lane
Janisse Ray
Melissa Walker

Bartram’s Living Legacy: The Travels and the Nature of the South, Dorinda G. Dallmeyer, editor (Mercer University Press, (2010) includes the full text of Bartram’s Travels (1792) and responses by southern nature writers. I have read portions of the Travels in this volume and the Library of America edition. It has been categorized as natural history, ethnography, and travel writing because Bartram described everything he saw. From time to time I pick up my copy and read a little more.

Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal, edited by Silas House, tells the story of the Appalachian people and the new technology that has become the elephant in the room. Silas House is descended from generations of coal miners and has published several novels. 

Appalachian Wilderness: The Great Smoky Mountains is included as a collaborative work. It is a coffee table format book with photographs by Eliot Porter and text by Edward Abbey. The publisher included some of Bartram’s original drawings of Appalachian plants. I enjoyed reading Abby’s commentary and the photography is stunning.

Longleaf: Far as the Eye Can See was created by three authors and an outstanding photographer. It is a coffee table format book, but the text is highly informative. It is a testament to North America's largest ecosystem, the longleaf pine forest, now a mere remnant. The authors cite an earlier book, Looking for Longleaf, that inspired their work. 

Plundering Appalachia: The Tragedy of Mountaintop Removal Mining is a coffee table format book with photographs of natural areas with mountain tops blown away to facilitate coal removal. Appalachian Voices is the publisher, and it includes texts by multiple authors. 

Writing Appalachia is a 750-page volume that traces Appalachian Writing from Cherokee Legends and early American authors into the current century.

Some of these books could occupy a diligent reader for a long time, but they are well worth the read.