Winner of the Jeanne Leiby PrizeAlison Townsend shapes the memories within this book like the meditative and meandering rivers that inspired them. The Persistence of Rivers evokes the naturalism of Thoreau and Dillard, yet Townsend’s prose remains masterfully singular in its subject, lyricism, and poignancy. Spanning decades from the 1950s to the present, the book considers the impact of rivers at pivotal moments in Townsend’s life, examining issues of lan...

Dream Work, a collection of forty-five poems, follows both chronologically and logically Mary Oliver's American Primitive, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for the finest book of poetry published in 1983 by an American poet. The depth and diversity of perceptual awareness—so steadfast and radiant in *American Primitive—*continue in Dream Work. She has turned her attention in these poems to the solitary and difficult labors of the spirit—to accepting the ...

It happened on March 29, 1848. The people of the town of Niagara Falls awoke to a near deafening silence.The silence wasn't complete. They could hear a few birds twittering in the trees overhead. There were a few dogs barking. But otherwise there was silence.This was strange because the people of Niagara Falls lived their entire lives with the roar of the falls. It was the background for everything they did. In fact, for most of them, it was their livelihood.But on thi...

Marilyn Dumont's Metis heritage offers her challenges that few of us welcome. Here she turns them to opportunities: in a voice that is fierce, direct, and true, she explores and transcends the multiple boundaries imposed by society on the self. She mocks, with exasperation and sly humour, the banal exploitation of Indianness, more-Indian-than-thou oneupmanship, and white condescension and ignorance. She celebrates the person, clearly observing, who defines her own life. These are Indian po...

Two volumes of fiction from the National Book Award–winning author of Arctic Dreams : "Lopez feels a deep spiritual connection to the natural world." — San Francisco ChronicleTo National Book Award–winning author Barry Lopez, the desert and the river are landscapes alive with poetry, mystery, seduction, and enchantment. In these two works of fiction, the narrator responds viscerally and emotional...

In powerful language that reflects the conflicts between the primitive and the sophisticated, Joan Crate redreams the passions which animated and tormented her famous predecessor. Part white, part Mohawk princess, Pauline Johnson /Tekahionwake would perform her poems first in buckskin, then, after the intermission, in silk.

"Is there any decent place to stop between here and the mountains?" I asked the storekeeper."You can pretty much camp anywhere along the way," he said. "The Indians are pretty friendly here abouts.""If you're at all concerned about making it over the mountains, though, I suggest you stop at old lady Williams' place at the base of the mountains.""What's so special about Old lady Williams' place," Charlie asked."Well, don't laugh at me for saying so, but that old ...

With her remarkable debut collection, Yukon poet Clea Roberts proffers a perceptive & ecological reading of the Canadian North’s past & present. Roberts deftly draws out the moments that comprise a cycle of seasons, paying as much attention to the natural—the winter moon’s second-hand light that pools in the tracks of tree squirrels & loose threads of migrating birds—as she does to the manufactured—the peripheral percussion of J-brakes & half-melted ice lanterns. She also casts her gaze ba...

Dr. Mowbray no longer feels that he is a healer, but instead believes that he carries death with him. Mr. Baker, dying in the hospital, dreams of being surrounded by the beauty of nature—a bamboo forest, the Sahara Desert, a sunny glade. Watching over the old man, Dr. Mowbray begins to see the lush world of Mr. Baker’s dreams and wonders how he can learn to truly understand life when he is always surrounded by death.Fever is a collection of sixteen short stories that revea...

If we had the chance to do things again differently, would we?Hard to say when the snow began falling. In the 2020s, there were rumors of global warming, of severe weather changes and it was not all rumor. Many of us could feel the changes. Warm and then cold. Rain and then the sunniest of days. Then all went bad, warmer and warmer each day.

A freelance writer and photographer invites the reader to walk with him through the desert where life is clear and elemental.

Most fishermen have longed to catch a big catfish. Some have, and some have only talked of how the big one got away. Through years of experience with fishing, I have learned how to catch the big ones and decided to share some of my secrets with you. If youre fishing with a rod and reel, it is very important to know how to bait your hook and when to set it, to know when to fish and how to use limb lines, and to know the size of hook to use and the depth to fish. I discuss all of these thing...