Feeling like one lucky duck to get to return to the Vega archipelago in Norway to do the kind of immersive reporting I’ve long dreamed of doing. I’m so excited to work with @jesscase72 at @pegasus_books to bring this book into the world.
There’s a Norwegian proverb, fuglan veit, which translates to “only the birds know.” It refers to circumstances that evade human understanding. The idea dates back to an ancient, mythical thinking that rippled from the superstitions of northern coastal people: that the world can be read by studying the language that is written aloft—winged and wheeling—in the patterns of birds. Watching the signs, it’s obvious how off balance everything has become. Capitalism has disrupted deep ecological ties between humans and the natural world. The human-eider story challenges entrenched ideas about humans as a solely destructive force and provides a model for a more nurturing, interdependent approach. The age-old tradition between bird keepers and the common eider paints a portrait of humans entwined with nature rather than separate from it.
Now, I need to get all my ducks in a row to prepare for three months on a remote island just south of the Arctic Circle. I feel so grateful to @vestvib64 for her ongoing hospitality and collaboration with this story. I can’t wait to spend more time with her and the eiders.
Chances are good that the isolation and northern exposure will turn me into a salty sea hag, but maybe that’s actually my dream? 🌊
Eeek! My love life is live in the @nytimes Modern Love column today and I am equal parts thrilled and anxious (I didn’t choose the headline or subtitle 😅; I originally titled it “We Got Married for the Party”). Honored to be part of Modern Love’s beautiful canon, which celebrates romantic love in all forms, and feeling very grateful to have a supportive partner and friends who have assured me that releasing my writing into the world is important, even if it feels exposing and vulnerable. 💙 Link in bio. 🔗
This essay is the hardest piece I’ve yet written. It took me several years of research and personal interrogation to shape it into its current form for the pages of @switchyardtulsa ’s fourth issue about land and landscape. It tells the story of the time I came across a dead whale and my subsequent impulse to commit a crime. It slides into the shifty territory of ownership, legacy, and the stories we tell about ourselves. All my gratitude to those who read early versions of this piece and helped me to strengthen it, to dig deeper (@nicholas_claro , @krista_lee_langlois , @emilyraboteau , and my whole cohort at @breadloafwriter ). And many thanks to @tgenoways at @switchyardtulsa for giving this piece a beautiful home. 🔗Link in bio.
New Substack essay in which I go to a water park and remember that most of the time spent in water parks is time spent waiting to have fun. Link in bio. 🔗
May events!!! We’ve got a little bit of everything… poetry, fiction, politics, activism, memoir, and more. You’re bound to find something you’ll love, so come join us!!
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#broadwaybooksevents #mayreadings #portlandauthors #visitingauthors
It’s a dream come true to be published in my favorite magazine. I’ve been reading @orion_magazine since I was a teenager, and to see my name in its pages makes me wish I could go back and hug my teenage self and whisper in her ear, “I’m so proud of you.” She has been my compass and my hope. I am everything I have become because of what she wanted for me and for the world.
My essay details an unlikely co-working arrangement between me and a mason bee, and how she opened my eyes to the labor disparities between humans and pollinators. She and her progeny visited me two years in a row, painting trails of poop across my office window. Sadly, no mason bees have wriggled their way into my office this spring. Maybe because I miss the visitations, I haven’t been able to bring myself to wash my window. Thank you to @tararaem for strengthening the piece with your keen editorial eye. Link in bio. 🔗
My niece once told me she adds five drops of joy to every day. These days, I find myself adding good hats, more time with friends, more room to write, and occasional naps with my grumpy cat.
I’m convinced that owls, winter moss, morning moons, good writing days, road trips, and hikes with friends do more for my heart than any other medicine.
“Gobsmacked” was the first word that came to mind when I learned I had been awarded an Oregon Literary Arts Career fellowship. I’m so grateful for organizations like Literary Arts because almost every writer I know hustles to make ends meet, cobbling together meager earnings from some combination of writing, teaching, coaching, editing, and fact checking. Amid media layoffs and AI upheavals, this industry creates brutal conditions in which to earn a living. But we all need writing like we need water. We’re thirsty for truth generated by minds rather than by machines, and every time a writer receives support, it rattles the foundation of a system built to suppress certain truths. Congratulations to all the awardees. 🎉 I’m honored to be in your inspiring company.
Of the 60 books I read this year, these 16 were my favorites. Given that I spent a quarter of this year on a remote island to tend to wild ducks, I guess it’s no surprise I gravitated toward stories about re-enchantment and relationships with the more-than-human world. Read more about why I loved them at my Substack. Link in bio. 🔗
What did you read this year that you loved?
PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK, Annie Dillard
REJECTION, @tonytula
MY EDUCATION, @susanmchoi
HEATING & COOLING, @bethannfennelly
THE SPELL OF THE SENSUOUS, David Abram
RING OF BRIGHT WATER, Gavin Maxwell
IMMEMORIAL, @laurenemarkham
NATURE’S BEST HOPE, Douglas W. Tallamy
THE OUTRUN, @amymayyyy
THE PLOT, @jeanhanff
MEET THE NEIGHBORS, @brandon9keim
THE SEA TRILOGY, Rachel Carson
THE GOOD ANCESTOR, @romankrznaric
MOTHERS AND OTHER FICTIONAL CHARACTERS, @nglipson
WHERE WE CALL HOME, @josephine_antoinette_
WILD SOULS, @nicotycho
